Abuse in Iraq has shamed US, says O'Donnell

America had been "shamed" by events in Iraq, a former PD minister of state for foreign affairs, Ms Liz O'Donnell, claimed.

Ms O'Donnell, who represents Dublin South, said that from time immemorial, war had brought out the worst in humankind.

"Dehumanising the enemy has frequently been employed to assist soldiers to take life and to overcome the inbuilt human resistance to doing so. But these images that have so scandalised the world have not happened in the heat of battle," she said.

"The sadistic and pornographic elements are plain for all to see and raise very serious issues about the training and psychological assessment of military personnel who are given control of prisoners in times of war.

"Clearly, standards have been allowed to fall below levels acceptable to civilised values. So, how is it that a country like the United States, which claims to be a leader in democratic values and honour for the rule of law, can find itself so shamed? Could it be that in the so-called war against terrorism, anything goes?"

Ms O'Donnell said she thought the answer lay "not in the criminal perversion and human frailty of young reservists who were actors in these images, but rather a quite dramatic slippage of morality at the command levels in the United States administration. Many people, friends of the American people like Ireland, have been frankly appalled at these developments. 9/11 was indeed a defining moment in modern times."

Confidence in the US military would not be restored solely by the court martial of relatively low-ranking reservists.

"The credibility of the United States is now on trial. If knowledge and complicity is proven between the Pentagon and this abuse, and if democratic accountability is to mean anything, there must be resignations at the highest level in the Bush administration." #

She said it was important not to lose sight of the larger picture in Iraq. "The fate of 23 million brutalised and traumatised people is in the balance. We are on their side. This requires a fair-minded and sober approach that avoids extreme positions and unrealistic demands."

The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Mr Tom Kitt, said the loss of so many lives underlined once again the urgent need to restore stability in Iraq.

"I would urge the US to ensure that every conceivable effort is made to avoid civilian casualties. I am extremely concerned at the recent reports of abuse in detention centres in Iraq which have emerged. I categorically condemn such abuse.

"I take this opportunity to reiterate the abhorrence expressed by the Taoiseach and the Minister for Foreign Affairs at the abuse and degradation inflicted on Iraqi prisoners by members of the coalition military forces."

Mr Kitt added that the Government had publicly and strongly condemned the mistreatment and abuse of prisoners in Iraq by US and British forces. "We made our concerns known directly to the US and UK authorities when the allegation first came to light."

Mr Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (SF, Cavan-Monaghan) said the Government was led by a Taoiseach content to repeat in the House the spurious justifications advanced by the US and British governments for the illegal invasion of Iraq.

"He was content to allow Shannon Airport and Casement Aerodrome to become military bases for a belligerent power. The same Taoiseach then claimed that he agreed with the 100,000 people who marched on the streets of Dublin and Belfast to oppose his collaboration with the war and to demand that Irish neutrality be respected and sovereignty restored to our airports and territory."