The Moral Blindness of Glenn Reynolds

I see Glenn Reynolds, of Instapundit fame, is whining that he did not drop Zeyad, an Iraqi blogger whose cousin was murdered by US soldiers in Iraq — as I wrote in today’s column – and that

“Actually, I played a big role in drawing attention to what happened to Zeyad’s cousin, and continued to link to him regularly for years afterward until he came to the States, as a simple search for “Zeyad” in my archives will reveal. I actually hadn’t realized he was back in Iraq and blogging again. I haven’t paid enough attention to what’s going on in Iraq lately, but over the past couple of years I’ve been preoccupied with disasters closer to home, alas.

“Anyway, if Justin has any decency, he’ll retract and apologize. I’m not holding my breath, though.:

Okay, let’s take a look at the archives. Hmmmm…. Here what is Glenn had to say about poor Zeyad and the fate of his cousin – drowned by sadistic US troops in occupied Iraq – and I quote:

“July 02, 2004

“THE WHEELS OF JUSTICE: For quite a few months now I’ve been harping on a story of U.S. troop misconduct originally broken by Iraqi blogger Zeyad. (Most recent roundup, with links to earlier accounts, here; original post here). And now we see something is happening:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Army has charged four soldiers, three of them with manslaughter, over the drowning of an Iraqi prisoner while a new report criticized U.S. military detention policies, officials said on Friday.

Newspaper reports in Colorado, where the soldiers were based, said they were accused of forcing two Iraqis to jump off a bridge in the city of Samarra, north of Baghdad, on January 3. The men had been picked up for violating a curfew.

One of the Iraqis swam to the river bank but the other drowned, according to the reports.

“For a while it looked as if there might be a coverup. I’m glad that turned out not to be the case. I don’t know whether this case would have come to the attention of the authorities without Zeyad’s blog, but I certainly think that it’s helped to keep the pressure on. So far, Zeyad hasn’t posted anything about it on his blog, but I imagine that he will.

“UPDATE: Read this.”

Yes, “something” was happening, alright, and it was precisely a cover-up, but Glenn never acknowledged that. His “spin” was revealed in the last link, which takes us to something called “The Mudville Gazette,” wherein Mr. Mud avers:

“Must note, however, the linked Reuters piece alternates paragraphs of this story with bits of a report on mistreatment of prisoniers at Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, and elsewhere. Not really the same story, except that both involve Soldiers …”

But of course it is the same story: the brutality and outright evil of the US military occupation. And as for Glenn’s hailing this incident as an example of how there will be no cover-up, check out what he has to say when the verdict comes in, six months or so later:

“January 08, 2005

“HERE’S AN UPDATE in the case involving Zeyad’s cousin:

FORT HOOD, Texas (AP) — An Army sergeant took the stand and tearfully apologized to his family, commanding officers and subordinates Saturday, a day after being convicted of aggravated assault for ordering his soldiers to throw Iraqis into the Tigris River.

“If I had to go back, I would definitely do something different on those days,” Army Sgt. 1st Class Tracy Perkins said, wiping away tears.

Perkins, 33, was convicted Friday of two counts of aggravated assault, a charge of assault consummated by battery and a charge of obstruction of justice. He was acquitted of involuntary manslaughter in the alleged drowning of one of the men. . . .

Perkins and another soldier were accused of ordering soldiers to push the two Iraqis into the river in Samarra in January 2004. Prosecutors say Zaidoun Hassoun, 19, drowned and his cousin, Marwan Hassoun, climbed out the river.

Marwan Hassoun testified that he tried to save his cousin by grabbing his hand, but the powerful current swept Zaidoun away. Marwan said the body was found in the river nearly two weeks later.

“I don’t know whether this verdict is just or not, but at least the matter wasn’t swept under the rug. Directory of earlier posts on this subject here.

UPDATE: The story I link above has been updated, and says that the sentence is 6 months, which seems to me to be very light.”

So these thugs are essentially let off, with only one being charged with “aggravated assault” – and acquitted of manslaughter – and we are told by Reynolds “I don’t know whether this verdict is just or not.” In his view it could be “just,” but he’s no sure, or, perhaps, he’d rather not say. After hearing the sentence, though – six months for a senseless murder – he opines that it “seems” to him to be “very light.” Oh, and don’t forget: there was no cover-up!

And that’s the last we ever heard on Instapundit of Zeyad’s murdered cousin, and Zeyad, for that matter, a blogger who was formerly held up as an example of a “pro-American” (i.e. pro-invasion) Iraqi, and abruptly dropped not only by Senor Reynolds, but also the “war-bloggers” who did all the cheerleading for the “war on Islamo-fascism” in the early days of the invasion. We, of course, did not drop Zeyad, but pursued the matter a bit more vigorously than Zeyad’s former friends here, and followed Zeyad’s acerbic observations on the invasion he had once wholeheartedly supported here.

“I haven’t paid enough attention to what’s going on in Iraq lately,” avers Glenn, “but over the past couple of years I’ve been preoccupied with disasters closer to home, alas.” Of course he hasn’t paid attention: if he did, he’d have to admit that the war he wanted, agitated for, and hailed as a great triumph was in reality a monstrous crime.

“DO NOT TRUST CONTENT FROM JUSTIN RAIMONDO” – That’s the headline the clueless Instapundit gives to his whining, complete with the all-caps. Well you can hit that all-caps button all you want, Glenn baby, but it won’t do you any good.

 If anybody ought to be in retraction mode, it’s The Instapudit, whose insta-moral judgements reveal a lack of any moral sense. He ought to retract not only his stupid attack on me, but also his support for the Iraq war, which installed a repressive regime in Iraq of the very sort Reynolds and his ilk supposedly abhor. But, as he would say, I’m not holding my breath.