"From the moment a soldier enlists, we inculcate loyalty, duty, honor, integrity, and selfless service," Taguba said. "And yet when we get to the senior-officer level we forget those values. I know that my peers in the Army will be mad at me for speaking out, but the fact is that we violated the laws of land warfare in Abu Ghraib. We violated the tenets of the Geneva Convention. We violated our own principles and we violated the core of our military values. The stress of combat is not an excuse, and I believe, even today, that those civilian and military leaders responsible should be held accountable." -- General Taguba to Seymour Hersch in the New Yorker
After 34 years of service, General Taguba was forced to retire in January 2007 - apparently in retaliation for his report on the torture and abuse at Abu Ghraib prison.
Seymour Hersch's article The General's Report in the June 25, 2997 New Yorker, is damning in regards to "who knew." General Taguba makes clear that he feels that "everyone knew." He reports that it was clear to him that the orders for the torture came from higher up, and that the torture was systematic and pervasive. He also makes clear that Rumsfeld, Myers (then head of the Joint Chief of Staff), and Abizaid (then in charge of Central Command) knew of the conditions well before the Senate testimonies ever occurred. Therefore, all the "lack of knowledge" testimony was a lie. So too is the prosecution of enlisted personnel as if they were acting on their own initiative.
The former senior intelligence official said that when the images of Abu Ghraib were published, there were some in the Pentagon and the White House who "didn't think the photographs were that bad"--in that they put the focus on enlisted soldiers, rather than on secret task-force operations. Referring to the task-force members, he said, "Guys on the inside ask me, 'What's the difference between shooting a guy on the street, or in his bed, or in a prison?' " A Pentagon consultant on the war on terror also said that the "basic strategy was 'prosecute the kids in the photographs but protect the big picture.' " (Hersch)
"Protect the big picture" he says. What exactly was - and is - the "big picture?" Certainly part of that picture was to keep the Bush Administration out of the picture. It amazed me at the time, and it amazes me still, that Bush and Cheney could task Alberto Gonzales with writing a legal legitimation of torture, and why the U.S. was not bound by the Geneva Convention, then argue they never legitimated torture. Likewise Rumsfeld's quipping remarks regarding the "interrogation techniques" as not that bad. So folks knew. In fact, it seems likely that torture was ordered from the top.
The country was well served by General Taguba and his dedication to honesty and integrity. It is poorer as he, and others, are purged from the military.
Abu Ghraib was not the only lie - as we now know - though this article is not a detailing of the lies.
The Guardian/UK headline states blatantly "Blair knew US had no post-war plan for Iraq." This is no surprise for those who took the Downing Street Memos seriously. What is new in this article is how upset Blair was about Bush's lack of a reconstruction plan. This report reconfirms what was clear from before the preemptive invasion of Iraq - the Bush administration saw this as a "cake walk."
Two questions arise. First, did the Bush administration really think Iraq would be in and out, or did they hope for the levels of chaos and disruption that ensued? (Which "big picture" was that a part of?) The second question is "What did Blair hoped to gain out of committing Britain to this illegal war?" Was it the same as whatever the Bush administration's goals may have been?
We should be very nervous when decision makers stand to benefit significantly from their committing a nation to drastic action. Individual's might confuse their interests as national interests. For example the interests of big oil, or military industries, or construction industries (or those firms that invest in them like the Carlyle Group) are not necessarily the same as the interests of the nation. The "plan" if we read neoconservative reports and plans was to treat Iraq as a test case of unfettered capitalism.
I have no idea what Blair's connections are to industry and finance, but it seems that he felt serving those interests were important. Hence, the 1 billion pound payments to Prince Bandar by the MoD of Britain in conjunction with the largest military arms deal in England's history has made is in the news. So too is Blair's accepting responsibility for the deal.
One of the largest lessons from the massive debacles of the Bush administration will be that there is no mechanism for putting a leash on a cabal with extreme power. The Bush Administration has broken virtually every law and rule in the books with impunity. There is no Constitutional leash left to protect the nation from an abusive Executive Branch. That is a sad lesson to learn, but it did not just happen. It has been a plan long in the making. The question is, is it a plan we can reverse?
