Iraq jail abuse albatross on Bush candidacy

[NNN0LHI]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20040508/ts_alt_afp/us_iraq_prisoners_bush&cid=1506&ncid=1480

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Abuses US troops inflicted on Iraqi prisoners have also taken their toll on President George W. Bush (news - web sites)'s reelection campaign, which rests largely on his image as a war-time president.


Democratic challenger John Kerry (news - web sites) rushed to demand Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld resign.


"As president, I will not be the last to know what is going on in my command," he said, alluding to the way Bush first found out about the pictures: He saw them on television.


CBS News published on April 28 the photographs of US troops tormenting Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison by forcing them to pose nude and in compromising positions designed to humiliate them.

more

[GreenGreenLimaBean]

1. I certainly hope so!

The Election of Bush* to a second term would confirm to the rest of
the world that AMERICANS ARE FUCKING IDIOTS!!!! Now the world would
have reason to hate not just our leaders, but us as well.

[Tellurian]

16. Whos Running * or the SS? nt

[saigon68]

2. NEVER ----ROVES PLAN IS WORKING

WATCH CNN TODAY

NON STOP APOLOGIES BY JEFFREY MILLER.

Every 1/2 HOUR TODAY EXCLUSIVE STORIES FROM THE ARMY INTERROGATION SCHOOL TO SHOW HOW HUMANE THESE 18 YEAR OLD INTERROGATORS ARE

EXCLUSIVE COVERAGE PREPARED DAYS AGO TO CALM THE SHEEP. ITS ENOUGH TO VOMIT-

</RANT>

I'm so angry today--- they are masters at this spin shit.

[demgrrrll]

4. I have been trying to figure out what they would do but I do not have

access to all the available information so I have been guessing.
I haven't seen the spin but it seems like that would further
point out that the people at the prison in Iraq knew better but were cruel in spite of their training. They are good at this, I agree.

[jjmalonejr]

5. This is all in preparation for the WORSE stuff that's to come.

Eventually it will HAVE to come out that the abuses were not just the twisted actions of a few bad apples (as they are trying to spin it), but behavior that was directed and encouraged by military intelligence. The pressure to get to the bottom of it will be too great to cover that up. Mind you, I don't forgive or condone the actions of the prison guards, but they are not the REAL evil folks. The real evil folks are the architects of this whole corrupt prisoner system and the systematic dismissal of the Geneva Conventions.

Also, the stuff that's out there just waiting to break is supposed to be more vile and horrific than what we've already seen. They know that if abuse and humiliation caused such a shit storm, that murder, rape and out-and-out torture caught on video will REALLY turn our stomachs.

They may be masters of spin, but there's only so much silk purse you can make out of a sow's ear.

[daleo]

11. We keep hearing about worse to come, without seeing the new pictures

It is as if they are trying to inoculate the public, with the constant mantra 'worse to come'. I don't know what the strategy is - maybe the idea is to build up something really terrible in people's minds, then release something just on this side of what is feared, so that there is a sort of psychological relief - "it could have been worse". Or maybe just habituate the public to horror, so that they are not as shocked as they would be otherwise.

Maybe they don't have a strategy, and are just reacting to events. They may not know which pictures are in the hands of third parties, and out of their control, so they are doing whatever they can to keep their options open.

Or maybe behind the scenes, they are looking for a way to suppress all this, playing for time. Rummy did say he was bothered by 'peacetime constraints' and 'legal rights' as far as preventing photos from getting out. It might be time to give the Patriot Act a careful reading.

[Tellurian]

19. From what I can see...the order of the day is Damage Control..

and no doubt they are fishing through "the damage control kick box"-

This box is kept safe, in a very dark place..In the box is a little black book sequestered with every bit of dirt known to mankind w/ the correlating appropriate spin mechanism to send to the media and newspapers in the twinkle of an eye. I equate it to grant writing..an informal delay hovering over mission accomplished. Fill in the appropriate box and seduce the paragraph with the proper qualifications...eh,mmm!

So your guess is as good as mine. I do know this, it's going to take an awfully big event to eclipse the fall of the roman empire. (lower case intentional)

[Rebel_with_a_cause]

9. They're desperate and frantic

The RW Biblewhackers may still love Bush, but civilized countries will not tolerate torture. The Bushies are now shunned by the rest of the world. The Coalition is finished.

Bush will be impeached.

[Tellurian]

21. they are going to publicly rebuke him...

but first the dems need the tie that binds...him... to this UNHOLY Massacre and DEHUMANIZATION..

If it can be done?

[crossroads]

12. Maybe it's not that bad

so many are shopping at Walmart on Sat. they won't bother to see CNN. Ck and see what BS spin Faux news may be serving. That's where most get their news anyway. :boring:

[Tellurian]

22. Yes, Wallmart is the place where their politics are discussed.

you didn't know that?

