Michael Finucane (Fine Gael)

Senator Ormonde touched on an issue I wanted to raise. The Iraqi war has sunk to the lowest level of depravity based on the images we are seeing. The person who was beheaded was not even a soldier; he was in Iraq erecting antennae acting on behalf of a contractor. It is sickening.

The Americans, having entered the fray in Iraq on the first day, appear to have gone down a cul-de-sac. It appears they did not have a proper exit strategy. The images of what is happening to prisoners demonstrate that a tit for tat strategy is emerging, which is rather sickening. I also felt nauseous when I heard President Bush defending Mr. Rumsfeld, the Defence Secretary, in recent times.