A horror that will not be buried

摘要

The Iraq war, said President George Bush last week, "has created a sense of consternation here in America. I mean, when you turn on your tv screen and see innocent people die, day in and day out, it affects the mentality of our country." Especially, he might have added, if the people killing the innocents happen to be American soldiers. Americans take it for granted that their enemies in Iraq murder civilians, and that for some it is a matter of pride to murder as many as possible. But they expect their own side to follow a more civilised set of rules, even in the chaos of battle. Their faith in their armed forces was battered by Abu Ghraib.