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Put George W. Bush in Prison |
Current rating: 0 |
by Harvey Wasserman
(No verified email address) |
05 May 2004
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Imprison the man responsible, George W. Bush. |
Those American soldiers torturing and sexually abusing Iraqi prisoners have made criminals of us all.
And there are only two possible responses to this horrible outrage: get out of Iraq. Now!
And imprison the man responsible, George W. Bush.
Any fantasy that the United States could "bring democracy" or inject stability or somehow do something praiseworthy for the Iraqi people irrevocably died with the publication of those photographs.
With Bush, the flow of abominations only seems to deepen and get worse with every passing day. Any whining or carping that he is not personally responsible is pure hypocrisy. This man belongs in prison!
Every serious Iraqi, Arab or Islamic leader, commentator or "person in the street" has said the same thing: "Game Over". The Americans must leave.
All further blood spilled in Iraq is senseless, useless, gratuitous slaughter.
All killing is only further insult to the people of that tortured nation and to the Americans sent there to kill and be killed. The only question now is: "who will be the last person to die for this mistake?"
And when will the person most responsible, George W. Bush, pay for this abomination?
Thanks to Bush, we Americans---all of us---will forever be seen in much of the world's eyes as parties to torture and forced sexual abuse and a cynical Christian crusade whose idea of religious conversion apparently involves rape or a photographic facsimile.
As Americans, we are duty-bound to hold the guilty parties responsible, and there is ultimately one party to point to: the President of the United States.
As always, Bush takes no personal responsibility. His radio rodents like Rush Limbaugh say the photos were fake. That Bush couldn't have known about any of this. That those reports circulating for weeks about widespread torture and abuse in the Iraqi prisons---not to mention an unknown number of apparent murders---could not have been seen by Bush, and therefore he was not responsible.
Well, where does the buck stop?
It was on Bush's watch that the attacks on the World Trade Center killed 3000 people. He spent the weeks leading up to the attack on vacation, ignoring briefings about its likelihood.
The 9/11 attacks were funded and planned through Saudi Arabia, with whose leaders Bush has close personal ties.
The attack on Iraq was almost entirely Bush's personal doing. He meaningfully consulted only a tiny handful of neo-conservative fanatics. He discussed it with a Saudi oil prince before his own Secretary of State.
In all US history there has been no act of war more the product of a single individual than this one.
Bush consciously and systematically lied to Congress, the UN and the world to get the war going.
By all accounts, Saddam Hussein and the Iraqis had nothing to do with 9/11. Bush attacked anyway, making a mockery of US and UN legal processes.
Bush immediately proclaimed the war a Christian Crusade, and his fundamentalist supporters still see it that way.
Bush shouted to the world that the Iraqis had weapons of mass destruction. He lied.
Bush's ventriloquist, Dick Cheney, said the Iraqis would "dance in the streets" with the American victory, but those streets are now soaked in blood. Bush and Cheney's business cronies have grotesquely profited from the ghastly slaughter.
Bush proclaimed "Mission Accomplished" a year ago, but the death toll has soared, and will now soar again.
Bush said resistance would disappear with the capture of Saddam Hussein.
Bush used Saddam's most infamous prison for these acts of torture. Iraqi commentators hated that the Americans left the prison standing at all. Now we find Bush has used it to commit the same crimes Saddam did.
For all this and way too much more, the finger of guilt points just one place: the Oval Office. In the name of a "Higher Father," Bush ordered this attack virtually on his own, and trashed every legal and moral constraint to get it done.
We Americans have a higher responsibility to stop this flood of outrages, and bring this man to justice.
If those photos from Iraq prove anything, it is that George W. Bush must face criminal prosecution as soon as possible.
These abuses taint us all. As Americans, there is just one way to redeem ourselves: get these murderous torturers out of the White House and into a prison of their own, where they belong.
Harvey Wasserman is co-author (with Bob Fitrakis) of GEORGE W. BUSH VERSUS THE SUPERPOWER OF PEACE (www.freepress.org). HARVEY WASSERMAN'S HISTORY OF THE US is available at www.harveywasserman.com. |
Copyright by the author. All rights reserved. |
Comments
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Jailed Iraqis Hidden from Red Cross, Says US Army |
by Julian Borger
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
05 May 2004
|
US military policemen moved unregistered Iraqi prisoners, known as "ghost detainees", around an army-run jail at Abu Ghraib, in order to hide them from the Red Cross, according to a confidential military report.
The report on abuses at Abu Ghraib prison - a copy of which was obtained by the Guardian - described the practice of hiding prisoners as "deceptive, contrary to army doctrine, and in violation of international law".
The revelations surfaced at a time when the prison abuse scandal threatened to engulf the Pentagon and the military occupation of Iraq.
The US army yesterday admitted to the Senate there was evidence of widespread abuse of prisoners in military-run jails in both Iraq and Afghanistan. There have been a total of 25 recorded deaths in US military custody in both countries.
The army also said yesterday that one soldier had been court-martialed for using excessive force in shooting to death an Iraqi prisoner last September. The soldier was reduced in rank and dismissed from the army.
It disclosed, too, that it had referred to the Justice Department a homicide case involving a CIA contract interrogator alleged to be responsible for the death of an Iraqi prisoner last November. That death was at Abu Ghraib prison.
"I think the important point that I took from this hearing is that this does not appear to be an isolated incident and that there are additional reports in Iraq, and also Afghanistan," Senator Edward Kennedy said after an army briefing of the armed services committee. "And I think we also have to find out [about] the conduct of personnel down in Guantanamo as well."
