Posted on 06/03/2004 1:09:16 PM PDT by areafiftyone
WASHINGTON, June 3 (Reuters) - A group of Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives said on Thursday they would launch their own probe of the Iraq prison scandal, citing what they called a lack of interest by the Republican majority.
The six top Democrats on House committees that could be involved in probing the abuse of Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad, wrote President George W. Bush to say they intended to investigate the extent of the abuse.
They added they would also look into allegations of abuse in U.S. military prisons in Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
"Despite the magnitude of the Abu Ghraib and other detainee abuses and their enormous ramifications for our effort in Iraq and U.S. foreign policy, no House committees are currently undertaking a formal public investigation," the Democrats wrote.
"This is a dereliction of Congress' oversight responsibility that ill serves our nation and our troops."
Photographs shown around the world of naked prisoners stacked in a pyramid or positioned to simulate sex acts at Abu Ghraib prison shocked Americans and posed a setback to U.S. efforts to stabilize Iraq.
Rep. Henry Waxman of California, top Democrat on the House Government Reform Committee, said requests by Democrats for congressional hearings on the abuse scandal had been rebuffed by Republican chairmen of their respective committees.
The Senate Armed Services Committee has held several hearings on the scandal. The House Armed Services Committee held one hearing on the matter.
The Democrats argued a thorough congressional probe would demonstrate a U.S. commitment to ensuring the abuse would not recur and that it was also "critical for the emergence of a stable and secure Iraq."
The six Democrats asked the White House to cooperate with their investigation and to make available to them a number of documents they said were significant.
The Democrats said some of the documents had already been delivered to the Senate Armed Services Committee and the House Intelligence Committee and that there should be no reason to deny access to them by House members.
RE: the pic
You are heartless! BWAAAAHAHAHAHA
RE: the Democrat "investigation"
They have no shame, do they? Naturally, their findings will be the worst that they can conjure up.
Beat that dead horse...er, pig!
DKK
Henry wants to see the rest of the pictures.
They must have a lot of free time and taxpayer money. Oh, wait. They're government employees.
"citing what they called a lack of interest by the Republican majority."
The Republican majority being shamefully distracted by the ...uhhh...oh, that's right-the war.
Actually, this might be a good idea, giving the Democrats something to do while the grownups run the war.
I was going to post a "TWEEZER ALERT" but there wasn't enough room in the title. Snicker Snicker!
EWWWW What a pig - literally!
It's not hard to see why he's so against secondhand smoke-he could suck the helium out of the MetLife blimp.
Leading the grunting...:-)
which one is the pig
Waxman is Congress's answer to Charlie Haggers.
That would be Nostrildamus on the left...
How appropriate that they should use this type of talk I think the Dem's are jealous they weren't involved in the probings of the prisoners themselves or they wouldn't be so damn interested in it !
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