By Mark David Blum, Esq.

Several news stories of late have caused my skin to crawl. Pakistan is now demanding that the Americans and NATO negotiate a peace deal with the Taliban in Afghanistan. International pressure is mounting for the United States to negotiate with Iran and Syria to end the chaos in Iraq. North Korean blew a bomb and now we are engaged in face-to-face talks with Little Kim. Is it me or have we just wasted several hundred billions dollars, thousands of lives, destroyed the economy, and ruined our international standing as we are being forced back to square one.

Here we are, more than three years into the Iraq war, and American forces are still engaged in military conflict. No, I am not referring to dealing with stragglers or imported terrorists. Instead, I am referring to our never-ending running gun battle with the Al Sadr fighters.

Let’s look at history. It took the U.S. Forces about a week to conquer the entire country of Iraq and assume control over all of its land. Things were actually coming together. I think I can recall at least one flower being tossed at conquering American forces when they arrived.

Then Paul Bremer committed an unspeakable act, an act so heinous that had it been done in the United States, there would have been a civil war. He unilaterally took it upon himself to shut down a fledgling Iraqi newspaper. The hypocrisy of this action is obvious. We went into Iraq for, among other lies, to bring the blessings of Freedom to a People who seemingly don’t want it but accepted it at the point of a gun. Then, we attacked one of the cornerstones of freedom … a free press. We shut down Al Sadr’s newspaper.

The rest is history. Before the newspaper was closed, there was no Al Sadr to worry about. He and his army had no conflict with the United States. Now it seems he is either kicking our ass or playing us to a draw over and over; all the while spilling a river of blood. For the past three years, and spread over six Iraqi cities, over the bodies of a few thousand American dead and wounded along with thousands of Iraqis dead and wounded, despite the millions of dollars expended on munitions and medical treatment, despite Al Sadr being outnumbered about 100,000 to one, and being clearly outgunned, out manned and out tech’d, Al Sadr remains a formidable opponent and continues to slaughter Americans.

American forces have been engaged with Al Sadr longer that we were engaged with Sadaam’s entire military. No, I doubt he is capable of “winning” a military victory, but his political victories against our troops are piling up alongside the dead.

Perhaps we so offended Iraqis and the world that they no longer look to us for moral and ethical leadership. We gave them a taste of freedom; a vision into the world of real social liberty. Then, we shut down their newspapers, engaged in endless acts of prisoner abuses, torture, and murder coming out of Iraq and Guantanamo Bay. American soldiers confessed to committing sins that we believe are or should be unacceptable by our standards. None of it was an accident.

The abuses were willful acts perpetrated intentionally. We all share the blame. Our President planned it. Intelligence Services executed it both in Cuba and in Iraq. Chinese interrogation “experts” visited Cuba to show us how to get it done. Lawyers like John Yoo and Alberto Gonzalez trained and guided the President how to end-run the law and avoid prosecution. Congress treated it like a big joke. The media hid the story. American doctors participated in the torturing of prisoners. One foolish Harvard lawyer named Dershowitz suggested it was OK to torture, we just need “rules” for it. The former Attorney General says the Courts have nothing to say about it and We the People accept the Nuremburg Defense.

To the rest of the world, it is criminal. To an Iraqi, if it were me, it would be grounds for War.

I understand the rage. The rage of September 11th, the Rage of Nick Berg, the Rage of Madrid, and 100’s of Tel Aviv bombings. I understand the Rage of war and the stress of combat. The only rule of war for the soldier is to kill the enemy; period. I get it. My heart hurts for the near 3,000 American soldiers now dead in Iraq and the families of the near 25,000 wounded. Hundreds if not thousands more still stand to die or be wounded and my heart bleeds for them.

But, the ends do not justify the means. Our government knows information gathered from these abuses cannot be used in a criminal prosecution. It is obviously not their intent. They clearly want this information for prosecuting the war. The War on Terror has changed the scenario where the bad guys are no longer criminals, they are military opponents. Right or wrong, this is the current U.S. policy. This is the policy that has turned an entire world’s sympathy against the ideal of American honor and freedom.

Tell your concerns to the survivors of the Malmedy Massacre at the Battle of the Bulge. How about sharing your thoughts with those who walked the Bataan Death March. It matters a lot how we treat people; whether they are civilian criminals or military targets. Now, more than a half century later, the world still collectively holds nations and peoples in disdain for acts committed by their governments. The rise of fundamentalist militant Islam has more to do with the United States abandoning her basic principles than the theological ravings of a few crazy Imams.

Iraqis, Afghanis, and yes even terrorists are human beings. It should not be the United States that builds the camps, interrogates by torture, and openly violates the law for the purposes of War. Our history is to the contrary. It would be considered “Un-American”. "Men who take up arms against another in public war do not cease on this account to be moral beings responsible to one another." (General Order 100 of the United States Army Field Manual of 1863).

My concerns lie with the soul of our nation and with the souls of my children. For my nation, it pains me that we no longer maintain the moral high ground. Ours is no longer the dream others seek. The whole world condemns us now. Even the Russians sing in that chorus.

Try this; especially those of you with children. Close your eyes and wonder what the world looks like next time we have a war. Jessica Lynch is again captured by Iraqi forces. Where will we stand if we saw another Jessica being treated as we treat our captured POWs? Can we cry? Can we yell? Who will listen?

I would be proud if my grandsons served in the military. I would worry every moment they were gone. But if they should be taken prisoner of some military conflict or if they should be discovered wounded by the enemy, I insist that they be treated humanely and be protected. I can demand such treatment only if I too grant such safety to theirs. My government puts all of that at risk.

More importantly, we as a Nation and People must rise up and demand our Representatives in Washington once again manifest and espouse core American principles. We must remember our own history and focus hard on the future. Leading by example instead of compelled behavior at the point of a gun is how we should be. Iraqis should want a Democracy; not have force fed to them. The violence we have done to human beings, property, our treasury, and our basic beliefs has shamed us before the world. It has given us new enemies who will not rest until our destruction.

The only true solution to Iraq, Afghanistan, and North Korea is to foster a situation where the lowest member of the lowest social caste has the same opportunities and the same voice as the highest of the high. America should never be afraid of criticism.

But, the Republicans and our President were so afraid of the enemy that they forgot why they were elected in the first place. ‘Vengeance’ is not a national policy. Shutting down opposition voices is dangerous. Once a people have tasted freedom, taking it away again is not done easily. Ask Mr. Al Sadr.