Friday, July 16, 2004
Bush torture policies: Helpless Republicans just can't get investigation done before election
Now, that's a surprise! (Actually, the real surprise is that the story made page A8 of the World's Greatest Newspaper (not!) instead of A18:
Gee. I wonder why? The House, as expected, gave The Fog Machine (back) a free pass, leaving matters up to the Senate Armed Services Committee and John Warner. Watch the handwringing:
And poor old John Warner is helpless in the face of it all. Damn pitiful. Always nice to see Republicans put their hold on power above restoring the honor of the military by cleansing it of torturers. Moral clarity, don't you know.
Gee. I wonder if any of the investigations feature videos of screaming boys being raped.
One can only hope that some actual news reporting gets done by that feisty weekly, The New Yorker. Mr. Hersh, you've seen the tapes. Why not release them? And say—who in the Bush administration has seen the rape vidoes? Anyone in the WhiteWash House? The RNC/CPA?
The Congressional investigation into the abuse of Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib prison has virtually ground to halt, as a senior Senate Republican said Thursday that no new hearings would be held on the matter until this fall at the earliest.
(via the Fabulous Invalid, the Not-The-Pulitzer-Heavy-Los-Angeles Times)
Gee. I wonder why? The House, as expected, gave The Fog Machine (back) a free pass, leaving matters up to the Senate Armed Services Committee and John Warner. Watch the handwringing:
On Thursday, Mr. Warner said he would hold off calling any more witnesses until several criminal prosecutions and seven pending Pentagon inquiries were completed.
"We're not in a position to try to have an independent investigation at this point," Mr. Warner told reporters after senators received a classified briefing on Thursday on Red Cross reports about detention operations at American-run prisons in Iraq. "There are so many ongoing investigations going on, we cannot in any way jeopardize the right of individuals being investigated."
Other factors also are behind the delay: the calendar, the preferences of some of Mr. Warner's Republican colleagues and the pace of the military investigations, many of which are behind schedule. All seem to be conspiring to thwart his desire to hold hearings on the matter.
And poor old John Warner is helpless in the face of it all. Damn pitiful. Always nice to see Republicans put their hold on power above restoring the honor of the military by cleansing it of torturers. Moral clarity, don't you know.
At the briefing on Thursday, the Pentagon also provided senators with updated figures on investigations of the death or abuse of Iraqi prisoners. The military has opened 41 death investigations; 15 are still pending. Of the 135 inquiries into other abuses, 54 are still pending.
Gee. I wonder if any of the investigations feature videos of screaming boys being raped.
One can only hope that some actual news reporting gets done by that feisty weekly, The New Yorker. Mr. Hersh, you've seen the tapes. Why not release them? And say—who in the Bush administration has seen the rape vidoes? Anyone in the WhiteWash House? The RNC/CPA?
