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2005-04-26 -Short Attention Span Theater-

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Posted by Steve 2005-04-26 2:40:30 PM|| || Front Page|| [1 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 Drudge has Ted Kennedy's statement - RTWT as I can't stomache posting all the bilge from this antiamerican POS:

STATEMENT BY SENATOR EDWARD M. KENNEDY ON ANNIVERSARY OF ABU GHRAIB SCANDAL

The sad anniversary of the Abu Ghraib torture scandal is now upon us. It's an appropriate time to reflect on how well we've responded as a nation.

The images of cruelty, and perversion are still difficult to look at a year later. An Iraqi prisoner in a dark hood and cape, standing on a cardboard box with electrodes attached to his body. Naked men forced to simulate sex acts on each other. The corpse of a man who had been beaten to death, lying in ice, next to soldiers smiling and giving a "thumbs up" sign. A pool of blood from the wounds of a naked, defenseless prisoner attacked by a military dog.

These images are seared into our collective memory. The reports of widespread abuse by U.S. personnel were initially met with disbelief, then incomprehension. They stand in sharp contrast to the values America has always stood for-our belief in the dignity and worth of all people-our unequivocal stance against torture and abuse -- our commitment to the rule of law. The images horrified us and severely damaged our reputation in the Middle East and around the world.

On December 4, 2003, President Bush had proclaimed to the world that the capture of Saddam Hussein brought "further assurance that the torture chambers and the secret police are gone forever." The photos of Abu Ghraib made all too clear that torture continued in occupied Iraq.

Where are we a year later? Has this problem been resolved? Has the moral authority of the U.S. been restored? Have we recovered from what is perhaps the steepest and deepest fall from grace in our history?

Sadly, the answer is no, because at every opportunity, the Administration has tried to minimize the problem and avoid responsibility for it.

The tone was set at the very start. Senior-level military commanders knew about the problems much earlier. They knew about Abu Ghraib photos as early as January 2004. General Taguba submitted his scathing report on February 26th. Yet rather than deal with the problem honestly, Pentagon officials persuaded CBS News to delay its report while they developed a damage-control plan.

The plan included an effort to minimize the abuse as the work of "a few bad apples"-all conveniently lower-rank soldiers-in a desperate effort to emphasize the role of senior military officials in exposing the scandal and insulate the civilian leadership from responsibility.

It was clear from the start that further investigation of the abuses was needed. The American people deserved a thorough review of all detention and interrogation policies used by military and intelligence personnel abroad, and a full accounting of all officials responsible for the policies that allowed the abuses to take place.

What we got instead were nine incomplete and self-serving internal investigations by the Pentagon. None of the assigned investigators were given the authority to challenge the conduct of the civilian command. For example, the Schlesinger Panel's report found that abuses were "widespread" and that there was "both institutional and personal responsibility at higher levels," but Secretary Rumsfeld did not authorize the panel to address matters of personal accountability.

The assigned investigators were also denied the cooperation of the C.I.A., which had a central role in the torture scandal. General Fay found that C.I.A. practices led to "a loss of accountability, abuse" and "poisoned the atmosphere at Abu Ghraib." His efforts to fully uncover the agency's role, however, were stymied by their refusal to respond to his requests for information. Indeed, no investigation, Congressional or otherwise, has gotten full cooperation from the C.I.A.

With respect to matters under the Defense Department's control, the answers we've received have been inconsistent and incomplete.

In May 2004, General Sanchez categorically denied to the Senate Armed Services Committee that he had approved the use of sleep deprivation, excessive noise, and intimidation by guard dogs as interrogation techniques in Iraq. A memorandum uncovered last month by the ACLU, however, showed that he had in fact approved the use of these techniques.

Secretary Rumsfeld told the Committee that the military received its first indication of trouble at Abu Ghraib when a low-ranking soldier came forward in January 2004. Only later did we learn from press reports that throughout 2003, the Red Cross had provided the military with detailed reports about torture and other abuses at the prison and elsewhere in Iraq. The State Department and the Coalition Provision Authority also appealed to top military officials to stop the abuse during 2003.

The Church Report, released last month, rejected any connection between the official interrogation policies in Iraq and the abuses that occurred. The Fay Report, by contrast, blamed the abuses at Abu Ghraib on a number of "systemic problems" that included "inadequate interrogation doctrine and training" and "the lack of clear interrogation policy for the Iraq Campaign."

Other parts of the Church Report -- including those on the role of General Counsel William Haynes in adopting the radical legal reasoning of the Justice Department's Bybee Memorandum, over the vigorous objections of experienced JAG officers -- have been wrongly classified. In fact, the Defense Department has repeatedly abused its classification procedures to hide critical information from Congress and the public. Similarly, the Justice Department has gone to extremes to withhold from public scrutiny legal memos it considers too embarrassing to reveal.

