For crying out loud.

When news of the abuse of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison broke, Army Spc. Joseph Darby’s family said they were proud the soldier revealed photos documenting the mistreatment. But they never expected their own friends and neighbors would turn on them for what they considered a brave disclosure.

In a note to his commander, Darby, 24, described the incidents and photographs he had seen, depicting the abuse by people in his own unit, the 372^nd Military Police Company.

“We did not receive the response I thought we would. People were, they were mean, saying he was a walking dead man, he was walking around with a bull’s-eye on his head. It was scary,” Bernadette Darby, Joseph Darby’s wife, said today on ABC News’ Good Morning America.

Bernadette Darby said she was most surprised by the reactions of some of the people who knew their family.

“I received a reality check from the people in my community where Joe and I lived,” she said. “I mean, I was an EMT, I was a firefighter… I helped these people every day and then this happened and it was like everybody turned, you know, and I was very surprised.”

“Relatives of US Army Reserve Staff Sergeant Joseph Darby are living in protective custody due to death threats against them.”

Remember how John Kerry said he was going to create two new Army divisions so he can pursue his bigger, better, more, more, more vision of American military might?

Today, Dubya said he’ll just pull two Army divisions out of Germany. Seems a little more affordable to me, and it ought to encourage the people of Iraq to be more patient. Perhaps in another sixty years or so, we’ll start closing our bases there too.