NYT: "Atrocities in Plain Sight" By ANDREW SULLIVAN

[nodictators]

Sullivan, in a devastating article, reviews 2 new books on the Bush regime policies on torture and the consequences of those policies:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/13/books/review/books-sullivan.html?hp&ex=1105592400&en=18377bb67bd220f5&ei=5094&partner=homepage


Published: January 13, 2005

IN scandals, chronology can be everything. The facts you find out first, the images that are initially imprinted on your consciousness, the details that then follow: these make the difference between a culture-changing tipping point and a weatherable media flurry. With the prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib, the photographs, which have become iconic, created the context and the meaning of what took place. We think we know the contours of that story: a few soldiers on the night shift violated established military rules and subjected prisoners to humiliating abuse and terror. Chaos in the line of command, an overstretched military, a bewildering insurgency: all contributed to incidents that were alien to the values of the United States and its military. The scandal was an aberration. It was appalling. Responsibility was taken. Reports were issued. Hearings continue.

Of course there is much more than we were told on TV. Here's an excerpt from his conclusions:

(Page 6 of 6)
And the damage done was intensified by President Bush's refusal to discipline those who helped make this happen. A president who truly recognized the moral and strategic calamity of this failure would have fired everyone responsible. But the vice president's response to criticism of the defense secretary in the wake of Abu Ghraib was to say, "Get off his back." In fact, those with real responsibility for the disaster were rewarded. Rumsfeld was kept on for the second term, while the man who warned against ignoring the Geneva Conventions, Colin Powell, was seemingly nudged out. The man who wrote a legal opinion maximizing the kind of brutal treatment that the United States could legally defend, Jay S. Bybee, was subsequently rewarded with a nomination to a federal Court of Appeals. General Sanchez and Gen. John P. Abizaid remain in their posts. Alberto R. Gonzales, who wrote memos that validated the decision to grant Geneva status to inmates solely at the president's discretion, is now nominated to the highest law enforcement job in the country: attorney general. The man who paved the way for the torture of prisoners is to be entrusted with safeguarding the civil rights of Americans. It is astonishing he has been nominated, and even more astonishing that he will almost certainly be confirmed.

[SmokingJacket]

1. This is a great article.

And I feel a lot of pleasure seeing that it is by Andrew Sullivan, no longer much of a Bush supporter these days.

[housewolf]

2. I must say

Sully has in some tiny part redeemed himself in my eyes with this article.

I recommend reading the entire article, it's informative and revealing.