Even Congress has been remiss in its responsibilities to oversee this scandal. As Senator Rockefeller, the vice-chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence said, "More disturbingly, the Senate Intelligence Committee - the Committee charged with overseeing intelligence programs and the only one with the jurisdiction to investigate all aspects of this issue - is sitting on the sidelines and effectively abdicating its oversight responsibility to media investigative reporters."

A year after Abu Ghraib, new revelations about abuse committed by U.S. personnel are still being reported frequently. The military has confirmed 28 acts of homicide committed against detainees in U.S. custody in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2002. Only one of these deaths took place at Abu Ghraib.

The Red Cross has documented scores of abuses at U.S. facilities across Iraq and Afghanistan and at the naval base at Guantanamo.

F.B.I. agents have reported "torture techniques" at Guantanamo, including techniques that senior Pentagon officials had specifically denied were being used.

Top officials in the Administration have endorsed interrogation methods that we've condemned in other countries, including binding prisoners in painful "stress" positions, threatening them with dogs, extended sleep deprivation, and simulated drownings.

The Administration has also increased the practice of "rendering" detainees to countries like Syria, Egypt, and Jordan -- countries that the State Department condemned in its most recent human rights reports because of their use of torture. The practice of "rendition" -- described by a former C.I.A. official as "finding someone else to do your dirty work" -- is a clear violation of our treaty obligations under the Convention Against Torture.

We know that many of these harsh techniques are no more effective at obtaining reliable information than traditional law-enforcement techniques. After considerable debate with the FBI, the military acknowledged that its methods were no more successful during interrogations at Guantanamo Bay than the FBI's methods. General Miller, the former commander at Guantanamo, testified that the Army Field Manual provided sufficient tools for intelligence gathering.

Posted by Frank G 2005-04-26 3:27:49 PM|| 2005-04-26 3:27:49 PM|| Front Page Top

#2 Teddy, July 19 is the 37th anniversary of The Midnight Ride at Chappaquidick. You killed more people that night then Lyndie England. You gonna have a statement that day, you despicable fuckin pig?

Posted by tu3031 2005-04-26 3:42:47 PM|| 2005-04-26 3:42:47 PM|| Front Page Top

#3 I am wondering that if we tortured Teddy, he would tell us about that night at Chappaquidick? Since torture never gets "Useful" information then he probably wouldn't tell us anything. Ted has never worn a uniform so he can't stand in judgement of those that do. Yes those FEW guards did some bad things to some prisoners and they are being punished for it. That should be the end of the discussion Senator because you don't have the moral grounding to add anything "Useful." So crawl back in your bottle in the Kennedy compound and watch reruns of the Missiles of October. So far as I am concerned that is when your family peaked and is sliding into the abyss ever since.

Posted by Cyber Sarge 2005-04-26 4:09:22 PM|| 2005-04-26 4:09:22 PM|| Front Page Top

#4 The Senator from Treason should STFU.

Posted by Robert Crawford 2005-04-26 4:11:57 PM|| [http://www.kloognome.com/] 2005-04-26 4:11:57 PM|| Front Page Top

#5 How cute! Little Ted still thinks someone gives a rats ass what he thinks.......

Posted by CrazyFool 2005-04-26 4:12:31 PM|| 2005-04-26 4:12:31 PM|| Front Page Top

#6 I forgot to add about the lack of class it shows on the part of the Dems to bring this up while our troops are still in Iraq. Course that doesn't bother Teddy and his gang, they could care less if they stir up anger against our trops. And they wonder why they NEVER get the military vote. Also when are we going to celebrate My Lai day? What's a matter Teddy too close to the family.

Posted by Cyber Sarge 2005-04-26 7:17:00 PM|| 2005-04-26 7:17:00 PM|| Front Page Top

#7 I'm really sorry I posted as much as I did - Even O club drinks haven't helped the upset stomache. If the Kennedy clan disappeared, who the f*ck would Masshole voters vote for? Satan?

Posted by Frank G 2005-04-26 7:32:02 PM|| 2005-04-26 7:32:02 PM|| Front Page Top

#8 Diving Ted sits on the spectrum somewhere between Hanoi Jane and child molesters.

Posted by Alaska Paul 2005-04-26 10:02:03 PM|| 2005-04-26 10:02:03 PM|| Front Page Top

#9 I was about to say Kerry, Frank, but then I realized he's a poor relation. I think I'll have happy dreams tonight, thanks to your last post.

Posted by trailing wife 2005-04-26 10:06:21 PM|| 2005-04-26 10:06:21 PM|| Front Page Top

#10 tw - facts of life in construction, sorry

Posted by Frank G 2005-04-26 10:26:53 PM|| 2005-04-26 10:26:53 PM|| Front Page Top

#11 Once again, Senator Kennedy (D-runk) repeated lies that give aid and comfort to our enemies.

Since I live in the Ninth Circusit's jurisdiction, is it OK to wish someone kills him? Or is that only allowed for Republicans?

Posted by Jackal 2005-04-26 10:44:59 PM|| [http://home.earthlink.net/~sleepyjackal/index.html] 2005-04-26 10:44:59 PM|| Front Page Top

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