Bush rejects detainee abuse commission

[sabra]

<<SNIP>>
http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/ledgerenquirer/news/politics/11949202.htm

Bush rejects detainee abuse commission

Associated Press


WASHINGTON - The White House on Tuesday rejected the proposed creation of an independent commission to investigate abuses of detainees held at the U.S. military prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and elsewhere.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan said the Pentagon has launched 10 major investigations into allegations of abuse, and that system was working well.

"People are being held to account," he said. "And we think that's the way to go about this."

McClellan said the Defense Department would continue to investigate any new allegations. And he noted that the Pentagon has appointed outsiders to some of its investigations.

<</SNIP>>

[Misunderestimator]

1. Yeah... "that system was working well" .....erm....for you.

[MaineDem]

2. Does this surprise anyone? (nt)

[maddezmom]

3. not surprised at all

[VegasWolf]

12. Could have knocked me over with a feather when I heard that. nt

[marmar]

4. Now there's a shock...

Simple Scotty strikes again. Letting the Pentagon investigate these abuse allegations is like letting Enron investigate its financial misdeeds. You can predict the outcome.

[gratuitous]

5. Who's "being held to account," Snottie?

I need some names, the charges against them, and the status of the proceedings. Who's gone to jail out of Guantanamo? Who's been charged? What are their CO's names? Who? If people are being held to account as you say, you should have a comprehensive list. Right now, on you. Because if you told me the sun was coming up in the east, Snottie, I wouldn't print it unless I'd looked out the window for myself.

[jsamuel]

6. What are they hidding?

[Call me Deacon Blues]

7. The fact that they've launched "10 major investigations"

is a scandal in itself.

[daleo]

8. They want to make sure that only "bad apples" are caught

An independent commission might actually look a little deeper into things, so they can't have that.

[marmar]

9. The fruit cart has got to be awfully full these days...

:evilgrin:

[TahitiNut]

10. They're just making sure no pictures or videos get out.

Anyone caught taking photos or videos will be punished. :puke:

[Theduckno2]

11. "Independent " is probably what concerns Bush.

President Nixon found out what happens when there is an "independent" investigation and he nearly caused a constitutional crisis trying to undo the damage. Given the way info has been leaked in Britain, IMHO Bush may be just as paranoid of leaks as Nixon evidently was.

[Inland]

13. These are guys that opposed the 9/11 commission until

forced, and made sure that congress didn't investigate who was at fault for 9/11.

[Supersedeas]

14. is this the 'last throes' of an administration in denial

[thinkingwoman]

15. Bush rejects reality

Prefers W-Land.

Yes, yes, the foxes are guarding the hen house just fine. That system is working well. </sarcasm>

[cthrumatrix]

16. Bush has been soooo right for so long you can see why we should trust him

(sarcam on overload)

[thinkingwoman]

21. danger! danger, will robinson!

sorry, the overload made me sound the alert.

I'm finding, more and more, that I can't seem to say anything about the monkey in chief that isn't sarcastic. sigh.

[NNN0LHI]

17. WHouse rebuffs independent probe of Guantanamo

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N21610094.htm

WASHINGTON, June 21 (Reuters) - The White House on Tuesday rebuffed Democratic calls for creation of an independent commission to investigate detainee abuses at the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, prison for foreign terrorism suspects.

Democrats said an independent commission was needed because of questions about the integrity of the Pentagon's investigations and to prove to the Muslim world the United States had nothing to hide.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan countered that "the Department of Defense has taken these issues head-on and addressed them."

"They continue to look into allegations of abuse. People are being held to account, and we think that's the way to go about this," McClellan said when asked whether the White House would support creation of an independent commission as proposed by Democrats.

[wallwriter]

18. Independent commissions are for people who hate America.

Maybe we can get a closed door military tribunal to look into things.

[TaleWgnDg]

19. Well, ex-President Clinton says . . .

.
Well, ex-President Clinton says . . .

"LONDON (AP) - Former President Clinton said the U.S. prison camp at Guantanamo Bay should close or improve its record on prisoner abuse, a British newspaper reported Monday. Clinton told the Financial Times the camp should 'be closed down or cleaned up.'

" 'It is time that there are no more stories coming out of there about people being abused,' Clinton told the newspaper.

"Clinton spokesman Jim Kennedy said the quotes were accurate."

http://newsobserver.com/24hour/politics/story/2496127p-10849375c.html



_____________________________________________________________________

"We never should have gone to war for ideological reasons driven by politics and based on manipulated intelligence . . . . The Administration’s dishonesty, lack of candor, and lack of planning have brought us to where we are today, with American soldiers dying, Iraqi civilians living in constant fear, and with no clearer picture of our strategy for victory in Iraq than when we started." - U.S. Senator Edward M. Kennedy (Democrat, Massachusetts)

_____________________________________________________________________

.

[rainbow4321]

20. Germany's Spiegal: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in the White House

http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/0,1518,361461,00.html

Terror suspects have been held in the detention facility at Guantanamo for years without trial and without rights. Now, the Bush administration is coming under increasing criticism for its handling of so-called "illegal combatants." The president may soon be forced to find the key he threw away so long ago.

