Crossposted on my
blog
Doesn't 'The buck stops with Lynndie'? Apparently not, according to the 90 senators who voted overwhelmingly (90-9) to stand solidly against torture.
"The amendment, introduced by Senator John McCain (R-AZ), calls for prisoners and detainees to be treated according to guidelines established by the Army Field Manual. In short, it outlaws degrading and inhumane treatment of anyone in U.S. military custody".
Since the US Senate has found it necessary to add an
"anti-torture" amendment to the $440 billion defense spending bill and GWB has threaten to
'veto' a bill that would prohibit "cruel, inhuman or degrading" treatment of prisoners in military custody, isn't it obvious that BushCo. defends / promotes torture? See recent
comments by Lynndie England and two entries from my blog re: torture,
here and
here
So exactly how is BushCo. different from our `evil' counterparts--Osama bin Forgotten and Saddam `thanks for the memories' Hussein?
By the way, isn't it ironic (and by `ironic', I mean `criminal') that Alberto `torture memos' Gonzales gets a pass to the White House, while Lynndie England, the 22 year old army reservist, whose actions were tacitly endorsed by those high up in the army's chain of command gets a three year jail sentence. The `framers' of the torture policy get off scot free (even handsomely rewarded), while the grunts bear the burden of punishments (are penalized)--this is supposed to be 'justice', American style?
What do we glean from this? According to an article in the Guardian:
- When the prevailing system is threatened, it reacts by throwing a few rank-and-file members to the dogs.
- There is evidence that the US has a torture policy, and this evidence is ignored. The system of the military investigating and prosecuting itself is fundamentally flawed and must be immediately replaced with an independent system if the international prohibition against torture and protection of civilians under the Geneva conventions or domestic war crimes legislation are to have any meaning.
- Should we fail to protest, all of us will be responsible for the dehumanization of an entire nation.
The Times Online October 9th, 2005 article, An American in chains, tells the disturbing story of James Yee who entered Guantanamo as a patriotic US officer and Muslim chaplain. He ended up in shackles, branded a spy. Later he was found innocent, but it was clear from his story that in BushCo.'s army: 'rules were relaxed' and 'torture was deemed acceptable / would be overlooked'...
Clearly, BushCo. and Bill O'liely share the same appalling conviction that we should / could ignore the Geneva Conventions and 'mistreat' prisoners at will. See the O'liely vs. West Clark video from Crooks and Liars. com
RELATED:
In January 2005, a group of retired US military leaders (generals and admirals) expressed their deep reservations over the nomination of Alberto Gonzales as Attorney General. In an unprecedented letter pdf to the Senate Judiciary Committee they urged the Senators to closely examine Gonzales' role in setting U.S. policy on torture. Gonzales has called the Geneva Conventions on Humane Treatment of Prisoners of War "quaint" and "obsolete" and in doing so these retired military leaders believed that Gonzales "has endangered our soldiers". In a Democracy Now interview, retired Brigadier General James Cullen, said:
"The real tragedy of the policy that Mr. Gonzales has spawned is to provide a framework for the enemy to say, well, you justified torturing people, now the same rule applies to us. The old golden rule of torture..."
In October 2005, another group of Retired Generals and Admirals Beg the Supreme Court to Stop Bush's military tribunals before they destroy what is left of our moral credibility:
The procedures of `Bush's military tribunals' - the first in over 50 years - deny the accused the most basic protections. Citing the unfairness of those procedures, three military prosecutors have resigned from such cases...
This summer, a federal appeals court ruled that the President may deny an individual the protections of the Geneva Conventions and that his denial of those protections is not subject to judicial review, in effect declaring Bush / the U.S. a law unto themselves. This vast and dangerous expansion of presidential power threatens the men and women of our Armed Forces (see the above: `golden rule of torture').