Wingy
05-11-2004, 03:21 AM
do you see the abuse of the Iraqui prisoners in the same light????:mad:
DORREEN YELLOW BIRD COLUMN: Abuses of the present recall atrocities of the past
As pictures of the Iraqi prisoners unfolded across the nation like some salacious sex or sadomasochism magazine, the public is appalled and dumbfounded.
Not in America or by Americans, people say. But that's not true. We, in this country, have a history of killing for selfish and misguided reasons. A few days ago in heated conversation about the Iraqi prisoner abuses, I couldn't help but drift to an image of the massacre at Sand Creek on Nov. 29, 1864. Five hundred to 600 Cheyenne and Arapaho were killed by U.S. soldiers. Many of the victims were children or women. The soldiers scalped some of the victims. The men knocked the brains out of babies, and many women were cut into pieces and their bodies mutilated.
Correspondence from the massacre report that women's private parts were taken from dead bodies and carried into Denver for a gory "show and tell." The trophies were greeted with cheers and praise by the community.
Col. John M. Chivington, commander of the unit that attacked the Cheyenne and Arapaho, said this was an act of duty to themselves and to civilization. Chivington and his troops felt justified in killing innocent woman and children because the community thought of Native people as savages - people who stood in the way of their way of life. So renegade warriors in that region retaliated by attacking settlers, killing and scalping them.
From reports, we now know the Native people at Sand Creek were innocent. They were living where the military told them they should live. John Smith, a U.S. Indian interpreter and special Indian agent, also lived with them. His testimony before Congress gave a vivid account of the massacre.
In the wars between the Native people and white soldiers, the U.S. troops had the advantage with more men and guns. When the tribes defended their land and retaliated to protect themselves, the military responded with force.
These people - the Native tribes - had offended them. So awful acts such as the Sand Creek massacre seemed justified. These people, after all, were "savages," as they were called by the government.
Has this kind of thinking pervaded some of American troops? The soldiers in this war constantly are reminded of the Sept. 11 attack, in which more than 3,000 people were killed. One of the barracks at the Abu Ghraib prison is named after a firefighter who died in that attack. Did the guards put the face of the attackers of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on the Iraqis they detained?
During a Minnesota Public Radio broadcast Monday, a caller, responding to a conversation about the "abuses" in the Iraqi prison, said this is war. To get information about further attacks, this is the way it is done and the United States shouldn't have to apologize.
Hmm, I thought. I wonder what kind of information they gleaned from the female prisoner while they were raping her?
Treating your fellow man with justice and dignity is something we should have learned from the past atrocities committed against Native Americans. Those who have the authority and control need to be vigilant and remember these are our fellow men, regardless of the color of their skin.
If full attention isn't given to what happened at the Iraqi prison Abu Ghraib, the effects on America may be devastating. This administration needs to pay attention to history.:twocents:[/QUOTE]__________________
DORREEN YELLOW BIRD COLUMN: Abuses of the present recall atrocities of the past
As pictures of the Iraqi prisoners unfolded across the nation like some salacious sex or sadomasochism magazine, the public is appalled and dumbfounded.
Not in America or by Americans, people say. But that's not true. We, in this country, have a history of killing for selfish and misguided reasons. A few days ago in heated conversation about the Iraqi prisoner abuses, I couldn't help but drift to an image of the massacre at Sand Creek on Nov. 29, 1864. Five hundred to 600 Cheyenne and Arapaho were killed by U.S. soldiers. Many of the victims were children or women. The soldiers scalped some of the victims. The men knocked the brains out of babies, and many women were cut into pieces and their bodies mutilated.
Correspondence from the massacre report that women's private parts were taken from dead bodies and carried into Denver for a gory "show and tell." The trophies were greeted with cheers and praise by the community.
Col. John M. Chivington, commander of the unit that attacked the Cheyenne and Arapaho, said this was an act of duty to themselves and to civilization. Chivington and his troops felt justified in killing innocent woman and children because the community thought of Native people as savages - people who stood in the way of their way of life. So renegade warriors in that region retaliated by attacking settlers, killing and scalping them.
From reports, we now know the Native people at Sand Creek were innocent. They were living where the military told them they should live. John Smith, a U.S. Indian interpreter and special Indian agent, also lived with them. His testimony before Congress gave a vivid account of the massacre.
In the wars between the Native people and white soldiers, the U.S. troops had the advantage with more men and guns. When the tribes defended their land and retaliated to protect themselves, the military responded with force.
These people - the Native tribes - had offended them. So awful acts such as the Sand Creek massacre seemed justified. These people, after all, were "savages," as they were called by the government.
Has this kind of thinking pervaded some of American troops? The soldiers in this war constantly are reminded of the Sept. 11 attack, in which more than 3,000 people were killed. One of the barracks at the Abu Ghraib prison is named after a firefighter who died in that attack. Did the guards put the face of the attackers of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on the Iraqis they detained?
During a Minnesota Public Radio broadcast Monday, a caller, responding to a conversation about the "abuses" in the Iraqi prison, said this is war. To get information about further attacks, this is the way it is done and the United States shouldn't have to apologize.
Hmm, I thought. I wonder what kind of information they gleaned from the female prisoner while they were raping her?
Treating your fellow man with justice and dignity is something we should have learned from the past atrocities committed against Native Americans. Those who have the authority and control need to be vigilant and remember these are our fellow men, regardless of the color of their skin.
If full attention isn't given to what happened at the Iraqi prison Abu Ghraib, the effects on America may be devastating. This administration needs to pay attention to history.:twocents:[/QUOTE]__________________