It seems that the mainstream media is picking up on this. Today’s [cleveland.com](http://www.cleveland.com), includes an [Associated Press blurb](http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1127904998326980.xml&coll=2) about the photos. The [New York Times](http://www.nytimes.com) actually has one of their own reporters [covering the story](http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/28/international/middleeast/28site.html), but that’s the Times for you. So what are they saying? The short(er) version from the military: “We’re looking into it.”
So the military is looking into it. They’re checking to see if this violates the Geneva convention or if the soldiers that posted these photos are in violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which defines conduct unbecoming of an officer or otherwise enlisted soldier. I’m going to take a wild guess and say… “YES.” If there is _any_ way to figure out who has been posting these photos, if any of these soldiers were brain-dead enough to use their real email addresses or reveal anything about their identities, I say we slap them with whatever the harshest punishment possible. Don’t just serve them up the [Lynndie England special](http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/iraq/bal-te.england28sep28,1,4507340.story?coll=bal-nationworld-headlines); make them realize that what they’ve done is _wrong._
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not a prude and, frankly, I don’t care about porn. Porn isn’t the real issue. The real issue is the exchange of porn for photos of dead and mutilated Iraqis and Afghanis. It’s the remarks made on those websites and how callous and cavalier most of these people are. I care about the fact that we are sending young men and women over to the desert to become the kinds of monsters that would torture prisoners and trade death for porn. Yeah, I said it: monsters. Many of our men and women serving in the military would never dream of doing this, but there needs to be a better eye on those that would. Those people are the ones endangering everyone over there.
The owner of the website said that he thought the soldiers’ photos and points of view were “newsworthy.” He was right, just in a very different way than he thought.
Related Post: [Snuff shots for porn. There√¢Ç«®Ç—¢s not enough words for this](http://www.distractedmind.com/2005/snuff-for-porn-theres-not-enough-words-for-this/)