Sunday, September 02, 2007

Join The Army ~ & You, Too, Can Serve Your Country As A Scapegoat



Ill: WhiteHouse.org

Fry the little fish so the big fish can swim free unnoticed ~ who wouldn't want to join such an honorable military tradition?

Today's WaPo has an excellent editorial regarding the sham trials & courts-martials of minnows while the sharks in charge of the notorious happenings at Abu Ghraib are allowed to swim free:

"THE MISBEGOTTEN effort to hold military officers accountable for the notorious abuses at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison limped to a close last week when an Army lieutenant colonel was cleared by a court-martial jury of charges that he was responsible for the mistreatment of detainees. Steven L. Jordan, the only officer to be prosecuted for crimes that were documented in stomach-turning photographs and videotapes, probably never should have been charged. His week-long trial demonstrated that he had little or nothing to do with the harsh interrogation tactics and other abuse introduced at Abu Ghraib in late 2003. His prosecution was symptomatic of the Pentagon's perverse handling of Abu Ghraib: The most senior officer to be administratively sanctioned, an Army Reserve brigadier general, also had no role in carrying out the abuses.

"There were certainly officers at Abu Ghraib overseeing interrogations of prisoners. There were other senior officers who drew up or approved methods -- such as the use of dogs to terrorize detainees -- that violated the Geneva Conventions and U.S. military codes. And there were civilian political appointees in the Pentagon, including then-Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, who demanded more aggressive steps to collect intelligence from prisoners. Some have confessed to wrongdoing, such as Col. Thomas M. Pappas, who oversaw interrogations at Abu Ghraib. Some have dodged accountability, like Maj. Gen. Geoffrey D. Miller, a former commander of Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib who at one point invoked his right against self-incrimination to avoid testifying under oath. All have been excused from criminal charges, even while the low-ranking personnel who tortured Iraqi detainees -- in some cases under orders -- serve prison sentences."

But don't stop ~ there's more at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/01/AR2007090101077.html

So why hasn't Congress followed through on its threats to investigate, made more than a year ago?

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3 Comments:

Blogger sumo said...

Liars too!

2:09 PM  
Blogger Demon Princess said...

I have to say, I'm completely mystified by the lack of action on this in Congress, especially among the Dems, who'll be inheriting the war(s) & will have a great deal of trouble trying to extract us, if history is any indication. (Ref: Vietnam). You'd think they'd be pounding the drums in order to dissociate themselves from Bush's failed wars ASAP, before the writhing mess lands in their laps & becomes their problem.

6:41 PM  
Blogger sumo said...

It's a very tough on to figure out...we just have to let it play out in front of us. I can't think of any other way actually for most things. People demonstrate...sign petitions, call representatives and write tons of letters. Somehow...something isn't working. What more can we as a nation of people do? We can't go and assassinate people to get them out of their positions (I know we don't want to hurt anyone)...and it isn't working by going the normal route either. I've come to the conclusion that our leaders and representatives are NOT on the same page...and do NOT pay attention to what the American people plead for. We are schniked!

3:00 PM  

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