Posted on 06/16/2005 11:38:05 AM PDT by West Coast Conservative
The White House said a senator's comparison of American interrogators at Guantanamo Bay to Nazis, Soviet gulags and Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot was reprehensible and a disservice to those serving in the military.
White House press secretary Scott McClellan said it is "beyond belief" that Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin would compare treatment of dangerous enemy combatants at Guantanamo Bay to the death of millions of innocent people by oppressive regimes.
"Our men and women in uniform go out of their way to treat detainees humanely, and they go out of their way to uphold the values and the laws that we hold so dear in this country," McClellan said.
Durbin, the Senate's No. 2 Democrat, made the comparison during a speech on the Senate floor Tuesday after reading an FBI agent's report describing detainees at the Naval base in Guantanamo Bay as being chained to the floor without food or water in extreme temperatures.
"If I read this to you and did not tell you that it was an FBI agent describing what Americans had done to prisoners in their control, you would most certainly believe this must have been done by Nazis, Soviets in their gulags, or some mad regime — Pol Pot or others — that had no concern for human beings," Durbin said.
Said McClellan: "I think the senator's remarks are reprehensible. It's a real disservice to our men and women in uniform who adhere to high standards and uphold our values and our laws."
A Durbin spokesman said Wednesday that the senator did not plan to apologize for the comments. The senator issued a statement saying it's the administration that should apologize "for abandoning the Geneva Conventions and authorizing torture techniques that put our troops at risk and make Americans less secure."
Human-rights groups and other congressional Democrats have accused the administration of unjustly detaining suspects at Guantanamo. Amnesty International recently called the prison "the gulag of our time" and some Republicans have questioned whether it should remain open.
Probably not. Like I said yesterday I bet there is not one....Not one that would stand tall eye to eye with this louse of a Senator and demand...yes demand over the airwaves that he apologize NOT to any of us nor the President ... BUT...apologize to our men and women in uniform and to their families.
I tell ya one thing. If I had a son or daughter fighting for the freedoms this low piece of humanity Durbin enjoys, I would personally go to his office with my entire family. I would DEMAND he receive me and I would have contacted every newspaper, magazine and TV station prior and then I would tell this human sack of you know what to stand there, look me, my husband, my children, their grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Neices and Nephews square in the eyes and DARE to compare my son or daughter to a Nazi or his tactics to a gulag or anything else.
As a parent this jerk would have to look me in the eye and and in the eyes of my family and make these accusations to us and to the American public who also have sons and daughters wearing the uniform of these United States.
This man is a disgrace to everything that is good and decent. He obviously hates our military members. Well, we were military members and we resent what he said. He had no right to make such an assinine statement not to mention such a bad one. His statement is UnAmerican. HE is unAmerican and he should be released of his Senate seat immediately. To refuse to apologize to our military men and women is beyond the pale and he is the lowest of the lows in my opinion.
The people of his state should bow their heads in embarassment having this man as their representative. Oh no...he is wrong. He is shameful. He is disgusting. He is not someone who should be sitting in a Senate seat. He has just aided and abetted the enemy and has put more of our American fighting force in danger.
Senator Durbin should know the blood of our military members from here on out is on his hands. The blood of our military members from here on out is on his hands. He has aided the enemy. What a shameful individual he is.
I hope his office is flooded and his website is so hit it has to shut down. The American public deserves better than this and certainly the American military deserves much more than this. I thought we only had one enemy to fight. Now we have Senator Durbin who is The enemy of America and its military forces.
Be a man durbin and apologize to our members in uniform.
Apologize to theri mothers and dads for comparing their sons and daughters to Nazis. Of all things. Shame, shame, shame on you Senator. You have no idea what they are all about do you? Just bashing and hating and spewing venom just like your party does and does so well. God forgive you for what you said about our military men and women...God forgive you cause we sure won't.
However, since durbin can't be man enought to stand and apologize for his vile comments, I will apologize to our military members and their families. I want our military members and their families to know their sons and daughters are doing a valiant job and the American people (the vast majority of them) appreciate them and what they are doing. We are proud of all of you who are out there putting your lives on the line for our freedoms. Never, Never, Never think that someone like this pathetic durbin speaks for us.
God bless our military and thank you!
bttt
pressured to step down from leadership...
censured by the Senate...
apologize fully for his odious comparisons...
be pressured to resign...
be impeached if he doesn't.
Now, a couple questions for y'all...isn't the FBI "Gitmo report" he bases his dramatic statement on really old news? I'm sure this "report" came out weeks, if not months ago. An obvious "tie-in" is the Time/Newsweek (whichever) report on the 20th hijacker "inside Gitmo"...and I'm still wondering, where and how did the magazine get that classified "log"? Last, and least significant for the moment...what about those ridiculous "Downing Street Minutes" which a close reading shows are quite meaningless, but how did those come to light?
