Bull in a China Shop
[George Bush] is a baffled little creep
--Hunter Thomspson
And now you're stuck with a castrated leader
And I hate the creep
--Athena, The Who
Start a better country where we can get things done
Make a fortune turning sand to silicon
--Desert Island, Magnetic Fields
The WaPo article covers the string of abuses to which al-Qahtani was exposed (Detainee Tortured, Says U.S. Official.) Head Susan Crawford spoke in direct contravention of President Bush's previous statement that "The United States does not torture." Crawford says the torture "has tainted everything going forward." She also said "it may be too late" to rehabilitate the system which she oversees to fitness, at least in the eyes of the world.
In May 2008, Crawford ordered the war-crimes charges against Qahtani dropped but did not state publicly that the harsh interrogations were the reason. Crawford, a life-long republican, though serving now in a non-partisan position, said:
"It did shock me. I was upset by it. I was embarrassed by it. If we tolerate this and allow it, then how can we object when our servicemen and women, or others in foreign service, are captured and subjected to the same techniques? How can we complain? Where is our moral authority to complain? Well, we may have lost it."
The harsh techniques used against Qahtani, she said, were approved by then-Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld. "A lot of this happened on his watch," she said. Last month, a Senate Armed Services Committee report concluded that "Rumsfeld's authorization of aggressive interrogation techniques for use at Guantanamo Bay was a direct cause of detainee abuse there." The committee found the interrogation techniques harsh and abusive but stopped short of calling them torture.
A side note in the case is that al-Qatani was denied entrance to the U.S. Aug 4 01 by a suspicious immigration inspector. Of al-Qatani Crawford said, "There's no doubt in my mind he would've been on one of those planes had he gained access to the country in August 2001."
The actions of this inspector show that a proactive, protective posture is the first step to successful terrorism counteraction. This was not Counter-Terrorism nor a direct armed action, but it was this nation's first line of defense.
If all U.S. officials executed their protective functions at even a negligible level, 9-11 would not have happened.
Labels: "Detainee Tortured says U.S. Official", bush administration war criminals, gitmo crawford, guantanamo torture, Mohammed al-Qahtani, phony war on terror, PWOT, U.S. tortured prisoner
posted by rangeragainstwar at 10:21 AM
5 Comments:
Young scared low ranking US soldiers sit in prison for torture(as they should) while those who authorised those illegal actions continue to frequent the DC cocktail circuit. When the abu Graihb story first broke I wrote a ltter to the editor of our local weekly paper predicting that that would be the outcome. Since that time we have had verifacation that the torture was indeed authorised at the highest levels of our government. And yet the truely guilty DC cocktail circuit crowd responsible remain free while young fearful confused soldiers rot in prison. This must be corrected for the United States to continue as a free country.
I gotta wonder about those supposedly SF types that attacked Ranger for speaking out against war, how do they feel about fat lazy white man sitting in smokey mahogany paneled lounges ordering US soldiers to commit crimes and then sending those soldiers to prison for the crimes they ordered committed. Is THAT really what they signed up for? Is THAT what they think their Oath of Service meant?
"I gotta wonder about those supposedly SF types that attacked Ranger for speaking out against war, how do they feel about fat lazy white man sitting in smokey mahogany paneled lounges ordering US soldiers to commit crimes and then sending those soldiers to prison for the crimes they ordered committed. Is THAT really what they signed up for? Is THAT what they think their Oath of Service meant?"
I spent an hour purusing my old haunts over at SOCNET and ProSoldiers today. I was not too surprised but what I saw which is most folks acting as apologists for the former President and telling folks not to disrespect the new one."History will judge" blah blah blah There were posts regarding the duty of a professional to respect the new CINC...Useless self serving crap mostly...As a reminder to the dear readers here EVERYONE including the CINC swears an oath to the Constitution of the United States and NOT to anyone particular leader. We should all count our blessings that enough folks in a position to influence the last 7 years mitigated the damage that was caused by the wingnuts in charge by remembering this oath was not to a man but to a set of ideals and the rule of law.
I have nothing for contempt and piety for those who now pretend to honor the office of the CINIC and the man now holding it.I piety them for their continued support of the worst President in the History of the United States. A man who unashamedly put Politics and Power ahead of his oath to the Constitution and the needs of the people. A man who instead of offering hope played on peoples fears and hatred...A man who did not ask us for sacrifice our national effort who said before he was elected that "I am a uniter rather than a divider." and other bald faced lies. I feel piety that the rather smart men of sites such as SOCNET to this day... Men whom I used to respect... are STILL stupid enough to believe that anything good came out of the last seven years. Like Dubya there will be a cadre of of apologists on those sites who will continue to live with thier heads up thier fourth point of contact for the rest of thier lives spoon feeding themselves whatever crap they are told to believe.
Forgive them Lord they know not what they do."
Meanwhile the rest of us should continue to speak the truth and thank the decency of the "real" American poeple for a chance to clean up the mess these bozos have made.
part of that cleanup must include the investigation and prosecution of those who ordered these despicable acts.
calling abu ghraib the work of "bad apples" doesn't begin to address the issue. bad apples? i think the rot started at the top.
partisan? i think not. simple, human thirst for liberty and justice. we learned our hard lessons in vietnam. we learned our hard lessons about the military being more concerned with press and "selling our message" than the truth of what was happening. we allowed presidents (starting with truman) to bypass the slow and cumbersome process the constitution dictates for committing troops to combat. one of the wisest things our founders accomplished was to make the path to war slow, and difficult. acting unilaterally from the executive and exhalting the "commander in chief" aspect is what got us into korea, vietnam, iraq, and afghanistan. so far, to my eye, none of them worked out all the well.
go back to the congress debating whether or not something needs to be done, then going about the tough business of finding the money.
but this regime of torture, this policy of kidnappings and dungeons must be dealt with. both former president bush (i fucking love to type that) and cheney, rumsfeld, wolfowitz, addington, gonzales, ashcroft, and all those who had a hand in these crimes need to be brought to account. if they really did no wrong, then, in a fair and just trial, they can count on their exoneration. if they did no wrong, they need to stand up and account for themselves and their actions.
sooner rather than later.
RangerHazen,
You express our sorrow, too, at these otherwise intelligent and brave men who are a "cadre of of apologists" for the worst of the Bush administration's abuse out of some misplaced lack of loyalty and honor. Freely chosen blindness, called "patriotism".
It seems that to many people today, reasoned acts of civil inquiry and even disobedience are akin to "domestic terrorism." Pity.
If these constitutionally accorded rights and responsibilities are not executed, they will wither and die.
MB,
Yes, those in charge must be held accountable. If all is well, they have no fears. But the law doesn't care if you are fearful, only if you are behaving in a legal fashion.
I read this post the other night but was too full of rage to comment having just watched a documentary on Omar Kadhr, the child soldier being held for seven yrs in Guantanamo. Glad to see that they suspended his trial today for 120 days.
These people who created this hell hole must be prosecuted.
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