Bush's protestations in defense of his policies have done little to help. Two weeks ago, he attacked a human rights report from Amnesty International -- which referred to Guantanamo as "the Gulag of our times" -- as "absurd." But the comparison stuck and has become just one more thorn in the administration's side. The camp has become an image problem -- and a symbol for a world power that demands democracy and human rights from others, but doesn't always hold itself accountable to the same standards.

Fareed Zakaria, a columnist for Newsweek magazine, thinks the US government has a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde problem. "While Dr. Jekyll makes speeches by day on Arab liberty, some nights he turns into Mr. Hyde," Zakaria wrote earlier this month. Even worse than the censure from outside, some of the most pointed criticism isn't coming from human rights organizations but from former Guantanamo guards or from detailed notes on interrogations held in the camp.


Government prosecutors are currently in the process of reviewing evidence against the detainees in preparation for possible trials or military tribunals. At the same time, it is almost unavoidable that a number of legal complaints against the US government -- for torture or mistreatment -- will be likewise brought to trial. More negative headlines would no doubt result. But in Washington, hope is awakening that they could be the last.

-----------------

http://www.fareedzakaria.com/articles/newsweek/060605.html

But while Dr. Jekyll makes speeches by day on Arab liberty, some nights he turns into Mr. Hyde. There is within the Bush administration another impulse, a warrior ethos that believes in beating up bad guys without much regard for such niceties as international law. Excessive concern for such matters would be a sign of weakness, the kind of thing liberals do. Men like Dick Cheney and Don Rumsfeld see themselves above all else as tough guys.

[u2spirit]

22. 1943

Hitler says that an independant investigation of Auschwitz is not necessary as his Army have been doing a great job policing themselves. Only difference is in modern day USA irony is dead.

[Catfight]

23. Well, seems to me we need to release the rest of the photos and videos.

Let the public decide if enough is being done once they have all the information about it.

[C_U_L8R]

24. The United Nations / The World Court

The international community need to take action.... torture is being condoned by the President of the United States. The buck stops at Bush. The torture needs to end and the commander in chief need to face up to his responsibility and be held accountable for the war crimes he has committed. This is a betrayal of our national honor.

[mrdmk]

25. Well... Let's see here

Prisoner abuse in Afganistan...

Prisoner abuse in Iraq...

Prisoner abuse in Guantanamo...

Prisoner abuse though extraordinary renditions (outsourcing torture)...

A memo by an unnamed Attorney General (Alberto Gonzales) as to how we can do interrogations with physical and mental afflictions (torture) and not be liable for the act or outcome...

All roads do not lead to Rome, they lead to the Colosseum within Rome. This is not to hard to figure out who is really responsible for our National Image. Besides, a corporation is only a reflection of its management...

[warrens]

26. This is the stuff that is making even hardcore Rethugs turn on Smirk

My brother the lifelong Republican activist (he's not part of the racist thug core, he's of the "Democrats want to spend all my money" branch) swears he's going to register as a democrat, if only as a protest, and vote for whatever Dem runs in 08. The other brothers sort of saw the light in 04. For 25 years, I have been the only Dem in the family of seven. Now we have a 5-1-1 majority. The nazi that answers to my last name would vote for Smirk again, even if he came in, tied him down, raped him, then tortured my stepmother to death in front of him.

I think that is a small, but meaningful, indicator.

[Moderator]

27. kick

[ckramer]

28. Bush Won't Allow Independent Probe of Gitmo Gulag

The White House on Tuesday rebuffed Democratic calls for creation of an independent commission to investigate treatment of foreign terror suspects at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

And Assistant U.S. Senate Democratic leader Dick Durbin yielded to a drumbeat of largely Republican criticism and apologized for comparing U.S. interrogation methods at Guantanamo to those used by the Nazis and other repressive regimes.

"I sincerely regret if what I said causes anybody to misunderstand my true feelings," Durbin said in the Senate. "Our soldiers around the world and their families at home deserve our respect, admiration and total support."

On the other side of the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, Democrats in the House of Representatives said an independent commission to investigate treatment of detainees was needed because of questions about the integrity of the Pentagon's probes and to prove to the Muslim world the United States had nothing to hide.

link

[bemildred]

29. Good, let's ram it down his throat. nt

[whistle]

30. More secrecy, more hiding, more cover-up.....

...nothing to see, move along!:sarcasm: MORE LIES!

[rockedthevoteinMA]

31. They used "Gulag" in the title? wow. n/t

[Cha]

32. What's bush and his handlers trying

to HIDE?

Fucking nazis!

[aden_nak]

33. Can I use the Bush Defense on the IRS if I cheat on my taxes?

You're not allowed to check if I am lying because I already told you I'm not lying. Why are you dredging up these old 2004 tax issues for? It's halfway to 2006 already. This is old news. You know, on September the eleventh, we were attacked. . .

[struggle4progress]

34. kick for special prosecutor