Major Iraqi newspaper demands Rumsfeld quit

BAGHDAD - One of Iraq's most widely read newspapers called on Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to quit on Saturday over American abuse of Iraqi detainees.

Two days after Rumsfeld visited Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison, Azzaman printed a rare front-page editorial that recalled his role in negotiating with Saddam Hussein in the 1980s and said he should have used the trip to resign and free Iraqi prisoners.

"Rumsfeld, who humiliated the Iraqi army and undermined the history and dignity of the Iraqi people, forgot the unforgettable offense his soldiers meted out to the sons of Iraq in Abu Ghraib," the paper said. "Rumsfeld, who is known for his history of collaboration with Saddam, should have announced his resignation from Baghdad to satisfy the oppressed Iraqi people," it added, describing his visit to Abu Ghraib as "choreographed show business."

Rumsfeld has resisted calls at home for him to resign over the conduct of U.S. troops, seven of whom have been charged with maltreating and sexually humiliating detainees in Abu Ghraib.

President Bush, fighting for re-election, has stood by Rumsfeld despite outrage in Iraq and abroad provoked by the publication of lurid photographs of the abuse.


http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/FlashNewsStory.aspx?FlashOID=17192

U.S. DOCUMENTS SHOW EMBRACE OF SADDAM HUSSEIN IN EARLY 1980s
DESPITE CHEMICAL WEAPONS, EXTERNAL AGGRESSION, HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES

Fear of Iraq Collapse in Iran-Iraq War Motivated Reagan Administration Support;
U.S. Goals Were Access to Oil, Projection of Power, and Protection of Allies;
Rumsfeld Failed to Raise Chemical Weapons Issue in Personal Meeting with Saddam


http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB82/press.htm

Didn't Saddamn get 99.9% of the vote after that? There's an old saying but I can't remember it right now.

So, with W obsessed with getting Iraq off the news, who knows?

if not sooner.....

n/t

:thumbsup:

How ironic it is that the military members who put him in power are now the ones that will remove him from power.

mentioning rumsfeld's history with saddam.

hmm, they haven't 'advanced their civilization' to such refined states of amnesia like our media and populace have. /sarcasm (for those humor impaired :evilgrin: )

:kick: