Iraqi Torture Scandal: Ya Gotta Admit, The R's Know When to Hold 'Em

[stopbush]

and also when to fold 'em.

Today, Dummy Rummy announces that he knew back in JANUARY that abuse of Iraqis was under investigation. And - according to Seymour Hersh in The New Yorker - "A fifty-three-page report...written by Major General Antonio M. Taguba and not meant for public release, was completed in late February.

Is there any doubt whatsoever that bushco knew in March - at the latest - that this torture shit was about to hit the fan? Of course they did! So, with the money already spent on bushco ads and the story about to break, what did the Rs do:

• they all appeared before the 9/11 commission, lied through their teeth, and said to the world AGAIN how we got rid of a horrible, torture-loving dictator

• they made sure bush & cheney got their tag-team apperance at the 9/11 commission over and done with before the torture shit hit the fan, but only with the proviso that no other administration officials will ever have to appear again before the commission

• they spent about a hundred million dollars attacking John Kerry, *specifically* attacking his service record in Vietnam and taking him to task for *falsely accusing* US troops of engaging in *atrocities* during the Vietnam War (and JK eventually disowned his use of the word *atrocities* on MTP)

• they had House Rs take to the floor and publicly disparage John Kerry's war record and his service in the Senate

and on and on and on.

Imagine, for just a minute, what the last three months would have been like in Campaign 2004 if Taguba's report had leaked to the press at the end of February? What would the 9/11 commission appearances of Condi, Rummy, Wolfowitz and the others had been like? Would the 9/11 Commission have agreed to let bush & cheney appear together? Would the RW hate machine have ramped up the vitriol on Kerry's *atrocity* comments and his war record?

I'd guess that the answer would be "no."

That's the *hold 'em* part.

The fold 'em?: looks like they're ready to dump Rummy.

They are pure evil, aren't they?

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. I sugest you write to your critters

and DEMAND heads roll, this went pretty high... and it is not confined to a one star... wolfie and Feigh must go too... to jail

[hannah]

2. Did they also know?

Did they also know that Joe Wilson's book was coming out? This seems to drown out his claims of Traitors!!!!!!!!!!!!1

[stopbush]

3. According to Christopher Shays, Wilson's complaint is "an old story."

That's what he said to Wilson's face last PM on Larry King.

BTW - what is the statute of limitations on old stories like treason?

[asjr]

4. Pure evil is an understatement, but GW will not

fire anyone. One or two might, I say might, resign from pressure outside the regime, but his regime knows where HIS bodies are buried and he wants to keep them buried.

[JAbuchan08]

6. If any of them gets fired there will be no hard feelings

they have their key people in place and it won't hurt them to lose one.

[xchrom]

5. they plan for these things

they aren't surprised by the torture -- they inspired it, for fuck's sake, with their 9/11 = iraq bullshit.