A secret prison has been discovered in Baghdad, apparently run by one of the Iraqi militias, where detainees have been brutally abused:

Iraq’s government said today that it had ordered an urgent
investigation of accusations that 173 detainees found in the basement
of an Interior Ministry building had been tortured by their Iraqi
captors. A senior Iraqi official who visited the detainees said two
appeared paralyzed and others had had the skin peeled off their bodies
by their abusers.

    And this, of course, sets up the hollowest, most hypocritical protest of recent memory:

A joint statement by the American Embassy and the United States
military command called the situation "totally unacceptable" and said
American officials "agree with Iraq’s leaders that mistreatment of
detainees will not be tolerated."

    Not tolerated, it would seem, unless the US is doing the abusing.

    This is the clearest example of the loss of moral authority on the part of the US.  Maybe some readers will say that the US has never really had the moral authority it thinks it has – a fair criticism.  But, with the persistence on the part of the Bush administration in defending the US prerogative to mistreat, even torture, detainees, I don’t see why American officials should even bother to say anything.  No one will believe them; no one will respect what they say.  They do not deserve respect for their words, not when the government they represent is doing precisely what they are condemning.

    This sad tale makes me think of Confucius and his hesitation to simply accept laws or pronouncements as sufficient to preserve the moral life.  Morality, for Confucius, is performative.  You have to live morality in every daily action you take.  Words are empty if not preceded by moral action.  A leader who issues orders without having first rectified himself, will not be heeded, should not be heeded.

    The protests of American officials about the immorality of prisoner abuse have lost their moral standing.