Where Is the Outrage?

The deaths of two American soldiers, PFC Kristian Menchaca and PFC Thomas Tucker, were barbaric. Captured by Islamic jihadists, these uniformed members of the American Armed Forces should have been treated as POWs in accordance with the Geneva Convention. Instead, they were tortured and mutilated so much that DNA samples were required for positive identification. Among other brutal acts carried out on them, their hearts were cut out. The jihadists claiming responsibility have said this is retaliation for the death of al-Zarqawi. Al-Zarqawi was killed in an attack on a known enemy headquarters during a war in which he was a leading enemy figure. Menchaca and Tucker were not merely killed; they were tortured in excruciating fashion. Their deaths were not the result of combat, but the result of barbaric treatment as captured POWs.

My thoughts here are not a call for revenge of any kind. They are a call for the expression of outrage that should be accompanying every report about these atrocities. Yet, American mainstream media and human rights organizations remain hauntingly silent about this brutality. At the same time, Americans are filled with the daily parade of accusations of "torture, war crimes, and various human rights violations" by Americans. This, too, should fill us with outrage.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has called the Iraq war "illegal." Was it America that filled mass graves with hundreds of thousands of murdered Iraqi citizens?

In May, Human Rights Watch accused the U.S. of "brutalizing Muslim suspects in the name of the war on terror," How many Americans have strapped bombs to their chests and detonated themselves in crowds of civilians?

Amnesty International highlights America's use of "torture or other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment " against jihadist captives (POWs). How many prisoners have Americans brutally beheaded, mutilated, mangled, and tossed back on a deserted street?

Even though these brave soldiers' barbaric deaths came at the hands of brutal murderers, not combatants, this is again not a call for revenge. It is not even a call for these particular Islamo-fascist murderers (practioners of the "religion of peace") to be hunted down and "brought to justice." This is a war, not a police action.

My call, then, is two-fold: First, and most important, this is a call for victory. This is a call for our leadership, both political and military, to prosecute this war as necessary, and within the rules of engagement directing our forces on the ground, to achieve an overwhelming victory over those who have made themselves enemies of humanity. Documents captured from al-Zarqawi convincingly demonstrate that the Islamo-fascists in Iraq are deeply concerned about their ability to continue the battles there. Finish the task, then, by both enabling the Iraqis in their self-defense and by militarily defeating these inhumane enemies. Second, this is a call for equal treatment, at least, by our own media and by human rights organizations. In the absence of any "Ernie Pyles," at least report evenly to the American people about the atrocities perpetrated by the Islamo-fascists on American soldiers and Iraqi citizens. If this simple act of doing your job cannot be accomplished, then quit blowing smoke about your so-called "objective reporting." Quit labeling Americans as torturers when POWs in our care are given better care than many had as combatants, including the freedom to exercise their practice of the "religion of peace." Quit whining about being called unpatriotic when you provide free sources of propaganda for al-Jazeera and our enemies.