Latest

Lobby

Search

Options

Help

Login

Reports of Prisoner Abuse a Blow to U.S.

Printer-friendly format

Email this thread to a friend

Bookmark this thread

This topic is archived.

Home » Discuss » Latest Breaking News

NNN0LHI

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Mon May-03-04 02:49 PM
Original message

Reports of Prisoner Abuse a Blow to U.S.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040503/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_losing_high_ground&cid=540&ncid=1473

WASHINGTON - The reported abuse of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. soldiers threatens to undermine part of President Bush's rationale for unseating Saddam Hussein (news - web sites): that the United States had ended a regime that was torturing and abusing Iraqis.

The disclosures undermine American claims to a moral high ground as the United States tries to put down a growing insurgency and gain international support in Iraq.

"Saddam Hussein encouraged and tolerated this kind of behavior — the U.S. does not," Bush spokesman Scott McClellan said Monday, reporting that the president had called Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld to make sure any guilty soldiers are punished.

Even so, the allegation of mistreatment of prisoners "makes the U.S. and coalition forces a legitimate enemy in the eyes of more Arabs than was the case before," said Anthony Cordesman, an expert on Middle East security issues at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"Anything short of a court-martial of general officers will be seen throughout the region as a cover-up."

more

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

nadinbrzezinski

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Mon May-03-04 02:50 PM
Response to Original message

1. And one sacrificial Reserve General Officer

will not work

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

wryter2000

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Mon May-03-04 02:52 PM
Response to Reply #1

3. She's not going quietly

She's all over the news.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

0007

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Mon May-03-04 03:04 PM
Response to Reply #3

6. Will money shut her up?

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

kalian

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Mon May-03-04 03:22 PM
Response to Reply #6

7. Nope...a "suicide"....

:eyes:

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

Tellurian

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Mon May-03-04 02:52 PM
Response to Original message

2. Leaving the only reason left for Bush to go there....OIL!

Now that the Truth has been revealed.

Bush never cared about Freedom for the Iraqi people, or Hussein...

Al he ever cared about was the OIL!~!!!

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

AlinPA

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Mon May-03-04 08:06 PM
Response to Reply #2

24. I still believe the #1 reason was to make him a "war president",

and to improve his standing in polls.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

bmbmd

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Mon May-03-04 02:55 PM
Response to Original message

4. We have lost our moral authority

if, indeed we ever had any.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

whistle

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Mon May-03-04 02:59 PM
Response to Original message

5. This has been a cover-up....

Edited on Mon May-03-04 03:00 PM by whistle

...It took CBS News to release the story and the pictures. Even when the story broke all of the neo-con pundits have been minimizing this. If Bush is serious about getting to the bottom of these atrocities, he should demand the harshest punishment possible to get those who have been indited to talk. Someone will spill their guts long before the go before a military tribunal if they know they are going to have the book thrown at them.:wtf:

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

Wind Dancer

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Mon May-03-04 04:08 PM
Response to Reply #5

13. Definitely a cover-up

Edited on Mon May-03-04 04:10 PM by FrustratedDemInNC

I don't know if any of us could handle what is really happening in that country - it's still a cover up. Disgusting beyond belief!

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

short bus president

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Mon May-03-04 06:08 PM
Response to Reply #13

23. Hey FDNC - welcome to DU

from Chapel Hillsborough. ;-)

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

Wind Dancer

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Tue May-04-04 04:08 PM
Response to Reply #23

27. Thanks, short bus pres.

Edited on Tue May-04-04 04:08 PM by FrustratedDemInNC

Glad to see a neighbor!

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

sendero

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Mon May-03-04 03:24 PM
Response to Original message

8. Just when you think...

... this fiasco could not get any worse, it does.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

bread_and_roses

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Mon May-03-04 03:26 PM
Response to Original message

9. Please go rate this story

currently rated at 4+ but only 32 votes.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

Bluzmann57

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Mon May-03-04 03:39 PM
Response to Reply #9

10. rate it where?

Edited on Mon May-03-04 03:40 PM by Bluzmann57

On Yahoo? Link please. Thanks. On edit, never mind, I just saw it in the first post.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

daleo

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Mon May-03-04 03:59 PM
Response to Original message

11. Sorry Sandy, I think it is too late.

"This has been a very difficult period. I don't think it is too late for us to get this right, but I don't think we have a lot of time to turn this around," said Sandy Berger, President Clinton (news - web sites)'s national security adviser.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

Speck Tater

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Mon May-03-04 04:02 PM
Response to Original message

12. Fear not. Justice HAS BEEN DONE

Several soldiers have been reprimanded. So that's that. Let's just put it behind us and move on. After all, that's what Big Brother Bush would want us to do.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

Whoa_Nelly

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Mon May-03-04 04:23 PM
Response to Original message

14. ...and why wasn't it a "Blow to the US" two years ago?

