Tuesday, May 24, 2005

Seymour Hersh on Abu Ghraib

Seymour Hersh, in 1969, broke the My Lai massacre story. In 2003, he broke the Abu Ghraib scandal. He's written an angry piece questioning the US government's lack of accountability for torture at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo. It has become difficult to summon much anger over the ongoing situation in Iraq or the actions of the United States -- they've become like a permanent bruise on my consciousness, tender and best left untouched, in the hope that someday it will fade. It doesn't fade, but it no longer seems so vital to arm myself with information or to read the usual litanies of leftist complaints over what's happened -- there is little I haven't heard before, or so it feels, and little to be gained by rubbing the bruise. The Hersh story somehow cuts through that. I'm glad there are people out there who can still focus, who still believe things can be changed...

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