Words are inadequate

Yeah, Abu Ghraib was a horror for everyone, but for those of us with family in the military...that wasn't a "them" we saw the system turn into unrepentant torturers, that was on some level an "us," people like our uncles and cousins and the kids we grew up with. I couldn't other the torture victims, but I couldn't other the torturers either. I had to damn both their actions and the complicity of the politicians who were setting others like them up for more.

My grandpa was a Marine Corps drill instructor who didn't even yell and swear at his troops. "You have to raise your voice, you've already lost control of the situation," he would say. He had clear notions of the honor of an American. I was glad he was still with us in 2004. I was absolutely heartbroken to see what those photos did to him. And also: I was so glad that it did. That he did not join the "they musta deserved it" crowd. That he, at least, had really meant it all along.