As this scandal widens--and America's image and credibility is further decimated--I can not help but ask myself, "What if there were no photos?" What if "60 Minutes II" and The New Yorker did not release the photographs and details of the abuse at Abu Ghraib prison? Would there have been such a loud and deafening cry of outrage here in America? No, there would not, because it is likely that we Americans would never have known about it. 

Allegations of abuse of Iraqi prisoners by American soldiers have been leveled way before this current scandal broke out. In a confidential report by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), leaked to the Wall Street Journal, some of the abuse was described as "tantamount to torture," and the report said that ICRC began briefing U.S. officials in May 2003, when Iraq was "liberated" and the President declared "mission accomplished." In October 2003, human rights groups had warned top American officials about sexually humiliating practices at Abu Ghraib prison. In fact, Nicole Choueiry, Middle East spokeswoman for Amnesty International in London, said: "[The Coalition Provisional Authority] knew about [the abuse of prisoners] for a long time." 

The damning report by Army Maj. General Antonio M. Taguba, which found "numerous incidents of sadistic, blatant, and wanton criminal abuses" inflicted on detainees, was completed in late February but detailed abuses committed between October and December of 2003. Yet, according to Seymour Hersh of The New Yorker, a major investigation into the Army's prison system was already under way in July 2003. This, along with reports by human rights groups, strongly suggest that abuse of Iraqi prisoners has been occurring for a very long time and was much more widespread than U.S. officials contend. Pierre Kraehenbuel, director of ICRC operations, said: "Our findings do not allow us to conclude that what we are dealing with...were isolated acts of individual members of coalition forces. What we have described is a pattern and a broad system." 

None of this was known to the American public before the ugly pictures were released. In fact, the Washington Post reported that "U.S. officials said Rumsfeld and the Pentagon resisted appeals in recent months from the State Department and the Coalition Provisional Authority to deal with problems relating to detainees." A senior State Department official said, "It's something Powell has raised repeatedly--to release as many detainees as possible--and, second, to ensure that those in custody are properly cared for and treated." What's more, Senator Carl Levin, ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in a hearing about the scandal: "And finally, Secretary Rumsfeld and General Myers, I join our chairman in expressing deep dismay that when you briefed senators in a classified session last week on events in Iraq, just hours before the story broke on television, you made no reference to the impending revelations." 

To his credit, Secretary Rumsfeld took full responsibility for his actions: "Let me be clear," he told the Committee, "I failed to recognize how important it was to elevate a matter of such gravity to the highest levels, including the President and the members of Congress." Nevertheless, had the pictures of Iraqi prisoner abuse not surfaced, the American people would most likely have been completely oblivious to the serious violations of human rights being committed by U.S. soldiers. This does every American a huge disservice. 

U.S. soldiers are the face of this country before the rest of the world. Everything they do, they do in all of our names. Thank God, the overwhelming majority of them give our country a wonderful name. But if they commit crimes, especially ones as heinous as those at Abu Ghraib, they stain all of America and every single American. Unfair perhaps, but true nonetheless. Far too many times has the American public been kept in the dark about the dubious actions of its government and military around the world. We need to know more about what our government does in our name. This is an essential part of the proper functioning of a democracy. To get caught with our pants down, to get "blindsided" by hideous photographs of sexual abuse of prisoners and then scramble to save face has done damage that is irreversible and irreparable.