On Wed, 5 May 2004 00:10:29 -0700, Mike Lee <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Gary Denton, credulous to the last drop:
> > Also, because he was not a soldier but a contractor he isn't > > facing charges. �We don't want to put him in an Iraqi prison, > > no crime has been committed in the US, and the US doesn't > > recognize the World Court. > > Where do you get this shit? Seriously, I want to know. > > And fuck the World Court with Lynndie's strapon, by the way. I should add to my previous and inform the incredulous Mike Lee this is now making it's way to mainstream US press. Begin - Boston Globe:Civilians ID'd in abuse may face no charges A legal loophole could allow four American civilian contractors allegedly involved in the abuse of Iraqi prisoners to escape punishment, US military officials and specialists said yesterday... US commanders in Iraq announced that seven military supervisors have received administrative reprimands over the alleged abuse of the detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad. Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, commander of US forces in Iraq, said the investigation into the supervisors -- officers and non-commissioned officers -- was complete and they would not face further proceedings. ... But the four civilian workers identified in an internal army report for their involvement in the physical and sexual mistreatment of the prisoners -- including the alleged rape of one detainee -- cannot be punished under military law, and it is unclear whether they will face any charges under either US or Iraqi laws. end Boston Globe http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/05/04/civilians_idd_in_abuse_may_face_no_charges?mode=PF If Nixon's PR guy, who runs FOXNEWS with memos containing �the talking points for the day, permits it, you might eventually hear this stuff Mike. I also dislike the blame you and the others are placing on these poor misguided soldiers in the Army on this. �The key word here is misguided. � There was a systemic and ongoing problem with abuse and even deaths of prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan. �This was an military intel and CIA operation whose operative and civilian contractors gave guidance and procedures to follow. �There had been three separate Army generals writing reports which the pentagon had for months and refused to act on. � The NYT reports, "In the last 16 months, the Army has conducted more than 30 criminal investigations into misconduct by American captors in Iraq and Afghanistan, including 10 cases of suspicious death, 10 cases of abuse, and two deaths already determined to have been criminal homicides, the Army's vice chief of staff said Tuesday." http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/05/international/middleeast/05ABUS.html The U.S.-appointed Human Rights Minister in Baghdad, Abdul-Basat al-Turki, said yesterday "he had resigned to protest abuses by American guards." He claims he is stepping down "not only because I believe that the use of violence is a violation of human rights but also because these methods in the prisons means that the violations are a common act." http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/bal-te.prisoners05may05,0,7635909.story According to the Financial Times, "It has become commonplace for George W. Bush and Tony Blair to assert that the insurgents are enemies of democracy, but it is the US that most Iraqis see as anti-democratic. This is a disastrous image for a nation that waged a war promising freedom and democracy." http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1083180270210&p=1012571727088 The NYT(earlier link) writes, "the Pentagon, the State Department and the White House had difficulty explaining why they had not acted earlier and more aggressively to deal with the abuse." One reason: No one wants to admit to having read the report. According to the LA Times, the White House has known about the investigation since December. http://www.latimes.com/news/custom/showcase/la-fg-blame5may05.story The report was completed in February. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Richard B. Myers called Dan Rather at CBS three weeks before the story ran and asked the network to hold it; this past Sunday, questioned on Face the Nation, Myers admitted he still hadn't read the report himself. http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1083678825499_8/?hub=Entertainment I believe I also saw three week delay admission on Charlie Rose and Nightline. Two days after Myers's admission, President Bush still hadn't read the report and his press secretary attempted to shield him, claiming the president "only become aware of the photographs and the Pentagon's main internal report about the incidents from news reports last week." http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/05/international/middleeast/05COMM.html And Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, commenting on the report for the first time yesterday, said while he'd seen a summary and recommendations from the investigation, he hadn't read the full report. http://www.defenselink.mil/transcripts/2004/tr20040504-secdef1423.html The report is 53 pages. It is available online. What are they waiting for? http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4894001/ We had lost the hearts and minds campaign in Iraq before this but it puts the nail in the coffin. The Christian Science Monitor in a report from an analyst doing interviews in Baghdad "It simply confirms what people already think about the Americans." http://csmonitor.com/2004/0503/p06s01-wome.html Of course, some �people reading Robert Fisk, a favorite target of the online right wing nuts, could see this coming since last year as there were several reports of the atrocities and the thugs who worked for Saddam in the prison were being rehired. I'll just direct you to my links on this: http://elemming2.blogspot.com/2004_05_04_elemming2_archive.html#108370812136673247 You know, I have been going back and reading all the "nutty" and "unAmerican" things I and "lunatic American hating leftists" have said since the August before the war and comparing it to the things the conservative rightists and the administration has said. We have clear been more civil, as Mike Lee demonstrates, and incredibly more correct. I can even find something those "cheese eating surrender monkeys" said before the war which seems appropo. On March 19, 2003, the day before the US "coalition" invaded Iraq, Dominique de Vellepin, the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, said the following words to the UN Security Council. � Make no mistake about it: the choice is indeed between two visions of the world. To those who choose to use force and think they can resolve the world's complexity through swift and preventive action, we offer in contrast determined action over time. For today, to ensure our security, all the dimensions of the problem must be taken into account: both the manifold crises and their many facets, including cultural and religious. Nothing lasting in international relations can be built therefore without dialogue and respect for the other, without exigency and abiding by principles, especially for the democracies that must set the example. To ignore this is to run the risk of misunderstanding, radicalization and spiraling violence. This is even more true in the Middle East, an area of fractures and ancient conflicts where stability must be a major objective for us. To those who hope to eliminate the dangers of proliferation through armed intervention in Iraq, I wish to say that we regret that they are depriving themselves of a key tool for other crises of the same type. The Iraq crisis allowed us craft an instrument, through the inspections regime, which is unprecedented and can serve as an example. Why, on this basis not envision establishing an innovative, permanent structure, a disarmament body under the United Nations? To those who think that the scourge of terrorism will be eradicated through the case of Iraq, we say they run the risk of failing in their objectives. The outbreak of force in this area which is so unstable can only exacerbate the tensions and fractures on which the terrorists feed. http://www.un.int/france/documents_anglais/030319_cs_villepin_irak.htm I think people should judge which has been the more correct side. And note what happens to the violence promoters when things turn against them. � Links provided from many sources. Gary Easter Lemming Liberal and proud of it _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
