I had it all planned out. My column would be a forthright condemnation of the treatment of Iraqi prisoners at the hands of American military personnel.

That changed.

The videotaped beheading of Nick Berg by terrorists brought me to my senses.

Yes, the treatment of Iraqi prisoners was abuse, it was uncalled for and it brought shame to any feeling American. I thought of calling for harsh penalties with long prison sentences for them but seeing the horrendous pressures put on these young, inexperienced soldiers I now think that is not the solution. What they need most is a lot of time in counseling, not prison.

I don't like people who blame their behavior on everything but themselves but these people were put in a terrifying situation they were ill prepared for. I don't think it's anyone's fault really, there are some things that just have to be experienced to be understood. For those situations, no amount of talking about what to expect will sufficiently prepare someone for the absolute barbarism rampant in Iraq at this time.

In retrospect, after hearing of the crimes of the Iraqis, the crime of the soldiers at Abu Ghraib wasn't that bad. The situation has been public since February but the national media only started howling about it once pictures were provided. The facts hadn't changed in the mean time, except for the better. It was only the media's perception that had changed. What was a fairly dry, fact-based story was transformed into a media firestorm by pictures that, in and of themselves, weren't that bad.

There is no comparison between the psychological mind games being played out at Abu Ghraib prison to extract information from the terrorists incarcerated there and the horrendous butchery that the terrorists are inflicting on civilian workers from all nations who are in the country merely to make life better for all Iraqis.

The civilian contractors are not combatants, they aren't fighting anyone. Saddam Hussein stole money from the oil-for-food program to build 48 palaces for himself in the decade since Gulf War I while he allowed the country to fall into disrepair. Billions of dollars meant to give humanitarian aid to Iraqi civilians was siphoned off and used to perpetuate their misery.

The civilian contractors are in Iraq to fix that situation. Their presence enhances the lives of Iraqi citizens by bringing them those things they had been denied by their own leadership. They help build plants to purify water, they build plants to generate electricity and the power lines to transmit it. They help to enhance the quality of life for all Iraqis, not to harm them in any way.

Earlier this year we saw four of those civilians attacked, burned and hung in what, up to that time, seemed to be the worst kind of bestiality. Now, with the death of Nick Berg, we are treated to a spectacle that shows a depth of depravity on the part of Iraqi terrorists that cannot be excused, for any reason.

No action by American or other coalition forces can be equated with the inhuman cruelty inflicted by these monsters. No action at Abu Ghraib prison can come close to the barbarity of the masked cowards who hacked at the neck of Nick Berg until his head was separated from his body, then held up to the camera.

Let's make sure that the guards who are responsible for the Iraqi prisoners have sufficient training and maturity to deal with the situation and move on to what's really important -- tracking down and punishing those who murdered the four civilian contractors earlier this year along with the masked butchers who killed Nick Berg.

Steve Moyer is a staff writer for the Nevada Daily Mail.