Congress Ignored Reports of Prisoner Abuse (16 Dems - 1 Republican were notified)

NewsMax.com ^ | 5/11/04 | Phil Brennan

[kattracks]

Democrats howling for the resignation of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld for not informing them of reports of prisoner abuse in Baghdad are ignoring the fact that concerned parents of an accused soldier informed 16 members of Congress - top Democrats such as Senators Hillary Clinton, Edward Kennedy and John D. Rockefeller - and the governor of West Virginia of the burgeoing scandal as far back as February 26th of this year. None of these 17 people acted to disclose the detailed information contained in the letters.

While the media has created a firestorm about the abuse allegations at Abu Ghraib prison, only one TV network, MSNBC, disclosed the names of the 16 members of Congress when one of the letter writers, William Lawson, mentioned them during a telephone interview.

No further mention of the names was made by MSNBC.

Otherwise, the mainstream media has circled the wagons in a blatant attempt to protect their Democratic allies in the Senate from charges of hypocrisy in condemning Secretary Rumsfeld for not informing them of what they already knew, through both Army press releases and the 17 letters.

Lawson, the uncle of one of the accused soldiers, Staff Sgt. Ivan L. Frederick, gave NewsMax.com the names of the 16 members of Congress and West Virginia's governor as well as the text of the explosive letters in a series of faxes.

Here are the the 17 names, all Democrats except for Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, Sgt. Frederick's congressman:

Senators Jack Reed, Mark Dayton, Robert Byrd, Bill Nelson, Evan Bayh, Mark Pryor, Edward Kennedy, Benjamin Nelson, Hillary Clinton, Joseph Lieberman, Daniel Akaka, Paul Sarbanes, John D. Rockefeller, Governor Mark Warner and Rep. Roscoe Bartlett.

Senator Byrd's office would not even accept the letter e-mailed to him on the grounds it was too long.

Bartlett said he was looking into the matter.

Sarbanes said he had written the the "appropriate officials."

Rockefeller begged off on the grounds that he was barred by privacy rules.

Senator Joe Lieberman is the only one of these members of Congress who has defended Donald Rumsfeld and the world's mission in Iraq.

In fact, Senators Reed and Dayton were nearly abusive in holding the feet of Sec. Rumsfeld, Gen. Myers et alii to the fire last week - and here we find that they knew of the abuse allegations months ago.

They could only have been feigning outrage, since they have been long aware of what was going on at Abu Ghraib; the e-mail letters fully alerted the 16 Democrats and Governor Warner of the prisoner abuse accusations.

Moreover the U.S. Central Command told the media of an investigation into abuses on Jan. 16, just days after a report by a whistleblower.

"They told everyone in the world there were allegations of abuse and they were being investigated," Secretary Rumsfeld told reporters. On March 20, he added, Central Command "announced not only allegations, but they listed the types of abuses."

Lawson, a 23-year Army veteran, and other relatives of Sgt. Frederick, told the 17 they feared that he and the other accused MPs were being made scapegoats "to save some general's carrer."

[thoughtomator]

Another intense anti-Bush media firestorm turns out to end up at the feet of Democrats... expect this story to fade like the 9/11 commission.

[Semper Paratus]

This will expose the 'rats as the opportunistic bastards that they are.

[areafiftyone]

expect this story to fade like the 9/11 commission.

Yup. This won't hit the mainstream media. But we have to make sure it does.

[GaltMeister]

HA! How many of these Dim-wit Senators were shrieking and whining for Rummy's demise yesterday?

[Khuey]

What's Hillary's, Kennedy's and Byrd's EXCUSES?

[winodog]

I have loathed the media for quite some time now. This just ticks me off to no end. Everyone here knows this so I am just letting off steam and repeating what we already know.
The media is blowing this up and we will soon hear stories calling for W's impeachment but these sinawhores who are leading the march (aka hillary) knew about this before.
America and the GOP are doomed if we cant turn the media back into a free press.

[anniegetyourgun]

Lib/dems only go after chum in the water if it has Bush or Rummy or Ashcroft written on it. Who cares about the abuse, when you can undercut the administration?

[drjimmy]

From the article: "Lawson, the uncle of one of the accused soldiers, Staff Sgt. Ivan L. Frederick, gave NewsMax.com the names of the 16 members of Congress and West Virginia's governor as well as the text of the explosive letters in a series of faxes."

