This was bound to happen. Nevertheless, it stings pretty hard. This from a Guardian writer, on the subject of the 15 captured British marines in Iran:

Turney may have been “forced to wear the hijab”, as the Daily Mail noted with fury, but so far as we know she has not been forced into an orange jumpsuit. Her comrades have not been shackled, blindfolded, forced into excruciating physical contortions for long periods, or denied liquids and food. As far as we know they have not had the Bible spat on, torn up or urinated on in front of their faces. They have not had electrodes attached to their genitals or been set on by attack dogs.

They have not been hung from a forklift truck and photographed for the amusement of their captors. They have not been pictured naked and smeared in their own excrement. They have not been bundled into a CIA-chartered plane and secretly “rendered” to a basement prison in a country where torturers are experienced and free to do their worst.

As far as we know, Turney and her comrades are not being “worked hard”, the euphemism coined by one senior British army officer for the abuse of prisoners at Camp Bread Basket. And as far as we know all 15 are alive and well, which is more than can be said for Baha Mousa, the hotel receptionist who, in 2003, was unfortunate enough to have been taken into custody by British troops in Basra. There has of course been a court martial and it exonerated the soldiers of Mousa’s murder. So we can only assume that his death – by beating – was self-inflicted; yet another instance of “asymmetrical warfare”, the description given by US authorities to the deaths of the Guantánamo detainees who hanged themselves last year.

When Iranian hostage-takers seem eminently civilized and immensely favorable when compared to being held by the United States of America, you know that someone in charge is doing a piss-poor job of maintaining American values. Like it or not, the Abu Ghraib prisoner standing hooded on a box with electrodes attached to him is now emblematic of American justice from an international standpoint. We are no longer known for our freedom and justice, we are instead now known for our torture and abuse. And, from the looks of the criticism from one of Britain’s own, neither can the United Kingdom. But you know that this never would have happened had not Good ol’ Dubya been at the helm. Only from his warped administration could such a state of affairs have been hatched.

When people would rather be held prisoner by Iran than by us, you know that George W. Bush has done a rather thorough and complete job of utterly destroying the image of the United States. No longer can we even begin to criticize countries like Iran for doing what they are doing without looking like complete hypocrites.

Thanks, George.