"Face of human depravity" on view at Gitmo trial

So opines Margery Eagan in the Boston Herald.

She could be right.

But we've seen the face of human depravity before, have we not?

In fact, some might say that Gitmo is itself one face of human depravity. Or that the Bush-era invention, designed strictly to get around the rules of war, the "unlawful armed combatant" fantasy, is a face of human depravity.

And I think we had a glimpse of human depravity when those Abu Ghraib photos came out.

Not to mention the more recent pictures of our heroes pissing on dead Muslims.

Of course we all know that human depravity by far pre-dates 9/11 and the war on Islam.

Remember Mai Lai?

So it's not that I'm disagreeing with Ms. Eagan.

But we would do well to remember that our enemy of the moment doesn't hold a monopoly on human depravity.