quarta-feira, 5 de maio de 2004

As fotografias da ignomínia

«But these photos are us. Yes, they are the acts of individuals (though the scandal widens, as scandals almost inevitably do, and the military's own internal report calls the abuse "systemic"). But armies are made of individuals. Nations are made up of individuals. Great national crimes begin with the acts of misguided individuals; and no matter how many people are held directly accountable for these crimes, we are, collectively, responsible for what these individuals have done. We live in a democracy. Every errant smart bomb, every dead civilian, every sodomized prisoner, is ours.»

(Philip Kennicott, «A Wretched New Picture Of America, Photos From Iraq Prison Show We Are Our Own Worst Enemy», Washington Post, 5 de Maio, 2004)