The Iraq prisoner abuse scandal shifted Sunday to the question of whether the Bush administration set up a legal foundation that opened the door for the mistreatment. Within months of the Sept. 11 attacks, White House counsel Alberto Gonzales reportedly wrote President Bush a memo about the terrorism fight and prisoners' rights under the Geneva Conventions."In my judgment, this new paradigm renders obsolete Geneva's strict limitations on questioning of enemy prisoners and renders quaint some of its provisions," Gonzales wrote, according to the report in Newsweek magazine. Secretary of State Colin Powell "hit the roof" when he read the memo, according to the account.
Asked about the Gonzales memo, the White House said, "It is the policy of the United States to comply with all of our laws and our treaty obligations." (from yesterday's Washington Post,
"Abuse Scandal Focuses on Bush Foundation")
At least as of February, many of the 100 or so prisoners categorized by American officials as "high value detainees" because of the special intelligence they are believed to possess, had been held since June 2003 for nearly 23 hours a day in strict solitary confinement in small concrete cells without sunlight, according to a report by the International Committee of the Red Cross.While not tantamount to the sexual humiliation and other abuses inflicted on Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib prison, the conditions have been described by the Red Cross as a violation of the Geneva Conventions, the international treaty that the Bush administration has said it regards as "fully applicable" to all prisoners held by the United States in Iraq. (from today's New York Times, "Some Iraqis Held Outside Control of Top General")
I thought the United States withdrew from an ecological treaty obligation rather than comply, or am I missing something there?
Posted by: Eric on May 17, 2004 11:16 AM#169 - More Cognitive Dissonance ???? Are you for real?
The idea that Kerry is a better candidate than Bush because Bush is somehow responsible for the so-called abuse or mistereatment of prisoners is not only absurd but also offensive.
Not liking the President is one thing. Saying that iraqi prisoners are being mistreated and therefore vote for Kerry is a non-sequitor, unintelligent and an obvious play to emotion.
The Iraq prisoner abuse scandal shifted Sunday to the question of whether the Bush administration set up a legal foundation that opened the door for the mistreatment. Try this:http://home.comcast.net/~politov/
Posted by: Vincent Polito on May 17, 2004 09:42 PMThe Nazis (I'm only saying Nazis because everyone links that word to the military power of Germany in WW2) most likely acted in better conduct than these American soldiers now, infact there were more rapes by American soldiers on their own soil than the German soldier. People can bitch about the harsh conditions all they want but they really don't have it as bad as the German soldiers (there are a good example) had it, they need to be disciplined better. I don't think we should forget about it or turn a blind eye until the public sees any changes. As soon as ANYONE heard about this they should've let the public know. Ronald fuckface was keeping a nice smile on his face while Iraqi prisoners were being abused in such a manner, and not just them exclusively, British, Danish and God knows (One excuse I heard from a ill-informed pre-pubescent twat was "they were terrorists so they deserved it, after all they would do the same" or something along them lines, I really doubt that they were all terrorists, most of them were in there for simple petty crimes, no one can really justify it) were also among the people mistreated.
Warfare has really changed, there are little excuses left, and the president can't keep smiling and holding up his stars and stripes copy while god knows what the soldiers are doing. The public have been kept in the dark about this that they are naturally outraged, just keep saying that the majority of the soldiers don't act that way and that you didn't know Bush and you might make it into a second term... Get rid of this bum now, it is disgracing your country to have such a blatant moron running the country.
Vincent, that link is complete rubbish, it is 2 paragraphs in big fat white writing written by someone believing that there soldiers are good little boys all the time. Here's news for them: Yes they do dribble on about them for there own political purposes, but they kept it quiet and will be eager to "move on" and get this bad PR out of the news. Bush just has to say he's outraged and demand a investigation and court marshal some scapegoats to take the blame then everyone is happy. Why don't we start forgetting it when they fucking sort it out and prove to us that they have? And let’s try not to forget it completely, so mistakes won't be repeated.
