AP: Defense Official Resigns Over Remarks

[Eugene]

Defense Official Resigns Over Remarks

By PAULINE JELINEK
The Associated Press
Friday, February 2, 2007; 2:37 PM

WASHINGTON -- A senior Pentagon official resigned Friday over controversial remarks
in which he criticized lawyers who represent terrorism suspects, the Defense Department
said.

Department spokesman Bryan Whitman said Charles "Cully" Stimson, deputy assistant
secretary of defense for detainee affairs, told him on Friday that he had made his own
decision to resign and was not asked to leave by Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

Stimson said he was leaving because of the controversy over a radio interview in which
he said he found it shocking that lawyers at many of the nation's top law firms represent
detainees held at the U.S. military prison in Cuba.

"He believed it hampered his ability to be effective in this position," Whitman said of the
backlash to Stimson's comments.

-snip-

Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/02/AR2007020200940.html

[MountainLaurel]

1. Oh yeah!

:woohoo:

[niyad]

2. had he the LEAST notion of honour or integrity, he would never have even thought those remarks, much

less MADE them. the fact is, he should have resigned IMMEDIATELY after making them.

[aquart]

3. No. He should have been FIRED immediately.

But that didn't happen.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

4. now for his medal of freedom

the thought of a medal using the word freedom and any connection with the Bush Administration just makes me sick

[cui bono]

7. Absolutely. No one in that position should be advocating taking away

the right to obtain counsel.

Oh, wait a minute... hm... there's a lot more firing necessary isn't there?

[struggle4progress]

24. It wasn't spontaneous. It was supposed to be part of a coordinated campaign.

Three or four officials were making remarks in the same vein. He was assigned the hottest script and didn't have the basic integrity to say no.

[MessiahRp]

5. "was not asked to leave by Defense Secretary Robert Gates"

That about sums up this band of assholes and idiots. No matter how wrong one of them are, they circle the wagons and tell anyone else to fuck off. It's that closed circle that seems to be how all the kool aid drinking neo cons think. And I'm not just talking about the Bush Regime.

Their insane voters do the same thing.

Rp

[RobertSeattle]

6. Must have taken him a few weeks to shophis resume...

(Original remarks was Jan 11)

He's probably getting "punished" with a much higher paying job at a DC beltway bandit company.

[cui bono]

8. He said a lot more than that...

He didn't just say "he found it shocking that lawyers at many of the nation's top law firms represent detainees held at the U.S. military prison in Cuba."

He called on the corporations who use those firms to switch to firms who didn't represent detainees and said it would be fun to watch it happen. That's disgusting. Though not much more disgusting than what our pResident has gotten away with actually implementing into law.

:grr:

[frylock]

9. it wasn't just off the top of his head either..

like he suggested. Dude rattled of a laundry list of firms when he made his statement.

[cui bono]

14. You got that right. nt

[REACTIVATED IN CT]

10. Woo HOOOO!!! n/t

[gratuitous]

11. Good

His remarks were stupid when he made them, and he knew it. Arguing against fair representation for the accused is the same thing as saying that the system for determining guilt or innocence is a failure. If the accused can be convicted only by depriving them of a qualified legal representation, it means the prosecutors are lazy, incompetent or just plain evil. I don't know how the folks at the Justice Department feel about being called lazy, incompetent or evil, but I know I wouldn't like it very much.

Stimson might want to do his lawyering in a more friendly environment than one that ostensibly respects the rule of law. Too bad Stalin's Soviet Union isn't around anymore; it could have used a lawyer like Mr. Stimson.

[Pastiche423]

12. Yea!

:bounce:

[pinto]

13. Good. One small reminder to the Pentagon about where their authority ends.

Rummy fostered this culture of a political mission in the Pentagon and it is wholly anathema to our system.

[MasonJar]

15. Is he an attorney? If so, he has surely violated an oath of office.

[formercia]

16. Good riddance.

One down, a few thousand to go.

[tblue37]

17. HAHAHAHAHA!!!!! (eom)

[Cheney Killed Bambi]

18. Pentagon official resigns over detainee remark

WASHINGTON, Feb 2 (Reuters) - The Pentagon official who criticized law firms for defending detainees held at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has resigned due to the backlash over his remarks, a Defense Department spokesman said on Friday.

Charles "Cully" Stimson, deputy assistant secretary for detainee affairs, last month called it "shocking" that major U.S. law firms represented Guantanamo detainees for free and said they would likely suffer financially after their corporate clients learned of the work.

"He made the decision based on the current controversy," Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told reporters. "He believed it hampered his ability to be effective in this position."

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N02227439.htm

[TheDebbieDee]

19. He shouldn't have had the chance to resign.........

He should have been FIRED the day after he said it.............of all the nerve!

[RufusTFirefly]

21. Fired? Not likely

It's a miracle that Bush didn't give him the Congressional Medal of Honor!

As soon as I realized the nominee to head the CIA had the temerity to dispute the presence of the phrase "probable cause" in the Fourth Amendment, I knew we were screwed.

This is a lawless, callous, constitutionally ignorant bunch.

Make no mistake: This guy didn't resign because he thought what he said was wrong. He resigned because what he said proved to be an embarrassment.

[damntexdem]

23. He was fired. He was tossed out on his ear.

They let him resign because 'the controversy impaired his effectiveness.' LOL! No, it brought too much heat, so he was pushed.

[alstephenson]

20. Bye bye, Asshole! eom

[wordpix]

22. "shocking" that law firms would defend people thrown in Gitmo for years with no charges brought

against them as BushCo lets them stay and rot. Way to spread democracy among the dictator-led downtrodden. :sarcasm: :grr:

[BeFree]

25. And you can bet

All the pin-striped lawyers in their big fancy offices were calling for Stimson's head.

Lawyer's bread and butter is made defending accused people. They did not like even the suggestion that people not be able to hire lawyers. The guy is done for in that bizz.

[Heidi]

26. Kick.

:kick:

[cal04]

27. Official quits over Guantanamo remark (Stimson)

THE Pentagon official who criticised law firms for defending terror suspects held at Guantanamo Bay has resigned due to the backlash over his remarks.

Charles Stimson, deputy assistant secretary for detainee affairs, last month called it "shocking" that major US law firms represented Guantanamo detainees for free and said they would likely suffer financially after their corporate clients learned of the work.

"He made the decision based on the current controversy," Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said. "He believed it hampered his ability to be effective in this position."

Mr Stimson, himself a lawyer, submitted his resignation yesterday and his last day in the position was today, said Mr Whitman, who stressed that Defence Secretary Robert Gates did not ask him to resign.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21163907-1702,00.html

Official Resigns Over Gitmo Lawyer Remarks
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/02/02/terror/main2428473.shtml

[spindrifter]

28. I wonder if he'll be working for one of those

major US law firms--the ones that do a lot of pro bono work...

[muntrv]

29. I think disbarring Stimson would be a good idea, IMHO.

[spindrifter]

30. He apparently has no idea what working for a human

client is like.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

31. And good riddance.

[Webster Green]

32. He should have been fired the next day..

He's in a good position to receive the Medal Of Freedom from the Commander-In-Chimp.:rofl:

[Melynn]

33. I find it shocking that ignorant people work for the Pentagon

Oh well, it is the Bush administration after all.