Posted on 06/29/2005 8:01:58 AM PDT by HAL9000
Stop Blaming the Troops - Investigate the Real Culprits of AbuseThe time has come to investigate the Bush Administration's role in the prisoner abuse and humiliation that has motivated our enemies in the war on terror and endangers the well-being of our fighting forces.
Today, the reports of abuse and humiliation at detainment facilities in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Cuba are distracting the world from focusing on winning the war on terror. Although the military chain of command seems to have properly investigated the role of its personnel and held accountable those in the wrong, the civilian leadership in this country has failed to do the same.
Call on Senate Armed Services Chairman John Warner to investigate the Bush Administration's role in prisoner abuse now!
For generations, the United States has been a powerful voice of moral authority in the world. After World War II, we led the world in creating the Geneva Conventions and prosecuting war criminals at Nuremberg, and later became one of the first nations to ratify the Convention Against Torture. Even today, Slobodan Milosevic is being tried for war crimes thanks to a U.S.-led NATO air strike against his brutal campaign of ethnic cleansing in the Balkans.
Unfortunately, the Bush Administration has squandered our legacy of moral leadership.
I need your help to protect the honor of our men and women in uniform and to set us on the right course to win the war on terror. Although the President has said the United States is "committed to the worldwide elimination of torture and we are leading this fight by example," the Administration's actions don't match his words. In his infamous memo, Alberto Gonzales advised President Bush to ignore the Geneva Convention on the treatment of prisoners of war – a treaty that protects our soldiers captured abroad – to give the president more "flexibility." This so-called "flexibility" along with other Administration policies and statements may have ultimately contributed to the environment in which the abuses at Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay and Afghanistan have occurred.
Among the disturbing practices identified so far: the rendition of prisoners to countries where they can be tortured, failing to register "ghost prisoners" to deny them visits by the Red Cross, employing civilian contract agents to conduct interrogations outside military rules, and the reported prolonged degrading treatment of some detainees in U.S. custody. All of these deserve further investigation.
With the right leadership and accountability, couldn't the Administration have prevented the embarrassment of Abu Ghraib and the controversy at Guantanamo Bay? While some are blaming individual soldiers, doesn't at least some of the responsibility rest with the civilian leadership of our government? Don't the American people deserve the truth? Shouldn't Congress lead an investigation?
Sign my petition to Chairman John Warner now and urge him to hold hearings on the Bush Administration's statements, policies, orders, and actions related to prisoner abuse.
How can we win the war on terrorism, a fight for democracy and freedom in America and around the world, if we forsake the very principles and institutions for which we are fighting?
The laws of war are designed to regulate combat and to protect non-combatants from the violence and degradation of war. The conduct of this Administration may ultimately lead to a green-light for our enemies to torture our soldiers when captured -- we owe it to our men and women in uniform and their families to investigate.
American soldiers deserve better than to see our allies pointing their fingers at Guantanamo Bay and calling it an "American problem." We are doing their work too – defeating terror is a global priority.
People of good conscience cannot afford to stay silent. Please join me today, and then invite everyone you know to stand with us.
Sincerely,
Wes Clark
You know, it's not just this idiot who is talking and putting Bush down. It seems like even those, whom we'd least expect, on the right are coming down on Bush's objectives in Iraq.
I hear O Reilly almost every night talking about the "castatrophic" situation in the Middle East where we're "bogged down."
Michael Savage every day on his radio show talks about us bombing the Sunni Triangle, (very realistic Mike,) and then bringing our troops home because the war effort is obviously gone sour."
Thank God people like this were not at the helm during WWI and WWII.
Is there no staying power in our society for anything? Our milatary is in the Middle East now fortunately. Our presence there, as opposed to being in places like Germany,
should keep the war on their turf not ours.
This insurgency will be nothing more than a foot note when the history of our war against world terror is written.
nick
Weasely Clerk is the "jimmy carter" of generals.
My sentiments exactly. And who in the Air Force promoted McPeak? (Whodathunk we'd be back to "who promoted Perez" in the post-cold-war era?)
Clark is just the latest of the Fox Liberal Lineup: Liasson, Williams, Estrich, Ratner, Colmes... who else am I missing?
The writers made him the whining, mush-for-character wimp. It was a planned choice to make him so hated.
Perhaps it was to make his mother (mostly ugh) less hated. She played the pompous, know-it-all I detested most of the time.
There was a stauch, pervasive, consistent feminist thread throughout the series. Wesley was the sacrificial lamb to that agenda.
Not surprising they made the young, smart, straight white male the goat. Made the stereotype appear absurd...as planned. Typical of Hollywood.
could it be because Clark is a Disco dancing, oscar wilde reading, Barbara Striesand ticket holding ... friend of Dorthy?
If General Strangelove had just been empowered by a few more demons with dynamic speaking abilities, he might have been the 'Rat nominee, and President right now.
But it just isn't time yet, and apparently Wesley isn't the 'one'.
Satan's gift to the world was the remote control... try it, the first one is free. ;-)
The first questions one needs to ask when some little a**wipe gets promoted to general or flag rank is "What were those morons thinking when they selected him and who approved it". Start there and find out who the real traitors are in this country. Selection process or random number generator?
Perhaps Fox News Channel can explain why they chose to give a forum to this weasel.
The perfumed prince -- again!!
Who the hell is Wes Clark again??? Oh yeah, he lost to John Kerry of all people.
More bull from yet another leftist jerk off
I have a terrible memory...
I can't recall what happened when he decide to retire and run for pres. I think that he had some personal problem with Bush.
Can someone remind me?
My wife got mad at me last night when I told her Clark was scum. She said that I say that about everyone who is against Bush.
Hahaha, yes he did have him squirming.
When Clark started babbling about a withdrawal timetable, he immediately double-spoke to recant. He knew that "when the Iraqis step up, we step out" was the only answer to give. He had to stick to the Democrat talking points so he was left squirming under Britt's questioning.
That was fun to watch.
"The true-blue, union-loving, patriotic, blue-collar, old fashioned, Zell Miller Democrats are all but gone."
Sadly true - and replaced by those whiney, spineless, anti-American, unproductive, so-called "elites" and their sycophants in the media.
Sadly true as well.
bad war equals more viewers from leftists.
I don't watch Oreily because he slips in harvard liberalism. (homo-marriage using kerry non-position, viet nam esque war assesments)
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