• Photos of abused Iraqi prisoners
• The Stanford Prison Experiment
• The Geneva Convention
• Biography, Seymour Hersh

Watch that last one, especially; we'll be hearing his name more in the weeks to come.

So, about those photographs of Iraqi civilians. How should the American soldiers be punished? How could anyone torture others in this way, much less an American soldier. Are you confused? Are you outraged?

Maybe you shouldn't be.

And perhaps the soldiers who abused their authority as guards shouldn't be held completely accountable for their actions. They are victims, in their own right. Now news reports are coming out, with reports that the soldiers had never been trained properly, nor even educated about adhering to the Geneva Convention. Were they educated about the psychology of imprisonment?

Controlled psychology experiments have been performed on healthy American civilians, to observe the frightening changes that take place when people are granted power over their peers. The Stanford Prison Experiment is perhaps the most important example.

After five days:

At this point it became clear that we had to end the study. We had created an overwhelmingly powerful situation -- a situation in which prisoners were withdrawing and behaving in pathological ways, and in which some of the guards were behaving sadistically. Even the "good" guards felt helpless to intervene, and none of the guards quit while the study was in progress. Indeed, it should be noted that no guard ever came late for his shift, called in sick, left early, or demanded extra pay for overtime work.

Reading all these studies and articles, I can tell myself that these soldiers, just kids, really, stuck in the desert, are lost and without guidance - that they were simply doing the best they could given the circumstances. I can almost convince myself that it's just a function of human psychology, and that the majority of the blame needs to be placed further up the chain of command. Almost.

Out of everything I've read, the following quote is by far the saddest, because it makes me realize that the smiling Sally Fields lookalike (shown pointing at naked captives, and posing with her thumbs up), was brought up by an ignorant mother with no sense of ethics, responsibility, or compassion. From MSNBC:

A Sun reporter on Thursday showed a photo of one of the nude prisoner scenes to Terrie England, who recognized her daughter, reservist Lynndie R. England, 21, standing in the foreground with her boyfriend.

"Oh, my God," she told the newspaper from the stoop in front of her Fort Ashby, W.Va., trailer home. "I can't get over this."

The alleged abuses of prisoners were "stupid, kid things... pranks," Terrie England said. "And what the (Iraqis) do to our men and women are just? The rules of the Geneva Convention, does that apply to everybody or just us?"

It makes me remember that our soldiers are just regular people, a cross-section of our whole country. They're not necessarily people we should call heroes, no matter how much we might try. They're just people. Some of them are even thugs, and jerks. When we can convince ourselves it's OK to dismiss war crimes and sexual assault as "kid pranks," we've crossed a line. At least we can still look up to Pat Tillman. As long as you're willing to overlook the felony assault charges.

The only hero in this story is the soldier who was brave enough or scared enough to break the silence, and speak out.

And our leaders?

"I didn't like it one bit," Bush added. "But I also want to remind people that those few people who did that do not reflect the nature of the men and women we've sent overseas. That's not the way the people are. It's not their character, that are serving our nation in the cause of freedom."

History would disagree with President Bush's comments, and my expectation is that over the next few months, more accounts of similar misdeeds will be everywhere. This is a war, and this is the sort of thing that goes on during a war. Bush has my sympathies, really - getting re-elected now will be a challenge, when nearly anyone can tell their story instantly, to an audience of the whole world.

Truth will be heard from a chorus of voices. There's no more holding it back.

posted by Lorna Brown at 9:33 PM

Well, now there's a non-specific, unsubstantiated threat against a West LA shopping mall. Quoted from NBC's website:

The advisory asks the public and mall security forces to look for:

• Multiple sightings of the same suspicious person, vehicle or activity at the same location;
• Individuals or activities that don't "fit" into the surrounding environment;
• Individuals sitting in a parked vehicle for an extended period of time;
• Individuals or several people sketching or taking notes, photographing or videotaping areas or buildings not normally associated with tourist activity;
• Clothing out of place for the weather, such as someone wearing a heavy coat in hot weather;
• Individuals or people carrying unusually heavy bags or backpacks;
• Vehicles -- especially vans, U-Hauls or delivery trucks -- improperly parked or parked in locations not normally associated with deliveries;
• Follow your instinct. If something doesn't look right, it might not be.

