Rumsfeld defends treatment of prisoners (AP-Military)

[Catchawave]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050601/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/rumsfeld_prisons;_ylt=ArIv72nchinV.DUGCkQy1jHfB2YD;_ylu=X3oDMTA0cDJlYmhvBHNlYwM-

By ROBERT BURNS, AP Military Writer


WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld defended the military's handling of detained terror suspects Wednesday while acknowledging that some have been mistreated, "sometimes grievously."

At a Pentagon news conference, Rumsfeld criticized Amnesty International, the human rights group, for calling the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, "the gulag of our time." The group has urged the United States to close the prison, where about 540 men are held on suspicion of links to Afghanistan's ousted Taliban or the al-Qaida terror network. Some have been there for more than three years without charges.

Rumsfeld said the U.S. military has done more than any other force to liberate oppressed people and has gone to great lengths to ensure that detainees are free to practice their religion.

"Indeed, that's why the recent allegation that the U.S. military is running a gulag at Guantanamo Bay is so reprehensible," he said.

The executive director of Amnesty International, William F. Schulz, issued a statement in response, saying that Rumsfeld and other officials "continue to ignore the very real plight of men detained without charge or trial."

...more....

[CoffeeCat]

1. Never ask the opinion of a lying, treacherous, unAmerican thug.

In the past 48 hours we've heard from the Three Stooges--Cheney, Junior and Rumsfeld.

They all deny that torture is happening at Guantanamo.

Should we be surprised that evil, corrupt, warmongering, arrogant nihilists are also--big, fat liars?

Damn! Why does anyone ask them anything?

All they do is effin LIE, LIE, LIE--and I for one am EFFIN sick to death of IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[whistle]

2. What else can you expect from a pig, but a grunt?

....Donald Rumsfeld = Old Major (philosopher pig from "Animal Farm")

[Ikonoklast]

3. I wonder if the conditions

that the ex-secretary will be confined to after his war-crimes conviction are better than the ones the detainees find themselves in?

[GreenArrow]

4. Dracula defends exsanguination of victims

By JOHNATHON HARKER, AP Military Writer


TRANSYLVANIA - Notorious nosferatu Count Dracula defended his handling of drained and terrorized victims Wednesday while acknowledging that some have been mistreated, "sometimes grievously."

At a Castle Dracula news conference, Dracula criticized Anemiacs International, the human rights group, for calling the Vampiric detention center at Transylvania, Romania, "the ghoulag of our time." The group has urged the Count to close the castle, where about 540 men and women are held on hooks while being fattened to slake the blood-lust of the undead nobleman and his various minions and acolytes. Some have been there for more than three years without change of clothes.

Dracula said the undead have done more than any other force to liberate oppressed people and have gone to great lengths to ensure that drainees are free to practice their religion.

"Indeed, that's why the recent allegation that Count Dracula is running a ghoulag at Castle Dracula is so reprehensible," he said. "Everyone can pray, whenever they want." Dracula called additional reports that Christian drainees were prohibited from carrying crucifixes "absurd, simply absurd".

The executive director of Anemiacs International, Albert "Whitey" Munchausen, issued a statement in response, saying that Dracula and other vampires "continue to ignore the very real plight of men drained without charge or trial, or benefit of the last rites."

...more....

[Beetwasher]

6. Brilliant!

:thumbsup:

This post earns the much coveted (in my own mind) Official Beetwasher Seal of Approval (OBSA).

[GreenArrow]

10. thanks

It seemed appropriate, somehow.

[Frederik]

26. LOL

"Ameniacs international"

:-)

Funny!

[lebkuchen]

5. Gotta support a losing cause pre-high school graduate harvest

Rummy needs every tennis-shoe-on-the-ground he can get.

Spin on "Asshole." We know your game.

[gratuitous]

7. Yeah, lighten up on the gulag, everyone!

Jeez, I'll bet some of you are still all upset about Jeffrey Dahmer and Ted Bundy, but out of the entirety of their life spans, how much time was actually spent murdering people? An infinitesimally small proportion! A few hours, max, out of years and years of their lives!

