Okay, this is an awful incident and I have no doubt the perpetrator acted in accordance with a type of "institutional permission" to ignore the interests of "suspects". But please, let's not lose perspective: (1) the guy was arrested and charged; (2) the story has seen the light of day and no one is punishing the press for reporting it; and (3) the lady actually has a reasonable expectation of being compensated.

Do you think any of the above would have or could have happened in the People's Republic of China?

Bad stuff will happen in the most civilized of societies but the true measure of our merit is how people in charge react when someone departs from recognized norms. This is why Abu Ghraib is, to me, especially upsetting -- along with WH's reaction to the Valerie Plame outing, and lots of other things that have happened over the last four years that seem to be taking us in the direction of where the PRC already is -- secret detention, official brutality with impunity and without expectation of recourse for the brutalized, and a general policy of strong arming anyone and everyone who disagrees with the official position.

when the abu ghraib photos appeared, the response was that this was due to a small group of perverts who will be prosecuted under the law. nothing here, move on. besides, you should be talking about the horrible things that happened at abu ghraib under saddam hussein anyway.

when the niagara incident was reported, the response was that this was an individual who will be prosecuted under the law. nothing here, move on. besides, you should be talking about the human rights situation in china anyway.

such beautiful symmetry.