I feel sorry for Lynddie England. She was nobody- a cog in a machine- and suddenly (because she thrust her grinning mug into some dodgy photos) she's branded for life as The Unacceptable Face of American Imperialism.

We are tough on female celebrity criminals. Here in Britain a woman called Maxine Carr is about to be released from prison. She was the girl-friend of a notorious child-murderer and as such might be considered (in a minor way) to be one of his victims. But she made the mistake (probably believing in his innocence) of lying to the police to give him an alibi. And now she has been demonized and the disgusting tabloid newspapers are going to be pursuing her for ever and a day.

Carr looks a lot like England. She is puckish and slightly built. Why do we choose these poor, dim, powerless females to serve as our scapegoats?