Well Jeff Jacoby, you really are amazing. I disagree with you politically all the time. You are entitled to your opinion obviously and I am entitled to mine. That’s the beauty of living here. I can say what I want and you can say whatever (misguided) thing you want. But I think you downplaying what happened at Abu Ghraib could have disastrous consequences. In today’s editorial, you take issue with some remarks Ted Kennedy made and the lack of outrage from the media. Kennedy had this to say: “”On March 19, 2004, President Bush asked, ‘Who would prefer that Saddam’s torture chambers still be open?’ Shamefully, we now learn that Saddam’s torture chambers reopened under new management – US management.” And you find this completely insulting somehow, the likening of America to Saddam’s regime. Kennedy’s ‘vile calumny’ as you say was making a point that you somehow missed. It was not just a few Iraqis that were mistreated—it was a lot. And one is too many as far as I am concerned. I hold us Americans to the highest standards. We claim that we are better than the Saddam-era Iraqi regime, but we have yet to prove it. And the torture that we allowed to happen will not help us at all with what we want to achieve (or rather, what Bush wants to achieve). I understand that you support the war, but don’t get on your high horse about forgetting the war effort and the ‘chattering class‘ trying to score political points. The administration is doing their best to pretend that the atrocities at Abu Ghraib did not happen. “Just blowing off steam” I think is what a man from ‘your’ side said. We should not forget just like we do not forget the ‘jetliners smashing into the twin towers and Pentagon‘ that you think are related to the war (I will not even go into that issue now). It is important for us to remember how easy it is for power to corrupt lest it happen again (or keep happening). And if the administration dos not acknowledge the torture, we will not remember and the events could repeat themselves. History often does.