LONDON - 19 May 2004 - 250 words
US bishops comment on abuse of Iraqi prisoners
Referring to recent photos of Iraqi prisoners tortured by US soldiers as "horrifying" and "disgusting," the chairman of the bishops' International Policy Committee said the abuse cases are a challenge to reflect on larger moral issues.
"The abuse and torture of Iraqi prisoners have brought shame upon our nation, is an affront to our most basic ideals, and will undermine legitimate efforts to confront the very real threats faced by our nation and the world," said Bishop John H Ricard, SSJ, of Pensacola-Tallahassee in a statement released on Monday.
Bishop Ricard said the prisoner abuse cases highlight "two related moral risks that could arise in responding to the horrors of September 11th and the difficulties in Iraq."
The first, he said, is a sense of "exceptionalism.
We can lose sight of the hard truth that the twin feelings of
victimization and moral superiority do not free us from the moral
obligation to uphold the basic rights even of our worst enemies
who, themselves, show contempt for such rights."
The second moral risk, Bishop Ricard said, occurs when "the
gravity of the threats we face tempts us to tolerate an ends-justify-the-means
morality."
"The moral challenge at this moment is to address the horrendous cases of abuse in a way that proves to the world and, most importantly, to ourselves that our nation has not succumbed to these risks," Bishop Ricard said.
Source: US Bishops Conference
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