Too bad you left-wing liberal extremists own defeat. The worst thing that could happen for you would be that we win the war. The best thing that could happen for our country and for the world would be that we win the war against this evil that wants to destroy us.
I voted for Bush and would vote for him again. He has never lied to this country or anybody about anything to do with Iraq. All you people that think otherwise are fools. All you have to do is stop your denial and face the truth. Everyone knew why we went to war everyone knew how long it may last. You that say otherwise are fools lying to yourselves. How ignorant would you have to be to think that we could win this war in just a few years? Everyone knew that this war is going to last decades, Bush even said it would right from the start, and all the Democrats voted to go to war. Anybody that thinks this war was about WMD's is a fool. Of course it is not and never was. You must be like children if you can't read the writing on the wall that is so plain and obvious for all the world to see.
The plain truth is that it is your Hatred for Bush that drives you day in and day out. It is your hatred for conservative Christian values and morals that drives you to all the crazy accusations that you make daily. From the very day that Bush beat gore nobody on the left including and especially the Biased left media has never gotten over it. Like a little child carrying a grudge and then trying to get back and get revenge any way he can.
You left wing extremists bigots don't fool anybody.
by
scott (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 47 comments)
on Sunday, June 17, 2007 at 8:41:03 PM
Too bad you left-wing liberal extremists own defeat. The worst thing that could happen for you would be that we win the war. The best thing that could happen for our country and for the world would be that we win the war against this evil that wants to destroy us.
Hey bud, can I have some of what you are smoking? Obviously, it's good shit! You actually write this garbage like you believe it. hehehe hahaha nyuk nyuk nyuk!
Would you like to call everyone here some other names, like oh, "faggot," "nigger," "spick," "dyke," etc., or will you just stop at "left-wing liberal extremists"? I bet you would love to do just that! Oh, don't you just hate having to reign in your words so you aren't taken for the complete turd you are? Come on, I'm sure you have it in you.
Call us all more names! We need it so badly!
Please daddy, I need it! Call me a faggot! Please, pretty please!
hehehe hahaha nyuk nyuk nyuk!
Obviously, you have missed the point that dumb-ass DUBYA's little war was lost on day one, when he and the criminal idiots in his administration were TOO FUCKING STUPIDto realize they weren't going to be granted the cake-walk they figured for this fiasco. We will not win this war. It is already lost. Or perhaps you think that escalating violence is a good thing.
I voted for Bush and would vote for him again. He has never lied to this country or anybody about anything to do with Iraq. All you people that think otherwise are fools. All you have to do is stop your denial and face the truth. Everyone knew why we went to war everyone knew how long it may last. You that say otherwise are fools lying to yourselves. How ignorant would you have to be to think that we could win this war in just a few years? Everyone knew that this war is going to last decades, Bush even said it would right from the start, and all the Democrats voted to go to war. Anybody that thinks this war was about WMD's is a fool. Of course it is not and never was. You must be like children if you can't read the writing on the wall that is so plain and obvious for all the world to see.
Ok, when was Allen Funt resurrected? I know the little bastard is around here somewhere. I know this is an internet version of Candid Camera. No one would say these things as if they were true other than to make everyone fall to their knees laughing.
Dude, you really need help here. You are obviously, totally, and completely stricken with cognitive dissonance. I am sorry that you are so mentally deficient, but you really need some help. From the looks of things, sooner is definitely better than later in your case!
Nowadays, we have things known as video tape recorders. When these machines are coupled to things known as television cameras, they make a more or less permanent record of the words and actions of people. There are literally miles of tape that prove that every word coming from the mouth of DUBYA is and has been a tissue of lies. He has lied about everything: the war, being compassionate, WMD's, and so on. The proof is written in magnetic traces on mylar coated with ferrous oxide compounds. No matter how much he wishes these tapes would disappear, the fact that we live in the bitter dregs of a democracy means they will remain for posterity.
