I’ve been thinking about the latest horrors in Iraq, and once again I am thinking about the nature of responsibility. Various people are saying that the soldiers were possibly told what to do and how to do it by Military Intelligence. Some soldiers are claiming that they weren’t trained in how to handle prisoners. Our president has said that these actions were shameful and appalling.

But no one is apologizing. No one is taking responsibility. No one is saying “I’m sorry this happened and I’m going to do my best to make sure nothing like this happens again.”

I was loathe to say anything about the abuses in Abu Ghraib, because I don’t know anything about it other than what I’ve read, and my only claim to the situation is that those actions were taken in my name. So what is my responsibility in this? Should I stand up and say that this is wrong, and I do not approve of what has been done by my country in my name? Or are my words only joining the name calling and finger pointing?

Is it my responsibility to stand up and point out evil where I see it, to let people know that these actions were the actions of a few and that those who are part of the majority will not stand for such abuses? Or should I stay out of the way and allow those who know what they are talking take care of the problem, and be effective in their actions instead of drowning out those who could effective with a chorus of “Me too!�”

Where does my responsibility lie?

I think that perhaps I must stand up and point out wrongs where I see them. That perhaps silence is a tool of the enemy (and I don’t mean any specific enemy here, but rather the enemy that once might have been called Satan–the enemy of allowing evil to exist uncontested.)

The problem is that there are so many battles to be fought, and so little time in which to fight them.