I find it curious that Newsmax doesn't reprint the letters or quote from them in any way. If the letters contained "detailed information" and were "explosive," as claimed by Newsmax, why doesn't Newsmax tell us what is in those letters?

[Grampa Dave]

They also ignored their main fish wrap, the NY Slimes which had a lead article on this mess on 17 Jan 2004:

NY Slimes article re prison abuse on 17 Jan 2004


They all knew about it. Their flagship fishwrap, the NY Slimes had a key story about this on 17 Jan 2004.

They just kept it on the back burner while Hackworthless, Hersch and others spun the story and then released it in their latest attempt to electronically lynch GW and Rummy.

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 via another electronic lynching attempt.

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.

[4CJ]

Those hypocritcal *** we interrupt this message to waste your time ... we now return you to train of thought already in progress *** till they glow.

[skeeter]

This will expose the 'rats as the opportunistic bastards that they are.

They & their media hacks lost their credibility long ago, and the audience they're playing to now could care less.

Their hate runs that deep.

[cake_crumb]

If only we knew exactly what those letters said.

[MarthaNOStewart]

I would like to know if the "abusers" were registered democrat or republican?? It may be that what they believe is root of what happened....imho I would also like to know about political agendas of the "higher up" officers who condoned or ordered this behavior? What about the CACE intelligence civilians who were interrogators, did the military say to give them what they want?? Maybe some of them need civilian charges levied against them.

Also, since young people are not taught about God, or allowed to have prayer in schools there is no way they know anything about combating evil...and there is plenty of it to go around in Iraq. So what do we expect will happen to "what their families think is normal, okay people" when exposed to that pressure! Imagine all the demons released from the bodies of those dead terrorists looking for a person to inhabit!! Didn't Jesus deliver the man in tombs and the demons cried out to be sent into the pigs...they are looking for places in which to live, and continue their evil. If our troops have never understood that we resist evil, then they take it right into themselves, imho.
I expect some flack on that statement, but I stand by my christian knowledge of God's word.

[twigs]

How very interesting that only Dem senators were notified and then his own representative who happened to be Republican. It sounds like to me that this gentleman, who was right to notify congress, was trying to make a political issue out of it by notifying representatives who were not the party in power. My guess is that he hoped to give them an issue and therefore, they would be more likely to jump on it. He miscalculated. Republicans, for all their faults, do care more about people than the Dems ever did, in spite of what they say. I also have to believe that even if he had written the White House, knowing that the letter would potentially get lost in all that mail, would have had a better chance of getting into the right hands.

[JennysCool]

Senator Byrd's office would not even accept the letter e-mailed to him on the grounds it was too long.

Hee hee hee!

[Gator113]

I am both Outraged and deeply saddened. I demand the immediate termination of each of the below listed traitors.

I further demand an investigation to determine who all they told (such as Kerry) about their secret knowledge and privileged information.

I demand an investigation to determine the exact extent and specific involvement of each of the listed Traitors.

Senators Jack Reed, Mark Dayton, Robert Byrd, Bill Nelson, Evan Bayh, Mark Pryor, Edward Kennedy, Benjamin Nelson, Hillary Clinton, Joseph Lieberman, Daniel Akaka, Paul Sarbanes, John D. Rockefeller, Governor Mark Warner...........

Each of the above War Criminals should be taken into immediate custody and held without bail until their times of trial.

I further demand that my original teeth grow back, my full head of hair returns and that I feel 19 again.

[Arpege92]

I thought that was funny too!

[Grampa Dave]

It is time that these 17 members of the Congression Rat pack immediatley resign for not responding to this prisoner abuse earlier.

It doesn't matter if a lowly peon in their office refused to pass the info up to them. They are responsible for everything done in their offices including this terrible delay in getting upset about the prisoner abuse.

Here are the the 17 names, all Democrats except for Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, Sgt. Frederick's congressman:

Senators Jack Reed, Mark Dayton, Robert Byrd, Bill Nelson, Evan Bayh, Mark Pryor, Edward Kennedy, Benjamin Nelson, Hillary Clinton, Joseph Lieberman, Daniel Akaka, Paul Sarbanes, John D. Rockefeller, Governor Mark Warner and Rep. Roscoe Bartlett.

Senator Byrd's office would not even accept the letter e-mailed to him on the grounds it was too long.

Bartlett said he was looking into the matter.

Sarbanes said he had written the the "appropriate officials."

---

All 17 of you must immediately resign for not responding to this terrible problem until it became politically expedient for you to appear to respond.

[The Wizard]

bttt