The defense secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, said that multiple investigations were under way into prison conditions and interrogation techniques, including at Guantanamo Bay and a naval detention center at Charleston, South Carolina.
But he denied the scandal represented a breakdown in control. "The system works," he insisted. However, Mr Rumsfeld was denounced in the Senate for failing to tell Congress about the Abu Ghraib scandal until the news broke in the press last week.
The army report on Abu Ghraib, written by Major General Antonio Taguba, is a bluntly-worded indictment of the military detention system, with harsh words for the military policemen who physically and sexually abused prisoners, their superior officers, and the private contractors who carried out interrogations and gave some of the orders.
The Taguba report described how "ghost detainees" were brought to the military police (MP) unit running several jails in Iraq by OGAs (military jargon for other government agencies, often a reference to the CIA).
"The various detention facilities operated by the 800th MP Brigade have routinely held persons brought to them by OGAs without accounting for them, knowing their identities, or even the reason for their detention," the report stated.
"The joint interrogation and debriefing center (JIDC) at Abu Ghraib called these detainees 'ghost detainees'. On at least one occasion, the 320th MP Battalion at Abu Ghraib held a handful of 'ghost detainees' for OGAs that they moved around within the facility to hide them from a visiting International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) survey team."
Amanda Williamson, an ICRC spokeswoman, said its prison inspectors were not aware that prisoners had been hidden from them.
· The US plans to keep more than 130,000 troops in Iraq until the end of next year, Pentagon officials said yesterday. The decision marks a drastic departure from earlier plans to reduce troop levels sharply in the run-up to the US elections in November.
© Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004
http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,3858,4916603-103550,00.html |
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The U.S. Occupation turns Malignant, like those Cancerous Prison Cells |
by James Ridgeway
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
05 May 2004
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WASHINGTON, D.C.— Because it now seems likely that the American atrocities in Iraq will be a turning point in the war, all signs are heading toward defeat and eventual evacuation of U.S. military forces in what the rest of the world already views as disgrace—but which cynics in America see as just business as usual. Why should the corrupt and inhumane treatment of prisoners by guards in this country be any different from the handling of Iraqi prisoners at the hands of some of the same guards? What do you expect when you use private contractors?
Defeat in Iraq, coupled with Rumsfeld's behavior on 9-11, ought to lead to his long awaited firing. But it probably won't. Bush is no Harry Truman.
The right-wing Republicans behind Bush won't go down easily. They can be counted on to try to turn defeat into some sort of weird theatrical extravaganza in which being beaten in the field of battle can be spun as one more triumph of American democracy, with Rummy yet again pictured as the charming goofball of the Bush administration. And true to form, as the atrocity story unfolded there they were—Bush, Rumsfeld, and the Washington press corps sharing a good laugh at the broadcasters' dinner Saturday night.
Bush says he's disgusted, and the army conducted an investigation. They apparently think they can shrug this off, because bad publicity and unflattering pictures from a court martial wouldn't be of much help during Bush's upbeat re-election drive.
To date, one private contractor who had been working as an interpreter has reportedly been "dismissed"; six reservists have been reprimanded; and eight other soldiers are facing lesser administrative charges. A total of 17 people have been suspended. According to The Guardian (U.K.), private contractors oversaw interrogations at Abu Ghraib; CACI International Inc. and Titan Corporation were the two companies named in a military report into the abuses. One contract employee reportedly raped a prisoner, but no charges have been filed. Other information remained vague as of Monday.
While there is considerable confusion over what to do with private contractors, the simplest way is to revert to the historical system of having these tasks done by the military, operating under its laws. Since that seems unlikely, then Attorney General John Ashcroft could order an FBI investigation. As Michael Ratner of the Center for Constitutional Rights explains, if a private contractor carries out acts that otherwise would be done by the government, the contractor could be just as culpable under U.S. law for misdeeds as government officials are. Additional, Ratner says, there is a relatively new and untested law pertaining to the acts of U.S. contractors abroad. And of course, torture and other atrocities are outlawed under the Geneva conventions.
At the very least, Ashcroft should launch an investigation and Bush should cancel the company contracts, bar them from further federal government work, and order their personnel from the field. The two CEOs, Jack London of CACI and Gene Ray of Titan, could be subpoenaed to testify before Congress. Any company officials who knowingly participated in torture programs could also face criminal prosecution.
Pretty inconvenient for Bush, who needs face-saving, but the nations of the U.N., scared to death that American leaders will do something even more disastrous—like bomb North Korea or attack Iran—will probably try to help get him down off the limb. Not because they like us, but because they fear we will take everyone down.
Copyright © 2004 Village Voice Media, Inc.
http://www.villagevoice.com |
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Army Report on Torture at Abu Ghraib Prison |
by via The Smoking Gun
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
05 May 2004
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http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0505041torture1.html |
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Re: Put George W. Bush in Prison |
by NRA4Freedom
nra4freedom (nospam) hotmail.com (unverified) |
Current rating: -2
05 May 2004
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That's about as stupid a thing as I have read on UC yet. War attrocities weren't invented by America, and if Bush was present or had known, it would have never happened. There is but one "response", hold those responsible for their actions...funny thing though, that's something liberals never really want to ever do in our system of "justice" anymore. Why is this any different...hmmmm.
The only thing that "taints us all" are anti American "Americans" like you, it's just too bad society has become so soft on criminals, cause I'd like to be on your jury to help convict you as a traitor to this Country, which is really what you are. |
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