Abuse in Guantanamo?

No one doubts the handful of abuses that have taken place at the prison in Guantanamo.

There are those who will go out of their way to tell you how these abuses are ordered from on-high, without explaining why only a few are following these imaginary orders. They'll also selectively ignore the fact that the military is a microcosm of the U.S. population and - just as there are Americans who will not follow the rules, there are service members who do not follow the rules as well.

While these same people are (intentionally?) misleading you about the prisoner abuses, they're also conveniently leaving-out the rest of the story.

Duncan Hunter, House Armed Service Cmte Chairman, recently sent for the menu at Guantanamo - so the average American could fully grasp the extent to which we are brutalizing these prisoners. On the menu for last Sunday:

- Orange glazed chicken
- Fresh fruit
- Steamed peas and mushrooms, and
- Rice pilaf

Want to know what one of these abuses these prisoners had to endure was?

- Eating the same Meal Ready to Eat (MRE) that American Soldiers eat on a regular basis.

That's torture?

Want to know what one of these abuses these prisoners had to endure was?

So, while the prisoners are eating better than they ever have, they're also receiving copies of their holy book - the Quran - at U.S. taxpayer expense. Additionally, their five-times-per-day prayer schedule is reinforced by their American torturers.

How's about these critics tell you that we're not even permitted to carry our religious books in many of the countries our captives call home... and God save us should we be so brazen as to pray in front of them just once - forget five times a day!

Granted, many of the critics would just assume defecate on American service members than deliver the complete truth about the prisons, but let's remove me and my comrades from the picture for just a second. These critics are cut from the same cloth that has brought milk and cookies to the American prison system. How do you suppose the critics are going to reconcile that the military feeds its prisoners better than the prison system feeds its prisoners?

It's things like the menu and religious freedom that are reinforced from our leadership, not torture. Anyone who wants to pretend otherwise knows better - and will stop at nothing to regain partisan power. Their goal is not to provide leadership, but to weild power... and that goal is no different than the goal of terrorists worldwide.

Is it any wonder the critics aren't telling the truth about the abuses in Guantanamo? The true abuses lie in the critics' abuse of the whole truth. Had any of them the courage to serve - and find out for themselves firsthand - they might realize that truth.