[mrustow]

Zing!

[2banana]

The “Geneva Convention (GC)” is a term thrown around a lot these days. Very few people actually know what is in this treaty. The GC was created and signed right after the wreckage of WWII (1949), principally to provide specific rules to safeguard combatants who are wounded, sick or prisoners of war (POW’s) after the terrible actions by some countries during that conflict.

A combatant is someone in the military service of a country that wears a uniform with a “fixed distinctive sign”, openly carries a weapon, “obeys the laws of war” and answers to a chain of command. American military forces diligently follow these rules. Terrorists that the American military is fighting in Afghanistan do not. Even under the Geneva Convention, spies, saboteurs, terrorists and criminals may be tried and punished (up to death).

POW’s have the right (among other things) not to be tortured, medical treatment, keeping personal effects (pictures, ID card, etc.), to be placed out of danger, food, water, clothing, religion, and not to work in industries that support the enemy’s war effort. POW’s have no rights to lawyers, counsel, observers (except the Red Cross) or family visits. POW’s are not part of the American criminal system.

[Uncle Miltie]

Remember: A cop killed in the Spain terror bombings was dug out of his grave, his corpse burned, and his skull impaled on a pick-axe by Islamofascists. Murder is insufficient for Islamofascists.

[metacognative]

What if the embarassing technique made one terrorist talk and saved one soldier from one bomb? And not even a fingernail pulled!

[lilylangtree]

The title of this article echoes my sentiments to a "T".

[dennisw]

Stellar take!! My thoughts are the same.

[HAL9000]

All I have to say to President Bush is, You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din.

I agree.

[Grampa Dave]

The writer needs to do his research a little deeper and better.

This story was first published by the NY Slimes on 17 Jan 2004, Hersch just spun it and made it into one of his fables/myths/lies.

This story was published by the NY Slimes on 17 Jan 2004.

It was ignored by the Rat Pack Senators until they felt they could remove Rummy and hurt GW.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1131946/posts

Inquiry Ordered Into Reports of Prisoner Abuse [January 17, 2004 NYT Article]
New York Times ^ | January 17, 2004 | ERIC SCHMITT


Posted on 05/08/2004 9:59:57 AM PDT by risk

---

January 17, 2004

Inquiry Ordered Into Reports of Prisoner Abuse
By ERIC SCHMITT

ASHINGTON, Jan. 16 — The top American commander in Iraq has ordered a criminal investigation into allegations that detainees at the sprawling Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad have been abused by American forces, military officials said Friday.

A statement by the military command in Baghdad gave no details about the scope or severity of the incidents, saying only that Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez, the senior American officer in Iraq, had directed an inquiry into the latest in a string of reported abuses of prisoners.

"The release of specific information concerning the incidents could hinder the investigation, which is in its early stages," the statement said.

A senior Pentagon official said authorities had been alerted to the possible abuse of detainees in the past few days and were taking the allegations "very seriously."

The American-led occupation is holding thousands of suspected insurgents and criminals at Abu Ghraib, a large prison west of Baghdad that was notorious during the rule of Saddam Hussein for overcrowded cells and torture chambers.


The inquiry ordered by General Sanchez is expected to add fuel to allegations by Amnesty International and many former detainees that the American captors have treated prisoners harshly or abused them in certain cases.

Earlier this month, three Army reservists were discharged for abusing prisoners at Camp Bucca, a detention center near Basra, in southern Iraq. In late December, Brig. Gen. Ennis Whitehead III determined that the three soldiers had kicked and punched prisoners or encouraged others to do so.

Late last year, Lt. Col. Allen B. West, a battalion commander in the Fourth Infantry Division, was allowed to resign from the Army after he fired a pistol near a suspected supporter of insurgents during an interrogation in August to frighten him into giving up information about impending attacks against allied soldiers near Tikrit. Colonel West has defended his actions as necessary to protect his troops.

In addition, the Marine Corps has charged eight Marine reservists in the death of an Iraqi prisoner near Nasiriya last June. Two of the eight marines face charges of negligent homicide, while others face lesser charges, Marine officials said.

[Free ThinkerNY]

The NY Times is the voice of the enemy within.

[kinghorse]

Heads on pikes would have removed any pretense. Instead we get men in women's panties.

The whole thing is a shocking example of what happens when a government forbids torture. What are these MP's going to do to get compliance? Time out? Oh my, next thing you know the Iraqi prisons will be in worst shape than a typical American public middle school.

PC killed the Radio Star.

With apologies to the Buggles.

[marron]

We have to keep our eye on the ball. We have to keep our focus. Our purpose in Iraq was and is to replace a dangerous regime with a humane one. We are in the middle of an ongoing gunfight with remnants of that regime, backed by insurgents determined to deny us victory there.

Anything that undermines our will to complete the mission has to be set to one side.

The prison scandal is a problem on two levels, for the abuses themselves, and as it interferes with the overall mission. The men (and women) who entertained themselves at the expense of their prisoners will have to be dealt with publicly and somewhat ruthlessly. They matter less than the mission. This is the reality. Better men are out in the streets dying for that mission, so if they have to do a little time, then they'll just have to buck up and do a little time. Leave the camera at home next time, dummy.

This scandal is a disaster because it undercuts the morality of the mission in the eyes of people who doubt its morality, or oppose its morality. So we will have to move swiftly to deal with it. But what we must not do is allow it to undercut our own will to continue the fight. How does it serve any greater good if our embarrassment over this allows the Baath killers to return to power?

Kerry's claims of atrocities during Viet Nam, and the My Lai incident, undercut our view of that war as a moral struggle, and that condemned several hundred thousand Vietnamese to execution upon our departure, and a couple of generations of Vietnamese to communist tyranny. It would have been better to simply acknowledge the isolated cases, courtmartial the Kerrys and the Calleys while continuing to stand firm.

This is what we need to do now. Let the guards who commit abuses face the music for what they do. But don't condemn the Iraqis to a return of the shredders just because we feel embarrassed. Anyone who has ever led men knows that your tools are imperfect. Sometimes you have to take the heat for mistakes your people make, but you still have to get the job done.

[kinghorse]

I, for one, cannot wait for the debates. The average American is about to go into backlash mode over this crap.

Here's an exchange:
Kerry: Mr. Bush (wouldn't dare show respect for the office) what do you say about this torture. Men in women's panties for G-ds sake. This is an outrage.

Bush: I guess we should have tried time out.

[Eva]

Great article, and yes the story about the body of the Spainish policeman is true.

[pjd]

I'm wondering why the Democrates aren't saying, "What's the big deal? It's just about sex."

Any sex-worked will tell you that plenty of men will pay big money for the same treatment.

[beckett]

Like so many who seek to downplay the damage done by this scandal, Stix fails to note that these abuses were filmed, i.e., permanently documented, making them the most powerful propaganda tool America has ever given to its enemies. SP4 Sivits (Stix erroneously lists him as a Pfc), the man wielding the camera according to reports, has done more damage to this nation than any American traitor I can think of, with the possible exception of the spies who turned over atomic bomb secrets to the Soviets.

[gonzo]

Thanks, pal. Geez, I need more ammo................FRegards

[lainde]

terrific!

[Cvengr]

One needs to also remember that there are many Wiccans and socialists within the government and military overseas who have no heartburn, but would feel titilated by placing their seniors into a Catch-22 situation where anarchy seems preferable to proper command and control.

Those Wiccans I've seen in the military would and have plotted things more foul than this, but perhaps not as well reported.

IMHO, there are more ulterior motives at hand than simple lack of ethics.