However, the idea has found little resonance in Iraq. On Tuesday, Ahmed Hassan al-Uqaili, deputy chief of the Human Rights Organization in Iraq, dismissed Bush's promise as a Republican ploy "to win the (presidential) election in the United States.
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Posted on 05/26/2004 8:16:10 AM PDT by TexKat
BAGHDAD, Iraq - The head of Iraq's Governing Council said Wednesday that President Bush 's idea of demolishing the notorious Abu Ghraib prison was a waste of resources.
"We must not be sentimental," Ghazi Mashal Ajil al-Yawer told reporters. "Torture has taken place in every vault in Iraq. As the Governing Council, we do not agree with demolishing it and the matter will be left for the transitional government" which takes office Jan. 30.
He called the idea of destroying the prison "a waste of resources."
Bush told an audience Monday night at the Army War College in Carlisle, Pa., that Abu Ghraib prison, notorious for torture under Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) and scene of prisoner abuse by U.S. troops, will be destroyed "as a fitting symbol of Iraq's new beginning."
However, the idea has found little resonance in Iraq.
On Tuesday, Ahmed Hassan al-Uqaili, deputy chief of the Human Rights Organization in Iraq, dismissed Bush's promise as a Republican ploy "to win the (presidential) election in the United States."
Al-Uqaili said the most important thing was to end the abuses committed by both Saddam's regime and the American guards.
Interior Minister Samir Shaker Mahmoud al-Sumeidi said he understood Bush's desire to "remove the memory and the stain" of the prisoner abuse scandal. But he said it would be better not tear it down but change the way it is managed.
BUMP
What? Iraqis haven't been taught the agenda of political correctness, self-esteem and self-loathing yet? Don't they realize it's the first step toward becoming a modern society?
Besides that I dont want to pay for a new one.
I agree.
Al-Uqaili said the most important thing was to end the abuses committed by both Saddam's regime and the American guards.
Missions accomplished.
Interior Minister Samir Shaker Mahmoud al-Sumeidi said he understood Bush's desire to "remove the memory and the stain" of the prisoner abuse scandal. But he said it would be better not tear it down but change the way it is managed.
Agreed
It's just a building, much like the Reichstag or the Kremlin.
As much as I support President Bush, I think tearing down this prison is just plain stupid.
Use it for something else...it would make great hospital rooms if the barred doors were removed.
We just spent millions cleaning up that piece of history so why tear it down.
Send non-political prisoners there (thieves, robbers, murderers, etc.) and let the new Iraqis prison guards look over it.
However, the idea has found little resonance in Iraq. On Tuesday, Ahmed Hassan al-Uqaili, deputy chief of the Human Rights Organization in Iraq, dismissed Bush's promise as a Republican ploy "to win the (presidential) election in the United States.
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It is Iraq's prison they can destroy it or leave it as a shrine.
Leaving the building up would be stupid. As long as it exists, it will be used as propaganda tool against the American government - count on it.
And it wouldn't be used against the American government if it was torn down.
Please.
afterall, liberals the world over will want to make it into a museum.
senators kerry, kennedy, clinton, boxer, and congresswoman mad max will want to dedicate it.
I think that they most definitely should tear down that evil prison.
Of course it will be used - it has achieved iconic status. Every news story will have some line like:
"The new Iraqi government was sworn in today not more than two miles from the site of the prison where Iraqis were humiliated by American occupation forces".They will just have to use file photos instead of contemporaneous ones. Tearing it down is just damage control.
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