Well... I guess that means I should not use my new digital camera, since that might arouse suspicion. And I'd better not carry my journal, either. And I'm a good patriot, so I'll definitely have to be extra-certain that I fit in with my surrounding environment. I haven't got a truck or a van, just a nice, normal-seeming green BMW, so that's OK. And I'll make sure not to sit around in it doing nothing for too long. Plus sticking a few flag decals on it probably couldn't hurt. I definitely have to leave my old but still beloved Sony TRV-900 dv camera at home, because that might not look right to someone. And even if I'm cold, I won't wear clothes that someone might think unseasonable. It just wouldn't be right.

I guess I'm relieved in a way - having all this technology at my disposal is really a lot of responsibility. But I have to admit, I'll really miss having the freedom to draw pictures outside of the safety of my own home.

If you haven't yet registered to vote, please go do so. And when you do - please follow your instinct. If something doesn't seem right, it might not be.

posted by Lorna Brown at 3:29 AM

Who's your favorite for the draft this year? Oh, and I hear the NFL is having a draft, too. Parents are understandably concerned about the future of their children.

posted by Lorna Brown at 3:09 AM

Military coffins returning from Iraq, photographed at Dover Air Force Base. Remember all the flags that appeared after 9/11/01? Decals slapped hastily on bumpers, like some kind of contest to see who was the most patriotic. Many cars sported five or six flag emblems. How different it is to see the same symbol today.

posted by Lorna Brown at 10:58 PM

How does that go again?

Does Art imitate Life, or does Life imitate Art? It's just been so confusing lately.

posted by Lorna Brown at 6:14 PM

You can never have too many friends, or too many blogs. So here's my latest creation: living los angeles... finding nature in an urban landscape. Enjoy!

posted by Lorna Brown at 2:25 AM

For Japanese Hostages, Release Only Adds to Stress

What a heartbreaking article, from the NYTimes.

posted by Lorna Brown at 7:34 PM

Wow.... this takes me back. geos, v2.0. How did they ever get the screenshots?

posted by Lorna Brown at 8:46 PM

From WildfireJo, an English activist in Iraq. This is some of the most unsettling writing I've come across, and it is probably not suitable for sensitive readers:

Saad comes onto the bus to wish us well for the journey. He shakes Dave’s hand and then mine. I hold his in both of mine and tell him “Dir balak,” take care, as if I could say anything more stupid to a pre-teen Mujahedin with an AK47 in his other hand, and our eyes meet and stay fixed, his full of fire and fear.

Can’t I take him away? Can’t I take him somewhere he can be a child? Can’t I make him a balloon giraffe and give him some drawing pens and tell him not to forget to brush his teeth? Can’t I find the person who put the rifle in the hands of that little boy? Can’t I tell someone about what that does to a child? Do I have to leave him here where there are heavily armed men all around him and lots of them are not on his side, however many sides there are in all of this? And of course I do. I do have to leave him, like child soldiers everywhere.

posted by Lorna Brown at 2:47 AM

Bake sale for democracy: Coming tomorrow to a neighborhood near you!

posted by Lorna Brown at 7:29 PM

Noah Grey is an extraordinary photographer, he has the most awesome paper shredder on the planet, but he can write beautifully too. This is what we nerds call a triple threat:

posted by Lorna Brown at 8:20 PM

Sorry for the politics here, but I can't even believe what I've just read. The most specific intelligence report surrounding the 9/11 hijackers never made it across the President Bush's desk. Why? Well, he was on vacation that month:

posted by Lorna Brown at 6:31 PM

Hey, the LiveJournal Pictures script got killed from all the weblove. There's a mirror up at Nerdblog.com, go see.

posted by Lorna Brown at 12:28 AM

Happy Easter, everyone!

posted by Lorna Brown at 6:51 PM

Rare, "semi-unique" stargazing experience, as five planets align.... check it out at dusk!

posted by Lorna Brown at 4:36 PM