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05/31/2004:

"Abu Ghraib prompts denial, spin, evasion"

By Garrett Epps
www.registerguard.com

Psychologists have a term for it: "cognitive dissonance" - the tendency of human beings to reinterpret reality so it remains consistent with their beliefs. Leon Festinger, who coined the term a half-century ago, studied a religious group that believed the world would end on a set date. When nothing happened, the most committed members of the group didn't lose their faith; they simply "discovered" that their prayers had convinced God to spare mankind.

The revelations of torture and abuse by U.S. military personnel at Abu Ghraib are not the end of the world, of course; but they do challenge some of our deepest beliefs. So the national denial mechanism has begun to kick in. In the letters to the editor columns, on Fox News and on talk radio, the minimizations, evasions and denials are growing stronger every day. If we are to learn the lesson of Abu Ghraib, it's important not to fall into these fallacies. Below is a partial list, in roughly ascending order of perniciousness: Full Article