(CNSNews.com) - A U.S. Muslim group has joined various Democrats in demanding the resignation of U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
| I feel faint, I'd best go lie down ... |
The Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which describes itself as a national Islamic civil rights group, said Rumsfeld "bears ultimate responsibility for the brutal and humiliating actions of American troops and for the poor handling of the (Abu Ghraib prisoner) scandal by the military establishment.
"He must also take responsibility for fostering an atmosphere in which the traditional rules of war and norms of international law are treated as excess baggage," CAIR said in a press release. If Rumsfeld "and his entire management team" do not resign, CAIR said President Bush should remove them. "No other action could possibly help mitigate the devastating impact this scandal has had on our nation’s image worldwide," CAIR said.
Democrats calling on Rumsfeld to resign included House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.); Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa); and Rep. John Conyers Jr. (Mich.).
| All of whom want to use Rummy to get to GWB. |
Earlier this week, CAIR demanded a congressional investigation to determine the "true extent of the prisoner abuses and to learn whether they were in fact part of a widespread pattern of human rights violations in U.S. detention facilities worldwide. CAIR is currently sponsoring voter registration drives nationwide, prompted by what it considers an assault on civil liberties by the Bush administration. CAIR particularly opposes enforcement of the USA PATRIOT Act, which leads to arresting Muslim terrorists discrimination against Arabs, it says.
The CAIR website currently features an article on third-party presidential hopeful Ralph Nader: "Nader urges action on Civil Rights violations against Muslim Americans," the title says. |