Bush Still Has Full Confidence in Rumsfeld

[Barrett808]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush retains full confidence in Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, the White House said on Wednesday, despite a growing controversy over the U.S. abuse of Iraqi prisoners.

"Absolutely," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan when asked whether Bush has full confidence in Rumsfeld, who apparently learned of the abuse of Iraqi prisoners in January.

When asked whether Rumsfeld should resign, McClellan told reporters, "No."

Rumsfeld said ABC's "Good Morning America" that "any American" felt apologetic for abuses of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. soldiers but stopped short of offering a direct apology himself.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20040505/pl_nm/iraq_abuse_confidence_dc&cid=615&ncid=1480

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

1. I still have full confidence that Bush is a fraud

[aquart]

2. I'm counting on it.

[yellowcanine]

3. Rumsfeld said ABC's "Good Morning America" that "any American" felt apolog

Wrong Rummy! What the hell is this "we" business? We are not all in this with you! We opposed this war and predicted this would happen. Why should those of us who opposed your little war feel apologetic for your failures? Apologize for your own damn arrogance and shortsightedness.

[fryguy]

4. how could he say otherwise

McRummy and his constant beating of the war drums is the only thing keeping smirkco going at the moment...

[Tellurian]

5. But if I have to sacrifice the pawn to save myself, I will.

That is how deep Bush's loyalty to Rumsfeld is..

Bush asks Rumsfeld: "Will you Die for ME?"

[TahitiNut]

6. Cheney and Rumsfeld told DimSon to stay in line.

There's no question that the events at Abu Ghraib are part of "the program" - except for leaking the photographs.

The "investigation" of Abu Ghraib covered the period between August 2003 and February 2004. Wolfowitz was at Abu Ghraib in June 2003. Rumsfeld was at Abu Ghraib in September 2003. The report was completed in March 2004. It was leaked. CBS was ready to broadcast in mid-April 2004. Congress was never informed. DoD delayed CBS at least two weeks. Congress was informed by CBS!

This is absolutely classic "plausible deniability."

BushBot: "Do whatever's necessary to get those evil-doers to spill their guts."
Mil-Droid: "We need to be careful not to violate Geneva Conventions. (smirk)"
BushBot: "They're NOT 'Prisoner's of War' - they're NOT covered."
Mil-Droid: "Should we use torture?"
BushBot: "I don't want to know the details. Just do what's necessary. You do want a promotion, don't you?"
Mil-Droid: "You got it, sir!"


One of the reasons folks like Rummy and Wolfie meet F2F (face-to-face) with cronies-in-uniform is to have meetings without notes and without a record - or even the chance the conversation is being monitored or the other person is taking notes. "Off the record" isn't just for journalists. Any subordinate that says "Can I have that in writing" can kiss their membership in the "establishment" good-bye.

Once upon a time, the military had forms called "AVO's" (Avoid Verbal Orders). You can bet your sweet ass Rummy and Wolfie didn't bother using these - that's part of why they visited in person!


Think Cambodia. Think My Lai.

[Tellurian]

9. Yes, they are clever and cunning at skirting the rules..

This is what the "Shadow Government" is all about.

[johnnie]

7. I find myself...

...not giving a shit what shrub says or "thinks".

[tom_paine]

8. Hitler stood behind Von Ribbentrop, too

Although maybe Rumsfeld is appropriately more analogous to Heydrich.

[indepat]

10. Naturally

[teryang]

11. The psych toture/rubber hose ROE

Is a tradition within the military. Like the cult of anthrax and other biological weapons maintained illegally by the government, it is theoretically maintained for "defensive" purposes namely training our own combatants what to expect should they be captured.

There was an overt and deliberate propaganda campaign in favor of the offensive use of torture immediately after 911, whose spokesperson disgracefully, was one of the leading Constitutional scholars, Alan Dershowitz. It was particularly ironic considering that the ostensible object was to gain information about pending terrorist attacks. Yet the historical evidence shows that the CIA and FBI had plenty of evidence related to the coming 911 attack and it was suppressed.

During the Afghan campaign captured individuals were murdered during interrogations. Americans participated in exercises in which there was no pretense of compliance with the Conventions. The media cooperated in popularizing the abandonment of the humantarian standards for the conduct of armed conflict by failing to discuss obvious abuses and their ramifications. Early in the Iraq conflict, former US Army TJAG general, Nardotti one of the leading experts on law of armed conflict made one appearance on a cable network, as an expert guest speaking on the limitations on combat operations such as "proportionality" in the use of the force. He wasn't invited back. Americans don't want to hear about rules during wartime.

But this is exactly what civilian rule over the Pentagon is supposed to control. If the *resident, rumsfeld and Myers are not personally responsible, I guess no one is in charge of the chain of command.