Gya: A Daniel is found in the Caribbean media

THE STILL unfolding saga of prisoner abuse outside Baghdad is triggering intense debate worldwide not just about who in the U.S. military above the ranks of the seven junior soldiers implicated in the abuse knew about what was going on at Abu Ghraib. Or about Washington's record of adherence to, or violations of, international human rights conventions.

All that apart, debate has begun on the role of the press in disseminating news on the saga.

The abuse, and revelations about it, couldn't come at a worse time for the American people - or for all foreigners currently working in Iraq for that matter!

In spite of the tough, often controversial decisions they've had to make in their national interests, Americans have prided themselves as being a kinder, gentler people and a bulwark of support for people in other countries who have been denied the free exercise of their human rights.

For the incumbent Bush administration facing an upbeat Democratic challenge for the White House in Election Year 2004, the prison abuse revelations are notoriously embarrassing.

But Americans are a tough people who generally accept what their media reveal as part of the cultural heritage of a free society.

Read the rest. The big error is that the Democratic challenge is upbeat. Kerry is running the most negative, boring, backward-looking campaign that parrots modified Bush policy.