Interrogation abuses were 'approved at highest levels'

[Rhiannon12866]

New evidence that the physical abuse of detainees in Iraq and at Guantanamo Bay was authorised at the top of the Bush administration will emerge in Washington this week, adding further to pressure on the White House.

The Telegraph understands that four confidential Red Cross documents implicating senior Pentagon civilians in the Abu Ghraib scandal have been passed to an American television network, which is preparing to make them public shortly.

According to lawyers familiar with the Red Cross reports, they will contradict previous testimony by senior Pentagon officials who have claimed that the abuse in the Abu Ghraib prison was an isolated incident.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/06/13/wguan13.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/06/13/ixworld.html

[NMDemDist2]

1. WOOHOO

has to be CBS ya think?

[Rhiannon12866]

5. That would be my guess, as well

Dan Rather has been deadly serious, this week.

[KC21304]

6. I sure hope so. Or maybe it would be better if the adm. was

P.O'd at another network. :)

[movonne]

2. Do you suppose that the American network could be CBS????

[NJCher]

3. oh thank you thank you thank you for finding this

I was so disgusted this afternoon when I heard one soldier had been sentenced. Then they wrapped it all up neatly and said the torture was the result of a few renegade soldiers.

"The biggest bombs in this case have yet to be dropped."

It's gonna' be a good week for us, I think!


Cher

[Rhiannon12866]

7. I sure hope so

The news has just been so dire and that week-long Freepfest was positively brutal.:-(

[bobbieinok]

4. article is from June 13......NOT RECENT, NOT NEW

[krkaufman]

11. "(Filed: 13/06/2004)" -- right at the top of the web page

[Rhiannon12866]

13. I should have realized this, having spent time in England

What confused me is that it is for tomorrow's edition.:shrug:

[Lydia Leftcoast]

8. Sigh!

Unfortunately, even if there were undeniable proof that Bush knew that Iraqi prisoners were being tortured and even if there were proof that he ordered such torture, the freepers would insist that it was justified.

[Rhiannon12866]

15. I agree. I've seen this up close and personal

My mother is a Freeper and she walked in while I was watching the news when they were showing those first horrific photos, which have become all too commonplace. I was horrified, as any normal person would be, but she said "good!" Can you imagine?! She thinks that they "deserve it" because of the American "contractors" who were murdered. This kind of attitude will only generate more hatred which will result in more terrorism. I just don't see why the Freepers, and Bush*, especially, don't get this. His father did. In 1996, on the fifth anniversary of the "first" Gulf War, he said that the reason that he didn't go in and take out Saddam Hussein was because, if he had done that, "it would have turned the entire Arab world against us and destabilized the region." Dubya should have listened to his father.:shrug:

[NorthernSun]

9. Torture

Seymour Hersh is claiming Rice and Rumsfeld were informed of torture in summer of 2002. Link at Houston Chronicle is http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/front/2790432

www.timnews.com

[Rhiannon12866]

12. Thank you! Great article! It just happens that Seymour Hersh is on C-Span

right now.:-)

Welcome to DU, NorthernSun! It's great to have you with us!:toast:

[teryang]

10. Most legal professionals with any credentials...

...have been aware of this since the "torture is ok" memos came out. Patriot Act was perceived as a potential threat. The torture memos made it clear that this administration is a threat to the Constitution. They perceive that the government is a threat to human rights and liberty and our own Armed Forces by adopting these ill considered and illegal practices. They are also alarmed that the general public and press doesn't seem to care or understand the significance of these practices. IMHO.

[Rhiannon12866]

14. I saw an interview with a Middle East expert, the other day

What he said, regarding this abominable torture scandal, makes perfect sense. He explained that Arab men are modest to the point of showering in individual cubicles after taking part in sports. They would never take a communal shower, with all the towel-snapping that other nationalities of athletes are known for. They are also very adverse to any kind of humiliation. So what was done to these men in that prison is the worst sort of abuse that they could suffer. But what he also said was that the unit that was largely thought to be responsible for this, from rural West Virginia, could hardly have been aware of this. Therefore, he concludes that they must have been briefed on these practices from those much higher up, who would know about the sensibilities of Middle Eastern men.

And I certainly agree with you. This administration has totally thrown out the Constitution. And their dangerous and unprecedented acts are barely being reported and, if they are, the public doesn't react with the outrage that is warranted and each frightening story quickly fades from the news. Invading and occupying Iraq has put us all in grave danger from additional terror attacks because it has totally inflamed the Middle East. But this prison abuse scandal is the worst thing that could possibly have happened. It just confirms the beliefs of any Arabs who believe that we are infidels and incites any of them who previously felt more neutral.