Scott Horton -The Official Response Begins: When a cover-up is exposed, nothing is more telling

[kpete]

The Official Response Begins

By Scott Horton

When a cover-up is exposed, nothing is more telling than the first reactions from those who are involved. Do they maintain their stories and face potentially aggravated consequences? Or do they simply remain silent? In making this choice, they often telegraph the depth of their anxiety and concern.

Last night on MSNBC’s Countdown with Keith Olbermann, I focused on the first responses to “The Guantánamo ‘Suicides.’” http://www.harpers.org/archive/2010/01/hbc-90006368 Colonel Michael Bumgarner, the former commander at Camp America, had sent an email to the Associated Press, the text of which AP confirmed to me, in which he said he would have to get clearance from the Defense Department to speak, but then stated:

***** This blatant misrepresentation of the truth infuriates me. I don’t know who Sgt. Hickman is, but he is only trying to be a spotlight ranger. He knows nothing about what transpired in Camp 1, or our medical facility. I do, I was there.

This statement merits closer inspection. The first sentence is a classic nondenial denial. It appears on the surface to deny part of the account, but in fact denies nothing. Bumgarner needs to state specifically what allegations he considers inaccurate. His failure to do so is telling.

more:
http://harpers.org/archive/2010/01/hbc-90006395

[JDPriestly]

1. K&R

I haven't read the article about which they are speaking. Is there a link? I'm a Harper's subscriber (and strongly recommend the magazine). But, I'm confused because I had the impression Scott Horton's article was published in Vanity Fair to which I am not a subscriber. Could someone set me straight on where that underlying article can be found?

[invictus]

2. K&R

[louis-t]

3. I loved the part where Bumgarner at first said

he wasn't on the base that day.