Madam, - It is clear that the assertions by Brig Gen Karpinski and others that the abuse of prisoners was intelligence-driven, to soften them up for interrogation, make nonsense of the protestations of Donald Rumsfeld that he was sickened by the pictures.
The abuse clearly was not misbehaviour by a few "bad apples", but was systematic policy. I have no doubt that even worse treatment is being meted out to the detainees at Guantanamo Bay, who have been placed outside the law and out of sight.
God bless America by all means, but preserve us from friends like George W. Bush and his neo-cons. One must hope they will be replaced, sooner rather than later, by people who have a better understanding of the consequences of their actions. Their successors will have their work cut out for them in Iraq and in Israel. - Yours, etc.,
JOHN SHEEDY, Rathfarnham, Dublin 16.
Madam, - There is a seamless connection between the torture which has come to light in Iraq and the detention centre at Guantánamo Bay, where prisoners have been held in a legal black hole, subject neither to national nor international standards.
World powers have acquiesced in this shameful regime by their silence, accepting semantic justification for these actions - as has our own Government. As a result, civilised standards for the treatment of prisoners and detainees, built up slowly and painstakingly during the past century, are being destroyed. Given that Guantánamo has been invented, justified and defended by the US, why should anyone be surprised by what its soldiers have done in Iraq?
Of course, the individuals engaged in the Iraqi torture, whether soldiers or so-called independent "contractors", must be held responsible for their criminal actions, but they should not be left to take the blame alone, while their bosses walk away wringing their hands and crying crocodile tears at these terrible deeds, quietly suppressing the fact that these foot-soldiers have only been following a clearly established state practice of deliberately dehumanising and torturing prisoners.
The US approach to the Middle East seems to be based on the principle that might is right, and that anything can be justified if it is in the American self interest - a shallow, unprincipled philosophy, which must ultimately be counter-productive. Unfortunately, our Government has supinely offered support to this approach, based on what it perceives to be our own self-interest.
By condoning these irresponsible policies of the current US government, we are not doing ourselves any favours, nor are we being helpful to our American friends. Instead, we are contributing to the threat of further horrific 9/11 style experiences throughout the world. - Yours, etc.,
DES CURLEY, Boyle, Co Roscommon.
Madam, - If the photographs currently being revealed showed American soldiers being abused and humiliated anywhere in the world, we can all imagine what George Bush and Donald Rumsfeld would be saying.
Many other occupying countries have, over the centuries, treated their captives badly, but they did not have the audacity to say they were doing it in the name of democracy. The American government has made the word "democracy" an abusive term.
Last year 100,000 Irish people marched against the invasion of Iraq. Maybe we should march again in defence of a country being occupied in such a barbaric way.
I have not even mentioned the destruction of one of the holiest and oldest civilisations in the world. - Yours, etc.,
NUALA REID, Blackrock, Co Dublin.
Madam, - Kevin Myers raises a very valid question as to whether the photographs showing the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by US personnel should have been published. An equally valid one, I think, is: if the photographs had not been published, would the perpetrators go unpunished? - Yours, etc.,
Mrs MARY STEWART, Ardeskin, Donegal Town.
Madam, - Those who portray the US admission of torture as a sign of true democracy should remember the leaders of this same democracy had knowledge of these pictures since early January. To see Mr Bush now using the media's revelations as a badge of his administration's honesty is hypocrisy at its worst. - Yours, etc.,
JOHN BRESNAN, Well Road, Cork.