THE FISH ROTS
FROM THE HEAD DOWN

It brought to mind the many reports of how women in jails are treated in this country. Once incarcerated, her treatment mostly depends on how often and how willingly she puts out for her jailors.

Thanks to the existence of women's groups and other agencies, the hell holes of our jails have largely been exposed to public view and those responsible for such torture have been punished.

Of course it hasn't completely gone away. Constant vigilance is necessary. The pattern and history of indignity toward women is deep seated and pervasive in our society. Many find nothing wrong with it as woman's status still is inferior to man's.

Maureen Doud writes: The Associated Press reports from London that "U.S. soldiers who detained an elderly Iraqi woman last year placed a harness on her, made her crawl on all fours and rode her like a donkey."

Just as in the closed society of the priesthood, the sexual bondage of some lay women and nuns was ignored; the male clergy from the top down was conditioned to believe it was perfectly normal.

That is, until it became impossible to deny that the clergy was molesting boys. This changed the whole picture. Public outcry is strong especially against male child molestation. So the scandal broke and the sexual rot in this closed male society was exposed.

As the child molestation was uncovered, the torture and humiliation of women by the clergy, ignored over the eons was exposed. It didn't cause much stir in the media -- again, the conditioning of society still teaches that women are disposable sexual objects.

Even today when polls are taken, men and boys say they would rape a woman if they thought they could get away with it. Date rape drugs are readily available and readily used and society presents little opposition to this practice.

Now the military from the top down teaches the G.I. that the Iraqi POWs are inhuman and this gives their jailors carte blanche in their treatment of them.

"The president, meant to be the steward of the world's greatest political experiment, now speaks like a gang leader. He speaks from his brain stem to the brain stem of those who love the adrenaline rush of war talk." http://www.commondreams.org/views02/0430-08.htm

Why is anyone surprised that our military would humiliate and torture prisoners of war? After all, their leadership in D.C. encourages and demonstrates this type of behavior for them daily.

They hear from the White House and down the chain of command that "everything has changed since 9/11. We are at war and in order to win we have to use extreme measures. We have to take human rights away from the evil ones in order to insure our own safety."

They heard as we all did the pronouncement that, the "detainees" did not have any rights under the Geneva Convention.

"You are either for us or against us."
"Evil doers of evil -- the enemy who wants to kill us."

The lesson is crystal clear as the Patriot Act removes one right after another from ordinary American citizens and jails POWs with no rights whatever.

It's OK because Bush and all his cronies have made it OK. The fish rots from the head down.

It has always been OK for those in power to rape, torture and humiliate the powerless. But this disgusting behavior of our people against the Iraq prisoners just intensifies the horror and shame when the Commander in Chief, posing as a Christian, sets the example.

twanda@sover.net

2004-019

Copyright 2004 Renee T. Louise and Ruth M. Sprague, Ph.D. These articles may be republished for noncommercial use only, provided that they are copied intact, and that this copyright notice is attached. Address all queries to: twanda@sover.net.