Quit being such crybabies.

[DemsUnite]

8. This is known as...

defending the indefensible.

[Beetwasher]

9. Gitmo To Be Renamed: "Krusty The Klown's Kamp for Wayward Muslims"

Hey hey hey! No torture allowed, and we mean it!

[Rex]

11. How can Rummy the Dummy defend grievous harm done to a POW?

He just admitted it! Does this guy even exist in our reality anymore?

[RedEarth]

12. Rumsfeld Decries Amnesty Rights Report(report reprehensible, outlandish)

Rumsfeld Decries Amnesty Rights Report
Defense Secretary Echoes Bush's Characterization of Criticism as 'Absurd'

By William Branigin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, June 1, 2005; 2:53 PM

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld today described as "reprehensible" and "outlandish" a human rights group's comparison of U.S. military detention facilities to a Soviet-style gulag, and he said the military goes to great lengths to accommodate the religious practices of detainees.

In a Pentagon press conference, Rumsfeld also warned unspecified foreign countries against providing any treatment or safe haven to Abu Musab Zarqawi, a Jordanian terrorist who heads an al Qaeda-affiliated insurgent group in Iraq and who reportedly was wounded in a recent clash with U.S. troops.


On a domestic matter dominating the news, Rumsfeld refused to respond directly to a question on whether he views former high-ranking FBI official W. Mark Felt as a hero or a criminal for his early 1970s role as the Watergate-era source known as "Deep Throat." Felt was publicly identified yesterday as the anonymous source who provided crucial guidance to Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward and helped unravel the Watergate scandal.

In an opening statement, Rumsfeld said that "no force in the world has done more to liberate people that they have never met than the men and women of the United States military. Indeed, that's why the recent allegation that the U.S. military is running a gulag at Guantanamo Bay is so reprehensible."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/01/AR2005060101224.html

[Tracer]

13. Cheney: "I'm offended."

Bush: "It's absurd."
Rumsfeld: "It's reprehensible and outlandish."
Me: "It's true."

[Benhurst]

14. Yeah, they did a great job of liberating the people of Vietnam and

are doing an even better job of liberating the people of Iraq, to say nothing of all those great democrats we have trained at the School of the Americas who have helped us in the liberation of Latin America.

:sarcasm:

Too bad the old fascist fool can't keep his mouth shut. What an embarrassment!

[CBHagman]

15. It's clearly open season on Amnesty International.

I do think there is a concerted right-wing effort to put the notion in people's minds that Amnesty is not impartial.

What's appalling is that this administration is so self-righteous and sanctimonious that the focus is always on their anger at anyone having the effrontery to call them on their behavior -- and in the meantime, said behavior is creating additional long-term problems for the U.S. around the world.

We've got to nip this little propaganda game in the bud. Grow backbones, journalists!

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

29. The solution is to allow Amnesty International access to Gitmo

But you know it won't happen

[Rex]

16. This is equivalent to nobles telling their serfs to piss off

and get used to it.

[oneighty]

17. A term must be invented

"Unlawful combatant" so that the so named are not protected by any law on earth. The "Unlawful Combatant" is confined as long as 'WE" Americans allow it without charges without recourse without hope. It is a Gulag.

IMHO

[Frederik]

18. "no force in the world has done more to liberate people...

...that they have never met"

The fact of the matter is, since World War II, no other force has done more to make life miserable for people they have never met.

[Ian David]

23. By that token, Planned Parenthood has been liberating wombs

I'm not against abortion, by the way.

I think this would just be an interesting irony to throw into the mix.

[riverwalker]

19. my "official" response from DoD

(I attempted to contact Gen. Meyers, who has removed all means of public contact with him from the web. These renegades do NOT want to hear from Americans whom they "supposedly" represent. It was regarding his comments on MTP of the "humane" treatment he said all detainees recieved. This was my response to one email contact I was able to find.)


