EDITORIAL - The world has been shocked by the wanton brutality of the treatment of Iraqi prisoners of war at the hands of American soldiers. No matter what "circumstances" these criminals may try to concoct in order to marshal some futile defense of their actions, there never is, and there never will be, any justification for these crimes against Humanity. What a shame it is that a few psychopaths could put such a dark stain of shame on America's honor.

While America wrestles with trying to investigate how, what, and why these terrible events happened, the average citizen can only stand aghast at how some of our own could sink to such depths of depravity. While countless others have tried to put words to America's outrage at what has happened or tried to explain what went wrong, there is one single dark truth that everyone knows but is ashamed to admit. Our soldiers have behaved like Islamic terrorists.

We would like to think that the world shares our outrage at these events. Maybe common anger from all sides could somehow help all peoples involved in this War see our common humanity and take the first steps to a day when there will be peace between us. Perhaps both Americans and Islamists will see the fruits of hatred and lawlessness are always vile and must be eliminated at all cost. Unfortunately, this is just an overly optimistic dream. Despite the fact that the Arab world has erupted in protests and the standard ubiquitous cries for revenge and murdering of innocent civilians, they are not angered by the events in Iraq for the same reasons as we. In fact, the Islamic response to the abuse of these Iraqi prisoners of war is no indication of the "Arab Street's" humanitarianism, but merely a grotesque reflection of their society's age old intolerance, racism, and cultural imperialism.

The Moslem world is not angered by the fact that Americans have committed crimes against fellow human beings. They are outraged that Americans would have the audacity to do such things against Moslems. There was no Islamic outcry at the mutilation of American contractors in Falling (actually, many Moslem clerics spoke out stating that the slaughter and dismemberment of prisoners was in complete compliance with Islamic Law and the traditions of the Prophet Mohammed). It was a good thing when Daniel Pearl had his head chopped off for the crime of being born a Jew. And the "Arab Street" which is now lamenting the humiliation (not death) of these prisoners, was the same "Arab Street" cheering and celebrating the deaths of thousands of Americans on 9/11. Islamic fundamentalists are upset because these renegade Americans did not "know their place". They treated Moslems in the same way Islamists feel they have the right to treat everybody else.

For over 1000 years, the Islamic Empire spread its faith over the world by the sword. During this time, all non-Moslems were offered the same three choices as prescribed by Sharia Law. 1. Convert to Islam. 2. Accept Moslem rule and subject yourself to the second class citizenship status of Dhimmi (a system of codified discrimination which, despite modern day euphemisms about its "tolerance", made Jim Crow Laws look open minded and compassionate by comparison). Or, 3. Die. Under these violent dictates, Islam became the preeminent power in the world, endowing Moslems with a sense of invincibility and superiority due to their successes. They saw their power and riches as testament to the fact that Islam was the one true faith, and that their control of the world was preordained by Allah. However, Islamic society was eclipsed by the West and eventually collapsed into a shadow of its former self. The Moslem world has never been able to adequately deal with their decline and the success of the West, and it has caused a cultural crisis of faith. Has Allah abandoned them? Have they strayed from the faith? Or is Islam not the one true religion after all? This fear is the root of all Islamic terrorism today.

While modern day Christians view the Crusades and Inquisition as blasphemies and perversions of the faith, Moslems view their bloody past as the good old days and the road to their retaining global supremacy. Islamists have lost all of the learning and glory of Islam's past and have been left with nothing but a 1400 year old system of religious dictated warfare, and a massive inferiority complex (quite a dangerous combination). The greatest tragedy of the abuse of the Iraqi prisoners is that it has reignited these insecurities that will lead to nothing but more bloodshed.

Moslems are by no means evil or bad people. They, like us, are products of our cultural upbringings. However, this does not mean that we can simply brush aside these very real differences and pretend that the people of the Middle East are just like us. They are not. If America is going to be an agent of peace and democracy in the Mid-East then we have to realize, accept, and deal with this reality. The abuse of the Iraqi prisoners of war has brought this problem into sharp focus. Moslems should be appalled at the behavior of our POW guards in the same ways we are. But they are not. They are angry for all he wrong reasons, and those reasons are the very causes of terrorism.