Washington Post reported about the same kind of torture and abuse some time ago, happening in Afghanistan. This is not an aberration in tactics used on detainees. Amnesty International has been on this for some time. Apparently, civilian combatants are covered under the 4th Geneva Convention, pretty much the same as military comabtants are under the 3rd Geneva Convention.

However, This is ALL happening on Bush's watch. The Bastard :mad:

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

Just Me

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Mon May-03-04 04:27 PM
Response to Reply #14

15. The administration was complicit in these atrocities,...

,...by failing to act (e.g. TAKE ACTIONS) to stop it. Of course, we are talking about the "creators" of Gitmo and PNAC and "UNpatriot Act" and so forth.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

daleo

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Mon May-03-04 05:43 PM
Response to Reply #14

20. The photos make all the difference

They are hard to refute, and the images speak for themselves. Take away the photos in this case, and the spinners would be having a field day about exaggerated claims, etc.

I don't think there were equivalent photos from Afghanistan, except the ones of the people being airlifted to Gitmo, which were bad, but nothing like these.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

Ernesto

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Mon May-03-04 04:40 PM
Response to Original message

16. this sort of thing was pretty common in Vietnam, as peiple who served in

Edited on Mon May-03-04 05:09 PM by Ernesto

in the field know...... But how would the sheeple who supported our chickenhawk "lie house" know..... It's too late to play "moral outrage". By supporting this cruel regime's war plans, the snoozing public is responsible for what it has made happen.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

saigon68

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Mon May-03-04 05:08 PM
Response to Reply #16

17. THE SLEEPING SHEEP ENCOURAGED NEOCON THUGS

The only way to rule the World is to Tag and Identify Your Opposition and then execute them quietly. Hitler did this and his successors Cheney et al are using this method with the co-operation of the military and the sleeping sheep.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

damnraddem

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Mon May-03-04 05:09 PM
Response to Original message

18. Court martial of generals? Not quite.

One general in the States relieved of her duties. A few lesser officers get letters of reprimand. And then the book will be thrown -- at a few enlisted personnel.

No, I don't think the Bushistas will have it in them to do what would be necessary to rescue themselves from this debacle.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

Ernesto

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Mon May-03-04 05:18 PM
Response to Original message

19. Let us not forget that torture tools

were one of 'Merica's best growing export industries only a few months ago. I don't have the link, but I'm sure that the DU archives does.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

nonbelief

(122 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Mon May-03-04 05:57 PM
Response to Original message

21. Prisoner Abuse A Blow For the "US"? What?

Here's some more spin...

"Violent Sexual Assault On Cheerleader A Blow To Quarterback Rapist"

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

fedsron2us

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Mon May-03-04 06:05 PM
Response to Original message

22. They are clearly rattled

Edited on Mon May-03-04 06:06 PM by fedsron2us

Maybe they have read the attached quote on the subject of war crimes. Interestingly, it comes from a US government site

- Commenting on the meaning of Nuremberg to future generations, Edward R. Murrow, a radio reporter whose wartime broadcasts from Europe informed millions of Americans, said: "It is now established that planning, preparing, and initiating aggressive war constitutes an international crime. And it is also established that atrocities -- crimes against humanity -- are not merely the responsibility of those who commit them, but also the responsibility of the highest government officials." -

http://usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/hrintro/crimes.htm

I think Mr Bush and his friend, Mr Blair, might have a case to answer on both counts.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

JoFerret

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Mon May-03-04 08:13 PM
Response to Original message

25. A blow?

....more like a death throw. The final straw.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

Leezamarie

(70 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Tue May-04-04 10:49 AM
Response to Reply #25

26. Afghan POWs shot through walls of containers and then buried alive

The convoy of death is getting a mention.
Read "US had role in Afgan deaths"
http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=648372002

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

DU AdBot (1000+ posts)

Thu May 09th 2024, 02:11 AM
Response to Original message

Advertisements [?]

Home » Discuss » Latest Breaking News

Powered by DCForum+ Version 1.1 Copyright 1997-2002 DCScripts.com
Software has been extensively modified by the DU administrators

Important Notices: By participating on this discussion board, visitors agree to abide by the rules outlined on our Rules page. Messages posted on the Democratic Underground Discussion Forums are the opinions of the individuals who post them, and do not necessarily represent the opinions of Democratic Underground, LLC.

Home | Discussion Forums | Journals | Store | Donate

About DU | Contact Us | Privacy Policy

Got a message for Democratic Underground? Click here to send us a message.

© 2001 - 2011 Democratic Underground, LLC