Doing Exactly As They Have Been Trained

by Abby Zimet Common Dreams.org

Disturbing videos of detainee abuse - subtle, mental and degrading, not Abu-Ghraib-brutal - has been released by Ethan McCord, the veteran who wrote the "Open Letter of Reconciliation & Responsibility to the Iraqi People" after his Bravo Company's actions were captured in Wikileaks' "Collateral Murder" video. Their behavior, he stresses, is the norm.

"While your anger may initially be placed with the soldiers in the videos, I think your anger should be directed towards the system that trained them."