If there were not such a gang of criminals and thieves in congress, one would almost think this might be seen as the proverbial "smoking gun" in the Abu-Ghraib scandal and they might start an investigation. Sadly, No!
Other such documents cited by officials who participated in the two probes include a December 2002 memo signed by Rumsfeld that authorized harsh interrogation methods for prisoners at Guantanamo, and a controversial Feb. 7, 2002, memo signed by President Bush that declared that fighters detained in Afghanistan were not entitled as a matter of law to the protections afforded by the Geneva Conventions.
The Rumsfeld memo included authorization for the use of dogs; the Bush memo was cited by legal advisers to Sanchez as the basis for their determination that some Iraqi detainees were not entitled to the full legal protections provided by the Geneva Conventions, according to the independent panel. This "confusion" between interrogation rules devised for use at Guantanamo and Afghanistan and the protections mandated by international law in Iraq contributed to some of the abuse, according to the Army report's executive summary. (emphasis added)
I weep for our republic. Oath-breaking is apparently a contagious disease with the 1600 Crew in charge.
posted by Jo Fish on 08.30.04 at 12:51 AM
Comments:
Not sexy enough for the 24 hour cable news outlets ... Wolf Blitzer "corrected" Howard Dean that the Abu Ghraib investigations had been completed and given extensive coverage by the media.
posted by: C. Grove on 08.30.04 at 11:03 AM [permalink]
Whatever you can say about Kerry's post-Vietnam activism, in the speeches I've read he always puts the blame on the political leadership. He says they sent our soldiers out there with no clear plan or way to win then let them twist in the breeze when they did bad stuff.
Contrast that to Bush, who sent our boys out there with no clear way to win. And when our boys committed atrocities at Abu Ghraib, Bush left them to twist in the breeze.
posted by: Tony Goins on 08.30.04 at 01:39 PM [permalink]
To quote General Jack T. Ripper in Dr. Strangelove: "War is too important to be left to the generals."
The best thing about this Admin is the admission of culpability with no consequences. Rummy took responsibility for Abu Ghraib when the story broke, and no one in the Admin ever did anything about it. It's as if just saying he was responsible was good enough.
