SEE NO EVIL

There are those among us who've abandoned concepts of "good" and "evil"; preferring to see the world in shades of grey instead of a well defined black and white. Where do you stand? Take a look at the following situations; see if any cross the line into your personal definition of "evil".

From the Washington Post

Army Spec. Charles A. Graner Jr. was convicted Friday of abusing Iraqi detainees at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison in the fall of 2003. He was the first soldier to be tried on charges arising from the scandal, in which naked detainees were photographed in sexually humiliating positions alongside grinning soldiers. Seven other soldiers were charged in the scandal: Four have pleaded guilty, and three are awaiting trial.

Army 1st Lt. Jack Saville is awaiting a March trial on charges of involuntary manslaughter and aggravated assault in the death of an Iraqi who is alleged to have drowned after soldiers forced him into the Tigris River. Co-defendant Sgt. 1st Class Tracy Perkins was convicted on Jan. 7 of two counts of aggravated assault, obstruction of justice and assault consummated by battery in the same incident, which took place in January 2004.

Army Staff Sgt. Cardenas J. Alban was convicted Friday of murder and sentenced to a year of confinement for the alleged mercy killing of a severely injured Iraqi teenager. Alban is the second soldier convicted of shooting the wounded 16-year-old as U.S. forces battled an uprising in Sadr City in August. Staff Sgt. Johnny M. Horne Jr. pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three years in prison.

The Navy's top SEAL is deciding whether a SEAL lieutenant should face court-martial for assault, maltreatment and conduct unbecoming an officer for his handling of detainees at a U.S. military base in Iraq in 2003. Prosecutors said the lieutenant, who has not been identified, posed in degrading photos with a handcuffed and hooded prisoner who died a short time later. In all, nine SEALs and one sailor who served with them were implicated. Two received Article 32 hearings, one is awaiting court-martial and the rest received nonjudicial proceedings known as captain's masts.

Marine Maj. Clarke Paulus was convicted in November of dereliction of duty and maltreatment in a case stemming from the death of an Iraqi prisoner who was dragged out of his holding cell by the neck, stripped naked and left outside for seven hours in June 2003. Paulus, who commanded the Marine detention facility Camp Whitehorse in southern Iraq, was dismissed from the service.

Marine Sgt. Gary Pittman was sentenced to 60 days of hard labor and demoted to private after being convicted in September of abusing inmates at Camp Whitehorse. He was cleared of two other charges, including abusing a 52-year-old Iraqi man who died in custody.

Army Capt. Rogelio Maynulet faces court-martial in Germany for allegedly shooting and killing a man who was gravely wounded when U.S. fighters opened fire on his vehicle south of Baghdad. A fellow officer told a preliminary military hearing that dispatching the wounded man was "the compassionate response" on Maynulet's part.

From the London Telegraph

In a land where almost everyone has a horror story to tell, Jassem Aziz's experience of Sunni violence against Shias is particularly grisly. He holds back tears as he talks of how his cousin, Ahmed al-Bahadli, was murdered 10 days ago.

A Shia Muslim from the Sadr City slums of Baghdad, Ahmed had joined the new Iraqi National Guard, only to be killed in his patrol car when a bomb planted by insurgents exploded.

The next day, as his family took his coffin for burial in the holy Shia city of Najaf, 100 miles south of Baghdad, they were stopped at what purported to be a police checkpoint near the town of Iskandaria and ordered out of their minibus.

Insurgents wearing fake police uniforms shot and beheaded six of the mourners, including Ahmed's mother. Then they ripped Ahmed's body out of the coffin and decapitated him too.

"We found their bodies and heads scattered under some trees near the road," said Mr Aziz, who was travelling in a car behind and managed to flee. "It is too terrible to think about."

This was not an attempt to point out "moral equivalence" - though such argumants are valid - although lost on many the one thing these cases have in common is that the US Army is intent on bringing justice to the accused.