Oh yeah, I forgot, now the stuff recorded on those video tape recorders can be digitized and placed on these nifty things known as Digital Video Disks, DVD for short. That means the proof can be witnessed not only on television screens, but also the screens on these other nifty new devices called computers.
Proof of DUBYA's lies is everywhere. That proof is rather permanent. Only those in real denial would pretend this wasn't the case.
All the Democrats did not vote to go to war. Hell, for that matter, neither did all the Republicans. Not everyone in congress was stricken with the stupidity you are showing here...almost, but not quite. You really need to start getting facts from "people" other than Billy O or Flush Lintball.
Oh, but please, enlighten all of us fools and children...why did the fuck head DUBYA go to war? To prove one doesn't need Viagra to get a boner? No, that's why he let Jeff Gannon hang out in the White House after hours. Hmm...just think, DUBYA all alone in a darkened Oval Office with a KINKY gay internet porn star with a taste for urophilia. It boggles the mind to figure out who wanted to be the pisser and who wanted to be the pissee. Any bets? It also really puts that whole Monica Lewinsky thing in a rather interesting perspective, too.
The plain truth is that it is your Hatred for Bush that drives you day in and day out. It is your hatred for conservative Christian values and morals that drives you to all the crazy accusations that you make daily. From the very day that Bush beat gore nobody on the left including and especially the Biased left media has never gotten over it. Like a little child carrying a grudge and then trying to get back and get revenge any way he can.
hehehe hahahahahaha nyuk nyuk nyuk nyuk!
R-O-T-F-L-M-F-A-O.
Oh stop, I am laying here on the floor laughing hysterically. If you don't stop soon, I might wind up pissing myself...You listening Jeffy and DUBYA?
Man, do you have one hell of a career in comedy awaiting you! You have me in stitches.
I really think you should go see a shrink, or opt for voluntary commitment to your local loony bin! If you actually believe this rambling, nonsensical bullshit, you are in serious trouble.
It's a good thing you prove your stupidity. It's kind of late, and I really don't have the energy to make someone look like a fool. You did the work for me.
Thanks!
Blessed be! (or not) Pappy
by
Pappy (61 articles, 0 quicklinks, 11 diaries, 860 comments)
on Monday, June 18, 2007 at 3:02:27 AM
I think it was Jake Gittes who said that in Chinatown. Anyway, you're right!
Bush IS stupid...yeah, yeah, I've heard all that stuff about how the chaos in Iraq is deliberate. But that still doesn't make it smart.
I have an idea...let's round up and send EVERY bonehead who STILL supports GWB and his fellow mass murderers, torturers, necons, and other latter day NAZIS to Iraq. PUT THEM ON THE FRONT LINES. Make them all PUT UP OR SHUT THE FUCK UP!
If I see another Bush supporter give me the same old shit again, I will punch his stupid face!
by
Len Hart (131 articles, 172 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 543 comments)
on Monday, June 18, 2007 at 3:21:32 AM
I have an idea...let's round up and send EVERY bonehead who STILL supports GWB and his fellow mass murderers, torturers, necons, and other latter day NAZIS to Iraq. PUT THEM ON THE FRONT LINES. Make them all PUT UP OR SHUT THE FUCK UP!
What a wonderful idea! What better way to show you are all for the chimp in chief than directly helping support his pet project in Iraq?
Come on, Snginga, lets see how big your balls really are! From what I hear, it's really easy to get into the military at this point in history. Hell, they dropped the minimum IQ requirements, so you are a shoe in. For that matter, they have dropped every hindrance to a military "career" except for that pesky don't ask, don't tell thing. Since you seem to be such a he-man, that shouldn't be a problem.
Well, how about it Mr. Hero? If you support DUBYA, then you should be willing to fall on a sword, or an IED for the good of our country! Here's your chance to show us all you are something more than a witless moron, or a sycophantic piece of shit!
Well? Why are you so silent all of a sudden?
Blessed be! Pappy
by
Pappy (61 articles, 0 quicklinks, 11 diaries, 860 comments)
on Monday, June 18, 2007 at 2:00:37 PM
6 comments
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