Senators Accuse Rumsfeld Over Prisoner Abuse!
By anniepa
@anniepa (27955)
United States
December 12, 2008 9:13pm CST
Surprise! "The abuses at Abu Ghraib, Gitmo [Guantánamo] and elsewhere cannot be chalked up to the actions of a few bad apples," according to Senator Carl Levin, chairman of the Armed Services Committee.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/dec/12/usa-usforeignpolicy
Levin goes on to say, "Attempts by senior officials to portray that to be the case while shrugging off any responsibility are both unconscionable and false."
Here's more from the above article:
A US Senate committee has accused the former defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, of being directly responsible for the abusive interrogations of detainees at Abu Ghraib in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantánamo Bay.
After an 18-month investigation, the Senate's armed services committee concluded that Rumsfeld's approval of aggressive interrogation methods in December 2002 was a direct cause of abuses that began in Guantánamo and spread to Afghanistan and Iraq. They culminated in the Abu Ghraib scandal in 2003, where Iraqi detainees were found to have been forced into naked pyramids, sexually humiliated and threatened by dogs.
The Bush administration insisted the abuses had been the result of a few "bad apples" and that those responsible would be held accountable. The committee found neither those statements to be true.
(End of excerpt)
Do you believe Rumsfeld and others from the Bush Administration will ever be held accountable for these actions? Do you believe they SHOULD be?
Annie
1 person likes this
5 responses
@ZephyrSun (7381)
• United States
13 Dec 08
I don't think anyone from this past 8 years of Hell will be held responsible for any of their actions. I believe that they should be but, I think most are too ignorant to admit that this administration has done the worst job in running the country and the rest of us would just like them to go away and never come back into the political limelight.
2 people like this
@sharra1 (6340)
• Australia
16 Dec 08
You are probably right but they should be. If people had to face their crimes when an administration changed then maybe they would behave better and treat people and the law with more respect.
I think what happened in that prison was terrible and someone should be punished for it. But it should be the guys who set it up and allowed or ordered the crimes to be committed.
1 person likes this
@grandpa_lash (5225)
• Australia
16 Dec 08
I think the saddest thing about democratic systems is that outgoing administrations are never held responsible in legal terms for the things they have done wrong. There seems to be no search of the records to discover illegalities or immoralities, or if it is, they are not disclosed to the public. I don't think I'm being cynical to suggest that this is so because the incoming administration fears the same happening to them when they go out, which is a sad reflection on the calibre of our politicians if they can't risk open scrutiny.
I doubt that Rumsfeld will face any lefal accounting.
Lash
2 people like this
@sharra1 (6340)
• Australia
16 Dec 08
Absolutely. If people were held responsible for their actions they would be less likely to abuse their power. I knew Bush would never do anything to punish them but the new administration should hold them accountable.
I do not accept that only a few people at the bottom were to blame but if prison guards abuse prisoners then they are punished as they broke the law and the same should happen here. It should go right up the chain of command as I suspect that the guards in this case were ordered to abuse the prisoners.
I could be wrong but without a proper investigation we will never know.
1 person likes this
@cobrateacher (8432)
• United States
14 Dec 08
Meet the Press brought this up this AM, and I was pleasantly surprised. There's actually an investigation being planned for after Bush is gone to look into War Crimes committed under his watch! I never thought it could happen, but it seems Obama was really honest when he said America wouldn't put up with such things!
1 person likes this
@anniepa (27955)
• United States
15 Dec 08
Let's hear it - HIP-HIP-HOORAY!!!
I didn't see Meet the Press because my granddaughter had a swimming meet but I'll possibly catch it on the rerun in the early morning. It's about time, if someone actually is held accountable for their actions.
Annie
@cobrateacher (8432)
• United States
15 Dec 08
The whole thing came across as a very sincere effort from the Obama people to make amends with America and the rest of the world! Let's hope the bad guys aren't able to weasle their way around making things better.
1 person likes this