Dear Ms. xxxxx:

We must respectfully disagree with your opinion. When the U.S. Government makes mistakes with detainees, and we admittedly have, we work to correct them. Recently we have heard a once reputable human rights organization call U.S. detainee camps "the new gulag." You may be interested in knowing that Natan Sharansky, who spent years in the real Soviet gulag and has no association with the U.S. Government, has decried that characterization as false and unwarranted.
Director for Public Inquiries and Analysis
Office of the Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs)

[stickdog]

20. Note that they aren't saying, "It's categorically false."

[Ian David]

21. Now is the perfect time to donate to Amnesty International!

Let's show this administration that it is THEM and not Amnesty International that is being discredited!

Let's all donate to Amnesty International NOW!
(I just gave them $25, and my wife will detain and torture me for it).

https://secure3.ctsg.com/amnestyusa/donation/index.asp?item=1&ms=47






Also, did you notice they're still trying to get away with saying stories of Koran abuse are lies??


FBI reports corroborate Koran abuse
Wednesday, May 25, 2005 Updated at 7:15 PM EDT
Associated Press

Washington — Terror suspects at the Guantanamo Bay prison told U.S. interrogators as early as April 2002, just three months after the first detainees arrived, that military guards abused them and desecrated the Koran, declassified FBI records say.

“Their behaviour is bad,” one detainee is quoted as saying of his guards during an interrogation by an FBI special agent in July 2002. “About five months ago the guards beat the detainees. They flushed a Koran in the toilet.”

The statements about guards disrespecting the Koran echo public allegations made many months later by some detainees and their lawyers after prisoners' release from Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. The once-secret FBI documents show a consistency to the allegations and are the first indication that Justice and Defence department officials were aware in early 2002 that detainees were accusing their guards of mistreating the holy book.

One told an interrogator in March 2003 that guards had repeatedly mishandled the Koran. This detainee asked why the United States, as a supporter of freedom of religion, was using the Muslim holy book as a weapon.

More:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20050525.wkoran0525/BNStory/Front/

[stickdog]

24. Even if it's 100% true the US military has done more historical good than

any other military, exactly what does this have to do with the Gitmo abuses?

It's like saying, "Our church gives more money to charity than any other, therefore none of our members could possibly be guilty of wife-beating."

[RedEarth]

27. Interesting message I just received on DU...I wonder why he just didn't

post it here in the thread.....however, I think I can almost guess...that is if I try real hard.....

well,here's the message ......

"Amnesty International"

"Have you seen the entire report, I do not wish to give a hit on their page. If you have seen it do they condemn the be-headings, car bombs, etc?"

[cliss]

22. Remember when some early allegations came out

about Gitmo.....this was about 2 years ago. There was a claim that prisoners were being tortured.....I think they had to stand up, for something like 14 hours at a time.

Remember RumsFailed's response: "Well, I stand up for hours while working. I don't see how this qualifies for torture".

Theh man is living in an alternate reality. There's no getting through to him. It's torture just looking at his ugly face. Out of this whole bunch, THIS GUY drives me bonkers. I even called the White House to complain about him.

[MountainLaurel]

25. So he won't mind

When American prisoners are treated that way?

[Disturbed]

28. A War Criminal's denial. How surprising!

Rumsfailed Admitted to Violating Geneva Convention

Rumsfailed admitted in public on TV that when CIA Director Tenet requested that an Iraqi prisoner be sent to a secret Afghan/US Prison that Rumsfailed did so. After four months a DOD Attorney stated that this was an illegal act. Rumsfailed then ordered that this prisoner be sent back to Abu Graihib but the prisoner was purposefully not listed at that location, also an illegal act. Rumsfeld also admitted to signing orders for tougher interogation methods which violated the Geneva Conventions.

