Matt, I agree. The numbers are tiny in comparison. And we are doing something about it - indeed, we already did. There was no such outrage over the mutilation of 4 US contractors killed a month or so ago in Iraq.

And, yes, any excuse or no excuse to vilify Bush. Any reason to say "what did he know and when did he know it?"

I think Bush's biggest problem, highlighted here and many other places, is he's too damn loyal. He won't fire Tenet; will he demand that people in charge here must go, not just reassigned or some other slap on the wrist?

At the risk of locating myself in the moral netherlands, I would make three observations about our abuse of prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison.

First, the somewhat hysterical reaction to these revelations in the West can only be understood in the light of the prevailing climate of political correctness. All of the injuries so far depicted are of a cultural and psychological nature: Arab males stripped naked and forced into humiliating sexual poses; Arab males stripped naked and exposed to the mocking gaze of female guards; Arab males bedecked with female underwear; and, worst of all, Arab males attached to wires and made to believe that they may be electrocuted or put to death if they fall off their perch.

All of these are forms of torture, without a doubt; even "atrocities," if you wish. But the "feelings" of the victims are not the sole determinants of the gravity of the crimes. American males who were thrown into prison and stripped naked by female guards who then proceeded to ridicule the size of their penises would certainly feel humiliated; some might even suffer permanent psychological damage. But few would prefer to have their eyes gouged out or their hands chopped off rather than suffer this indignity. Arab males profess to prefer a different choice, if you believe them. But is that all there is to be said about this matter? We do not allow the victim's feelings to determine the scope of punishment in any other context, so why should we do so here?

Second, from my perspective, the most appalling aspect of these revelations is the suggestion that either no one is in charge, or that the one in charge is making utterly whimsical tradeoffs.

How can a handful of enlisted personnel be engaged in a frolic of their own in an enterprise as serious the Iraq war? On the other hand, if military intelligence is making a deliberate calculation--"let's humiliate the hell out of 400 Arabs and if a single piece of useful information turns up it will all have been worth while"--what are they thinking? Devaluing Arab cultural sensitivities is one thing; treating them as moral ciphers not worth any consideration at all is an entirely different matter.

Finally, I now understand what Talleyrand meant when he said to Napoleon, "It was worse than a crime, sire; it was a blunder."