Situational Ethics

If the death photo of an American killed in Iraq was being aired as relentlessly on television and the web as is the photo of al-Zarqawi, Americans, and our government, would express outrage. We have, in fact, objected to such a thing. And yet, our government, once again, feels under no obligation to refrain from doing what we demand others not do. The goverment released the photo. More than that- they framed it.

Do we believe in situational ethics? It appears so.

Furthermore, do we wish to create a culture of death, where photos such as this become perfectly acceptable to us- so long as they are the photos of the people we have declared "bad" and not of Americans?

As in the treatment of prisoners in war-time situations, if Americans do not want our bad actions to become the new standard in the world, we need to reform our behavior. I know others do worse. And I know they would do so regardless of what we do. But we are encouraging behavior that we at least say we abhor. We need to raise, not lower, the bar. The photographic (emphasize graphic) evidence of Abu Ghraib and Al-Zarqawi sets the bar low, and gives others justifications to mistreat Americans.

Merely another example of self-defeating behavior that is the result of a sense of American exceptionalism.

GP