Wait for a ride in front of the soda machine sometime.

[gottaB]

3. war-time president?

War Crimes pResident

[sundancekid]

6. yea, and you can't bring your buddy Dickie with you at The Hague

because they don't do "interviews" at a War Crimes Tribunal, if you get my 9/11-commission drift :grr:

[Tellurian]

23. You do mean they'll go together but testify separately and under oath?

yes!?

[crossroads]

13. Pics VS Words

One thing gives me hope. The masses have been lulled to sleep with placating words from these deceitful masters of spin, but pictures can't lie and the harsh reality of seeing with their own eyes is the shock that most sheeple needed! Their wake up call.

I read a DU post by Saigon68 a day or so ago which rings true - he suggested the picture of the prisoner standing on the box with the wires attached to him would be the downfall of Bush and like the picture of the officer shooting the dude in the head during Vietnam is associated with the end of the Vietnam war, this pic would forever be associated with the horrors of the Bush presidency. It will always remind the world of his failed Iraqi policy. I hope so. :kick:

[Skittles]

14. the picture with the guy on the leash

the victim's face is contorted in absolute pain and humiliation. I can't believe it has come to this. How much more will the American people take before they stop watching TV long enough to PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT IS HAPPENING.

[Tellurian]

25. yes, The Bell Has Been RUNG..."No More Secrecy!!!" the new weekly chant! n

[Gothmog]

7. Bush's only chance would be to fire Rummie and Meyers

If Bush fired Rummie and the top pentagon leaders who should had dealt with this matter and showe that he really cared about doing the right thing, then he could perhaps salvage his re-election bid. This would also include such drastic actions as firing Cheney for the Valerie Plame matter and otherwise cleaning house.

Since this would be the right thing to do, it is not going to happen.

[Tellurian]

26. You're right, it will never happen. * would be like an abandoned child

all his best friends.. <sniff> in jail.

[CityDem]

8. I am surprised at the lack of outrage

Sure, I see lot of outrage on the message boards and with politically active friends. But many people I come in contact with believe 1) it is not a big deal - very few people seriously injured or killed; 2) these prisoners had attempted to kill US soldiers and deserved what they got; 3) there were a few bad apples in the army that went overboard, but we need to support our military men and women. After I encountered these observations, I understood how Rummy still have a 70% approval rating.

Like everything else, I believe bush* will not be terribly hurt by this at the polls in november.

[Rebel_with_a_cause]

10. The rest of the world trumps the feeble-minded Americans

Bush is finished. Congress has the goods on him. He's done.

[napi21]

15. It's a telling story that LIndsey Graham is upset!

I know right now he's upset with Rummy, but this is the guy who is the solid Southern foundation of the Bush campaign.

I was very surprised at his reaction at the hearings yesterday. Even in the car ride after the hearings when reporters asked if he thought Rummy should go, he didn't give a direct answer. Something like I still need more information.

Not a good sign for GW.

[DemoTex]

17. Lindsey Graham was/is a USAF lawyer.

While he is not my favorite guy, by far, he understands that this is the legal scandal of of the new millennium. Rape and murder. And - oh, yes - political cover-up.

[robbedvoter]

18. Vote it up. Freepers want to hide it. That's a switch.

Great line by kerry - surp[risingly quoted in a W article.

[DemoTex]

20. The albatross is very appropriate. As is Coleridge for Bu$h's final days:

Down dropt the breeze, the sails dropt down,
'Twas sad as sad could be;
And we did speak only to break
The silence of the sea!

All in a hot and copper sky,
The bloody Sun, at noon,
Right up above the mast did stand,
No bigger than the Moon.

Day after day, day after day,
We stuck, nor breath nor motion;
As idle as a painted ship
Upon a painted ocean.

Water, water, everywhere,
And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water, everywhere,
Nor any drop to drink.

(from "Part the Second" of The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner by
Samuel Taylor Coleridge)

The BFEE. Adrift, at long last.

[tedzbear]

24. This is all Bush's fault because he was the one who...

...embraced the fallacy that POW's in Afghanistan were actually "illegal combatants," and therefore not protected under the Geneva Convention.

He ignored the condemnation of the rest of the world for this manipulative play on words which was nothing more than a refusal to go by the guidelines of the Geneva Convention.
Since we invaded Afghanistan (and Iraq) with all of our military might, anyone captured there by our troops should automatically be considered a POW under international law and to say otherwise is a reprehensible lie.

Bush reaps what he sows...
Will the American people continue to support his lies and go down with his sinking ship? I hope not.

:kick:

[Moderator]

27. duplicate

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=540865