 WASHINGTON (AP) — Two senators who watched Khalid Sheikh Mohammed confess to planning the Sept. 11 attacks and other plots said Friday that his allegations of mistreatment by U.S. captors should be taken seriously and investigated. “To do otherwise would reflect poorly on our nation,” Sens. Carl Levin, D-Mich., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said in a joint statement.
| To swallow codswallop makes us look pretty bad too, doncha think? |
At a closed military hearing last Saturday at the Guantanamo Bay U.S. naval prison in Cuba, Mohammed claimed responsibility for plotting more than 30 attacks and personally beheading American journalist Daniel Pearl. He also gave military officials a written statement alleging mistreatment before arriving at Guantanamo Bay. He had previously been held by the CIA at Ice Station Zebra secret facilities.
Levin and Graham acknowledged Friday that they watched the proceedings on a closed circuit television in an adjoining room.
| In that case, why not televise it so the rest of us can draw our own conclusions? |
“Allegations of prisoner mistreatment must be taken seriously and properly investigated,” the senators’ statement said. According to the senators, the military officials hearing Mohammed’s testimony said the allegations would be submitted to the appropriate authorities.
| At which point several officers and personnel will waste a number of hours rebutting the charges, point by point, in a document that will be immediately discredited by all the correct thinkers, including Levin. |
Levin and Graham said they were impressed with the tribunal’s professionalism, but did not rule out further changes to the system. “The true test of the (tribunal) process is not a case in which the detainee admits the allegations against him, it is a case in which the detainee disputes those allegations,” the senators wrote.
| Well duh. Thank you Senators Obvious and Clueless. The detainees will dispute the allegations, the tribunals will rule, and that will be that. |
Noting potential legal challenges to the law, “we will continue to review the process and will explore possible ways to improve this process through congressional action,” they added.
| 'cause it couldn't possibly be working right now, could it. |
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