On a lighter note, that idiot Conyers was on C-Span this a.m. blathering about "his" Downing Street hearings today...one of the "star witnesses" will be none other than Joe Wilson of "yellow cake! Niger!" fame...LOL! However, as has been mentioned here before, beware the "drip, drip" of incessant lies and propaganda...
I know that during the hearing the other day, Senator Cornyn said that only 11 Senators have actually visited Gitmo---
He then went on to say, that it might be a good idea for Senators that wish to comment on the treatment of detainees, go down and see the living quarters and treatment they are receiving....lol
You should send that comment as you stated it to the White House. It is bottom line for sure. Thanks to your husband and may he return to you and your family safe and sound.
As the Geneva Accords were written in WW2, yes. But I've heard it said that there have been several 'changes' made since that time. The biggest problem is that the Administration seems to be willing to let this "grey area" exist, and so they are open to criticism.
The Administration maintains that we have the right to try these enemy combatants in secret military tribunals. AFAIK, we have not done so. This suggests weakness on our part, and that translates to political weakness to politicians like Sen. Durbin.
If you really want to see these guys take sides -- flush the crazy leftists out into the open -- announce that the first group of detainees are being readied for trial.
Main Entry: cas·ti·gate
Pronunciation: 'kas-t&-"gAt
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Form(s): -gat·ed; -gat·ing
Etymology: Latin castigatus, past participle of castigare —more at CHASTEN
Date: 1607
: to subject to severe punishment, reproof, or criticism
synonym see PUNISH
- cas·ti·ga·tion /"kas-t&-'gA-sh&n/ noun
- cas·ti·ga·tor /'kas-t&-"gA-t&r/ noun
The above is the dictionary definition of castigate. Aftere reading McClellan's statment...would anyone call it Castigating????????? Hardly!
per Hannity...DICK is supposed to address the Senate shortly....turn to c-span
Thank you. I just am so wound up about this jerk.
The Left is kooking out.
Very little was said about Ted Kennedy's remark...and he most certainly was not forced to retract or apologize for such an outrageous statement. This is just more of the same.
Comments like Turdbin's makes me wish dueling was legal.
Below an email I sent to Senator Kyle earlier:
Dear Senator Kyle
I would like to take an opportunity to register with you my disgust at the remarks of your colleague Senator Durbin comparing conditions at Guantanamo with the Nazi concentration camps.
These comments in a public forum contribute greatly to the cause of the enemies of the United States and undermine the service and morale of our military personnel.
As a 22 year Marine Corps veteran I have an understanding of the need for our miltary personnel to feel that our government will keep faith with them. It appears that the Democratic Leadership in the Senate has stooped to a new rhetorical low in their efforts to hang the troops out to dry in the name of politics.
In Republican Rome, a man could not achieve Senatorial rank with serving his time with the legions. Right now that policy makes more sense to me than ever before in my lifetime.
I feel that as Leaders of this country, the Senate has a responsibility to call into account conduct and statments such as Senator Durbin's. He should be censured by the Senate. He and his ilk make me ashamed of our government, embarrased for our republic, and question why I would ever want my children to serve in a miliary that is at the mercy of his type of leadership.
I would ask that you pass my comments along to Senator Durbin in whatever forum you wish as well as my contact information should he desire to speak with me directly. Thank you.
K.A. Smith
MSgt USMC (ret)
Fact: the protests from the Republicans are less then deafening. Now that doesn't mean that we are blaming the Republicans.
However, I do blame the Republicans for not having the stones to stand up and call this louse on his defamatory and outrageous statement. How about defending our soldiers??!!
If you have a problem with that...so be it.
Dick Durbin accused our troops of being comparable to among the worst of evil the modern era has known.
He is a disgrace. He should be impeached.
I think the Pubbies are following the adage:
"If your enemy is shooting himself in the foot, just stay out of the way"
Bueno...how many cervezas/margaritas?
Get the video from C-span & use it over & over & over again with the general thrust being the Rats think that your sons & daughters serving in the armed forces are the moral equivalent to the guards at Auschwitz. The Rats have sided with the people who brought you 9-11 & video's of people getting their heads sawed off with a dull Ginsu knife to the cries of ALLAHU AKHBAR!!!! DO YOU REALLY WANT TO TRUST THEM TO PROTECT YOU?????
No way. This comment is far outside the boundaries, way over the top, and flat-out anti-American hate speech that much be loudly condemned. There is a time for the strategy you suggest, but to compare the pure evil perpetrated in the Nazi concentration camps to American activity at Gitmo is heinous. Durbin should be censured and run out of town and then thrown out of the country and made to live in North Korea. I am not kidding. That was an ugly, ugly comment purposefully designed to inflict maximum damage.
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