War Crimes Suit Rips America's Moral Fiber
Poor Donald Rumsfeld. Looks like he's going to be left holding the bag yet again for Bush and his cronies. In a move to increase pressure America, lawyers for inmates at Guantanamo Bay and Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison have asked German prosecutors to open a war crimes investigation of the former Defense Secretary and other U.S. officials for their roles in abuse at the detention centers, Stephen Graham reported in an Associated Press article.
Naturally, the Pentagon, without even reading the complaint, called it "frivolous." "Abu Ghraib is something that the U.S. government has investigated very thoroughly," said Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman. Many Americans, including many in the military dispute the Pentagon's official findings. Janis Karpinski, once commander of U.S. military prisons in Iraq, said in Berlin she would testify against her superiors, Graham reported. Talking about the handful of low-ranking soldiers who have been convicted of abuse at AbuGhraib, Karpinski, demoted to colonel for her outspokenness, said:
It's about time the world spoke out against America's flagrant flaunting of the Geneva Convention. The world community agreed on international rules governing the treatment of prisoners to prevent the abuses now occurring. Once recognized as the world's foremost champion of international justice and human rights, America is now seen as a malevolent abuser. What does it say about America and our ethics that in just one administration our world stature as an advocate of human rights has plummeted from the pinnacle of admiration to the black abyss of abhorrence?
We have a President who turns a blind eye to abuse, a Vice President who openly supports water boarding, a former Defense Secretary who staunchly supports torture as a legitimate means of extracting information, an entrenched military elite content to toss a few privates to the wolves to avoid cleaning it's own filthy house. The lack of moral ethics at the top echelons of American government is appalling. It's too bad the German suit didn't name the other individuals responsible for allowing the heinous acts at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib to continue -- the President, Vice President and Secretary of State.
As an American citizen I am ashamed for my country and appalled to be party to these acts of torture by association. I can only hope that once the Democrats take control of the Congress in January, they will find the moral backbone to put an end to this black era in American history.
"The 220-page lawsuit, which also names 13 other U.S. officials, was sent to federal prosecutors under a German law that allows the prosecution of war crimes regardless of where they were committed," Graham reported. "The suit alleges that Rumsfeld personally ordered and condoned torture."
Naturally, the Pentagon, without even reading the complaint, called it "frivolous." "Abu Ghraib is something that the U.S. government has investigated very thoroughly," said Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman. Many Americans, including many in the military dispute the Pentagon's official findings. Janis Karpinski, once commander of U.S. military prisons in Iraq, said in Berlin she would testify against her superiors, Graham reported. Talking about the handful of low-ranking soldiers who have been convicted of abuse at AbuGhraib, Karpinski, demoted to colonel for her outspokenness, said:
"They were tried and convicted in the world court before they ever set foot in any courtroom ... while people who are far more culpable and responsible have walked away blameless."
It's about time the world spoke out against America's flagrant flaunting of the Geneva Convention. The world community agreed on international rules governing the treatment of prisoners to prevent the abuses now occurring. Once recognized as the world's foremost champion of international justice and human rights, America is now seen as a malevolent abuser. What does it say about America and our ethics that in just one administration our world stature as an advocate of human rights has plummeted from the pinnacle of admiration to the black abyss of abhorrence?
We have a President who turns a blind eye to abuse, a Vice President who openly supports water boarding, a former Defense Secretary who staunchly supports torture as a legitimate means of extracting information, an entrenched military elite content to toss a few privates to the wolves to avoid cleaning it's own filthy house. The lack of moral ethics at the top echelons of American government is appalling. It's too bad the German suit didn't name the other individuals responsible for allowing the heinous acts at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib to continue -- the President, Vice President and Secretary of State.
As an American citizen I am ashamed for my country and appalled to be party to these acts of torture by association. I can only hope that once the Democrats take control of the Congress in January, they will find the moral backbone to put an end to this black era in American history.
Wow!!! Excellent post. What you say is sooooo true. I too am fundamentally disturbed by how the US government has cavalierly treated international and internal US prisoner conventions. The draconian powers the US government has given the President and the military are a threat to all US citizens and to people around the world that disagree with its political agenda.
Posted by Anonymous | Wed Nov 15, 12:39:00 PM EST