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
"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."
That's odd. The only group I see or hear attacking the honor of our men and women in uniform are the liberal Democrats. The liberal MSM has done more to put soldiers and other Americans in harm's way than any entity other than Al Jazeera.
Isn't it time to add Al Jazeera to the list of MSM members? Other than the language, the message is the same.
Wow. Wes Clark really is a bitter loser. Is he gay?
I won't ask, and he won't tell.
I was totally disgusted by the "analysis" by journalists last night. when it was over, I concluded that not one of them had gone to the Middle East. They are all too soft or too eilite to actually report on wars.
Or 2nd in command at Gitmo, where he gets to witness it all and be restricted from saying one damn word about it.
At the very least, he wears a leash belonging to Hillary.
LOL!
Jury's out on the "straight" adjective...
THis guy is a four-star fairy.
Very good post---you have it exactly right---
It seems like the pundits have fallen for the rhetoric that the MSM and dems have been repeating, over and over...
Unfortunately, also, there are ex-military that want to keep their TV jobs, so they even get on these shows and denigrate the way the war is going, which I think is totally disgraceful....
If idiot politicians and MSM want to falsly critisize the military's job over there, they can be un-elected or fired but ex-military just keep waving their medals and rank around, giving "credence" to what the "pull out now" crowd is saying.
Easy on Oscar Wilde--he may have lived left, but he wrote right.
My opinion of Sen Warner rose quite a bit when he made his comments on Fox. Did I hear him say correctly that he thought liberals who criticize the war are unpatriotic? Brit Hume asked him for clarification on this and he didn't back down. It's about time.
It's not his writing I was refering to.
Warner should ask The Weasel: "When was the last time you condemned the actions of the suicide bombers in Iraq?"
I fault Fox for giving this little sniveling weasel a forum.
I guess Wesley Clark didn't get the memo that the Clinton Justice Department obtained a federal indictment against OBL which cited the terrorists connections with Iraq.
And the MSM wrote dozens of articles in the 90's about Saddam's growing relationship with AQ. Saddam was AQ's ATM and he considered OBL an intelligence asset.
That and more here:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1327993/posts
All this fuss over some intangible called "humiliation."
Can't hurt the enemy's widdle biddle feelings. I guess that means we have to let them win.
I think he also said that he was going to repeat what he said on Fox today at the start of the Armed Services Committee meeting---they are going to be discussing the nomination of Peter Pace to take Gen. Myers job!
Hopefully, he did---I didn't get to see it!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.