Like Royalty

How times have changed. Seems like just yesterday that the US was rounding up mostly innocent Iraqis, packing them into disgusting prisons, torturing and humiliating them and then just wondering how come the battle for hearts and minds was going so bad. Not any more! I know because Corey Flintoff went to Camp Bucca in southern Iraq and talked to the outgoing and incoming commanders of the prison camp. Col. James Brown, the outgoing commander, tells him of the new waiting area, "We want to bring them here, treat them like royalty, make them know how welcome they are." According to Flintoff, Brown wants "Camp Bucca to reflect the American values of fairness and generosity."

We do hear that some visitors are upset at searches and guards that yell at them, but the incoming commander, Brig. Gen. Robert Hipwell, "says he's just as committed to making the visitation program as successful as it can be. But like Brown, he will face the difficulties of running a volatile detention camp and the cultural barriers between Iraqis and Americans." As Flintoff explains, "It may be that no amount of good will and hard work can make the experience a happy one."

Yep, all that good will and hard work just might not cut it...