Friday, May 14, 2004

I know American patriots worship their military, but maybe you need to know this: "Spec. Charles A. Graner Jr., the military policeman photographed with a big smile as he stood behind a pile of naked Iraq prisoners, was a target of abuse allegations long before he was singled out by an Army investigator as the worst of the guards in the Baghdad scandal. His ex-wife once accused him of dragging her by her hair and trying to throw her down stairs during a fight over their breakup. At the Pennsylvania prison where he worked as a low-level guard in civilian life, the Army reservist was accused in two lawsuits of brutality. In one, an inmate said Graner planted a razor blade in a plate of potatoes." But make no mistake about it: he was fighting for "freedom" in Iraq, like every other member of the US armed forces. Salute the troops, NOW.