The Best A Man Can Get

President Bush performed a damage control operation by appearing on Arab TV today. Of course, it's too little too late, but I think it's the best thing he could do in this situation. Ignoring it wouldn't make it go away, and while most Arabs, who are way more cynical of government statements than we are, won't believe a word Bush says, at least it's showing some respect to appear before them.

Regarding the whole abuse scandal (dare I call it "Torturegate"?), the word that comes to mind is "dumb". Dumb, dumb, dumb. It doesn't seem, from what we know, that the abuses were intended for interrogation - professional interrogators know enough to follow our laws. However, the dumb, dumb, dumb officers and soldiers who perpetrated these crimes should be brought to real and serious punishment. Furthermore, Rumsfeld or someone else in the high administration should take the axe. I know it wasn't their fault, but unless the U.S. government shows by serious actions that this is really a problem for us, the Arab street won't believe it's a problem either. They know as well at us that discharging a few disobedient MP's is not a big sacrifice, and if we act like it's a small problem, nothing we say will outspeak our actions.