War Crimes in Iraq: Is USA Guilty?

With Condoleeza Rice traipsing through Europe unashamedly advocating the torture and secret imprisonment of terrorists, the question of US War crimes in Iraq becomes even more pressing. The following article questions several knowledgeable authros on the subject, and puts to them the question, "Has the US committed War crimes in Iraq?":

In normal times, suggesting that the leaders of our country might have committed war crimes would violate a firm taboo in American political discussion. Yet in the post-Abu-Ghraib era—and especially as President Bush has quarreled with Congress over the McCain amendment prohibiting abuse of all detainees in U.S. custody—observers can no longer profess shock at the idea that criminal breaches of humanitarian law have occurred. According to a recent editorial in the Washington Post, the amendment "would mandate an end to the hundreds of cases of torture and inhumane treatment, many of them qualifying as war crimes, that have been documented by the International Red Cross, and the Army itself at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and in Afghanistan and Iraq, and elsewhere."

Not all taboos must be broken. Yet, this one about unquestioning loyalty to a leader in wartime when the smell of crimes against humanity arises must be broken.