Posted on 06/18/2005 12:54:10 AM PDT by ambrose
Article Published: Saturday, June 18, 2005 - 12:00:00 AM PST
Senator issues apology for U.S.-Nazi comparison
By Rebecca Carroll, Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said Friday that he regretted any misunderstandings caused by his comments earlier this week comparing American interrogators at Guantanamo Bay to Nazis.
The White House, Senate Republicans and others had called for an apology after Durbin's comments Tuesday.
Durbin made the comparison after reading an FBI agent's report describing detainees at the Naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, 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 Tuesday.
On Friday, Durbin tried to clarify the issue. "My statement in the Senate was critical of the policies of this administration, which add to the risk our soldiers face," he said in a statement released Friday afternoon. "I have learned from my statement that historical parallels can be misused and misunderstood. I sincerely regret if what I said caused anyone to misunderstand my true feelings: Our soldiers around the world and their families at home deserve our respect, admiration and total support."
The Anti-Defamation League on Thursday had joined lawmakers and other groups in calling for an apology.
"Suggesting some kind of equivalence between (U.S. military) interrogation tactics demonstrates a profound lack of understanding about the horrors that Hitler and his regime actually perpetrated," the league said in a letter to Durbin that was posted to its Web site.
Sen. John Warner, R-Va., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Thursday: "I feel apologies are in order to the men and women of the armed forces. I do not ask it for myself."
All seven freshmen Republican senators also made a joint call Friday for an apology.
Durbin had said Thursday that he had never brought U.S. soldiers into the comparison in the first place, and that he was criticizing the approved interrogation methods described in an FBI memo obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request.
I think my computer screen's screwed up, I didn't see the apology in that article. I saw the usual Democrat line: "There was a misunderstanding", which means "YOU got it wrong, I didn't".
ON top of that, Trent Lott DID APOLOGIZE, seven times!
Durbin DID NOT APOLOGIZE, in fact he goes on to say that is is our fault because we misunderstood him!
The man who taught me to lay tile had done 10 years on a burglary. At one point he made the sad mistake of knocking out a guard, after which he was cuffed hand to ankle and left for 48 hours. Think Steve McQueen in Papillon. During this, his allergies filled his head with mucous and he thought for several hours he was going to die of "positional asphyxia". Had that happened his body would have been found the next day, as no one ever looked in on him in that time.
This is how we treat our own citizens in civilian prisons. What I hear hear of Club Gitmo, my tile laying bud would cheerfully swap spots with one of these guys.
Durbin has been reading too much of Schulz of Amnesty Int'l fame. Definitly "aid and comfort", I imagine Al Jazeera is running this almost as a tape loop, but absent formal Congressional Declaration of War, idiots like Durbin can get away with vile treachery.
I didn't misunderstand his words. I understood completely. He must take some of us for stupid democrats.
I just went to the DUng pile. Those morons feel he has nothing to apologise for. In fact, they're breathlessy claiming that this is perfect timing because ,get this, the "new pics" from Abu Ghraib coming out will vindicate him. What scum. This country needs an enema.
I doubt he can stand by this non-apology. This isn't the end of it. He has to produce that memo or face censure. And that is what we must ask for.
So what part of "No person shall be compelled to testify against himself" or
"No person will be subject to cruel and inhumane treatment" do
you disagree with?
Durbin tried to clarify the issue
Durbin had said Thursday that he had never brought U.S. soldiers into the comparison in the first place
This is no "apology", it's just an attempt to sidestep the issue and suggest that it's everybody else's fault for "misunderstanding" what he said. Bull! We understood just fine what he said and his half-assed attempt to sidestep his original quote means jack to me.
If he wasn't talking about U.S. soldiers, who was he talking about, the fairy godmother?
Is that what you feel is being done to Al Qaida? What is cruel and inhumane here. What laws apply to them?
I'd like proof that the Memo actually exists, and was actually authored by an FBI Agent.
First of all, any apology has to be delivered on the Senate floor as the original statement was. And any apology must retract the hate filled rhetoric of the original statement and replace it with more appropriate language. Like comparing Gitmo interrigators to the Chicago PD.
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said Friday that he regretted any misunderstandings caused by his comments.....
Yet another liberal non-apology "apology."
This is what he said, and this is what he meant:
Durbin said this death camp guard:
...was no different from this brave soldier:
There was no "misunderstanding."
"I'm sorry you are making me look bad" is NOT an apology, and no one "misunderstood" his attack on the Americans (soldiers) at Gitmo. The Republicans should not accept this as an apology and should move to censure him on Monday. None of them will, sadly.
No sir. This is NOT an apology.
That's it Dick bin Durbin, blame the people for not understanding your hideous rhetoric.
Resign Dicky Boy. Resign, Resign, Resign, Resign....
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