John Spratt: “there is nothing we hold in trust more sacred than the good name of America, and the good name of our great country is…”

“there is nothing we hold in trust more sacred than the good name of America, and the good name of our great country is at stake. We have been defiled, maligned, if not damaged irreparably in some parts of the world; and we cannot diminish the consequences. Just as the world has been fixated on those revolting photographs, the world is watching now to see what America will do, not what we will say, but how we will respond in fact. We should first of all rise up in indignation and outrage and condemn these atrocities and not diminish them. I do not care whether six soldiers or 600 were involved. We should make it unmistakably clear that this is conduct that Americans will not tolerate, we will not diminish, we will not excuse, and we will punish with severity. But our response cannot end with just indignation or even an abject apology. We must make every effort to find out what was involved in these atrocities, who was involved in these atrocities, directly involved, and involved in a supervisory capacity up the chain of command and down the chain of command, wherever it leads; and we must punish everybody who is culpable in a way that makes clear this is despicable conduct which we will not abide in the United States of America.…”