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.
McClellan may be a nice guy, but he has been pitiful as a spokesman. Bring back Ari Fleischer.
yup.
"Number 2" pretty much says it all.
Turbin Durbin also compared Gitmo to Nazi concentration camps? The White House should denounce this strongly. Where is the ADL to demand he visit the Holocaust Memorial?
Bush needs to do one of these things himself...ditto on the McClellan comment...nice guy but not a good choice for this position.
Does anyone know if Durbin has ever been down to Guanatanamo?
The reason I ask is that if he personally witnessed the actions of some detainees (ex: assaulting prison guards, spitting on them, etc), I'll bet he change his tune real fast.
I think a week spent aassiting the guards in Guantanamo would do a lot to cure Durbin's attitude problem.
"penis' durbin is a left wing moron....sounds like a ted kennedy clone.....we always hear these dem's attacking everything but the republicans always answer the same ....nothing! sometimes i'am ashamed of there silence....just say durbin's a idiot......what are they scared of?
Well, really the Constitution does. U.S. Armed Forces defend the basic rights therein.
Who knew Durbin was trying out for Baghdad Bob's old job.
Jeff Sessions did.
He'll have to compete with Baghdad Bob for that.
censured isn't NEAR strong enough. i want impeachment or a resignation or a coliseum with detainees and durbin battling it out.
Why, they can't upset the country club atmosphere you know. They'll all be having cocktails and cracking jokes together. It's just politics .
The Geneva Convention does not apply.
I think I like the way your mind works.
"The Geneva Convention does not apply."
True, we give them far more than we are required to do.
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