Why am I not surprised?

Guess what? Our evangelical bigot General is now implicated in the mess at Abu Ghraib.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Army general under investigation for anti-Islamic remarks has been linked by U.S. officials to the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal, which experts warned could touch off new outrage overseas.

A Senate hearing into the abuse of Iraqi prisoners was told on Tuesday that Lt. Gen. William Boykin, an evangelical Christian under review for saying his God was superior to that of the Muslims, briefed a top Pentagon (news - web sites) civilian official last summer on recommendations on ways military interrogators could gain more intelligence from Iraqi prisoners.

Critics have suggested those recommendations amounted to a senior-level go-ahead for the sexual and physical abuse of prisoners, possibly to "soften up" detainees before interrogation -- a charge the Pentagon denies.

"This will be taken as proof that what happened at Abu Ghraib (prison) is evidence of a broader culture of dehumanizing Arabs and Muslims, based on the American understanding of the innate superiority of Christendom," said Chris Toensing, editor of Middle East Report, a U.S.-based quarterly magazine.

One Senate aide, who asked not to be identified, said any involvement by Boykin could be explosive. "Even if he knew about the abuse, that would be a big deal," he said.

Boykin was the genius who made friends in the area by saying that his 'god' was a bigger, better, shinier god that the 'allah' worshipped in Somalia, never mind that Allah is just another word for, uh, god.

Such sensitivity, such tact! And what a brilliant selection for the post he occupies.

Speaking of brilliant ideas, who was the genuis who decided that we should use Saddam's Torture Palace as a prison? Just think how much money we must have saved in renovations! Just splash some paint around and it's ready to occupy; now all you need to do is go out and (sorry, Rick) round up the usual suspects.

Why, if we'd had such leaders in charge in WWII, we could have quickly converted Auschwitz to... a resort! That's the ticket. With luxury time-share condos.