Rumfailed has commited at least three violations of the Geneva Convention thereby also violations of The Constitution of the USA. Recently it has been found out that even more detainees were "ghost detainees". The fact that Rumsfailed and Tenet have not been charged speaks volumes. If Congress wishes to garner any respect they should move forward with Rep. Rangle's Impeachment Declaration of Rumsfailed and also proscecute Ex. CIA Tenet.


Does the US, Govt., Congress, and the Justice Dept no longer abide by the Geneva Convention or the Constitution of the USA?

[grytpype]

30. WaPo: Rumsfeld Decries Amnesty Rights Report

This will make you vomit. Seriously, you will be ill. Read the whole thing and ask yourself how the f*cking h*ll did we get into this position.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content//article/2005/06/01/AR2005060101224.html

Rumsfeld Decries Amnesty Rights Report
Defense Secretary Echoes Bush's Characterization of Criticism as 'Absurd'

By William Branigin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, June 1, 2005; 2:53 PM

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld today described as "reprehensible" and "outlandish" a human rights group's comparison of U.S. military detention facilities to a Soviet-style gulag, and he said the military goes to great lengths to accommodate the religious practices of detainees.

...

In an opening statement, Rumsfeld said that "no force in the world has done more to liberate people that they have never met than the men and women of the United States military. Indeed, that's why the recent allegation that the U.S. military is running a gulag at Guantanamo Bay is so reprehensible."

...

William F. Schulz, the executive director of Amnesty International USA, retorted today that Rumsfeld and the Bush administration "ignored or dismissed Amnesty International's reports on the abuse of detainees for years, and senior officials continue to ignore the very real plight of men detained without charge or trial." In a statement, Schulz said that 20 years ago, "Amnesty International was criticizing Saddam Hussein's human rights abuses at the same time Donald Rumsfeld was courting him."

The Bush administration's "deliberate policy" is to detain people without charge or trial at Guantanamo, Bagram air base in Afghanistan and other locations, Schulz said. He added, "Donald Rumsfeld personally approved a December 2002 memorandum that permitted such unlawful interrogation techniques as stress positions, prolonged isolation, stripping and the use of dogs at Guantanamo Bay, and he should be held accountable, as should all those responsible for torture, no matter how senior."

...

(much more at article, you will lose your lunch)

[Benhurst]

31. Gosh, a war criminal doesn't like what Amnesty International

has to say about his actions. Why am I not surprised?

[Botany]

32. Hey Rummy ....... when they put you on trial .....

....... http://www.newamericancentury.org/iraqclintonletter.htm

you lying sack of shit.

[0007]

33. Rummy is extremely subjective

to express scorn and purposeful disparagement when the truth is objective.

[adigal]

34. First Newsweek, now Amnesty Intl - beat up on those

who you cannot control.

Poor Rummy - they just won't buy his propaganda:

"He lamented a "lack of media attention" to U.S. military practices of humane treatment of detainees and respect for their religious beliefs. And he charged that equating "the military's record on detainee treatment to some of the worst atrocities of the past century is a disservice to those who have sacrificed so much to bring freedom to others."

That pesky media - only paying attention to our abuses, and not writing about all of the good we are doing in a country we illegally, oops, sorry, invaded.

Cheney, bush, rummy...serious damage control - I think something big is coming.

[thecai]

35. Sounds Like An Admission of Guilt

Rumsfeld should be held accountable and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law if he defends the torture of inmates.

[bpilgrim]

36. so are they ILLEGAL COMBATANTS or ENEMY COMBATANTS?

of course ENEMY COMBATANTS are nothing new and no dispute about Geneva covering them but this criminal admin is trying to use the same 'LEGAL' term the imperial Japanese were during WWII in Asia :puke:

why haven't anyone on the press crew asked about this important legal DISTINCTION?

i here BOTH, mostly ENEMY COMBATANTS these days with the HEAT on but i wanna see the admin pinned on this QUESTION.

peace

[reprobate]

37. Then he won't mind the same treatment when convicted of war crimes.