News and Politics | December 13, 2008 | 10 comments

Rumsfeld's decision a "direct cause" for POW abuse, says bipartisan Senate report

source: http://www.boingboing.net/2008/12/12/rumsfelds-decision-a.html

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A bipartisan Senate report concluded that decisions by Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld were a "direct cause" of inhumane treatment of POWs.

The report, endorsed by Democrats and Republicans on the Senate Armed Services Committee, is the most forceful denunciation to date of the role that Rumsfeld and other top officials played in the prisoner abuse scandals of the last five years.

The document also challenges assertions by senior Bush administration officials that the most egregious cases of prisoner mistreatment were isolated incidents of appalling conduct by U.S. troops.

"The abuse of detainees at Abu Ghraib in late 2003 was not simply the result of a few soldiers acting on their own," the report says.

Instead, the document says, a series of high-level decisions in the Bush administration "conveyed the message that physical pressures and degradation were appropriate treatment for detainees in U.S. military custody."
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10 comments // Rumsfeld's decision a "direct cause" for POW abuse, says bipartisan Senate report

  • GoodGodGuy
    • 0
      GoodGodGuy  

    • I hope the grand jury does NOT indite any of these criminals.
      At least until Jan 20, the last day clemency may be handed out by the president.

    • 3 years ago
  • AreOh
  • flyingkick
  • tbowman131
    • 0
      tbowman131  

    • Now that a Congressional bipartisan panel has said who is to blame for the US policy on torture, will prosecutions take place? If not, what kind of message would we be sending to the world? It must be done so that we can recapture the moral highground that America used to stand for.

      To learn more than you ever wanted to know about how we treat our prisoners in the war on terror, please watch the PBS documentary Torturing Democracy or get information at www.torturingdemocracy.org

    • 3 years ago
  • tanyetta
  • lj111
  • Conniepae
    • 0
      Conniepae  

    • If we don't hold these guys accountable, what will it say to the youth of America? Not one of these criminals should walk off into the sunset and leave us with this mess. Accountability is the only answer!

      I don't think they will all go to jail, but they should be forced to answer questions, under oath, "out loud". Future generations should not think they will not be held accountable.

      No accountability, no shame. SAD!

    • 3 years ago
  • pjacobs51
  • nessie00
  • kennymotown
    • 0
      kennymotown  

    • This man should be arrested and tried for war crimes. Lets get the ball rolling, I hear now that the republicans
      on the judiciary committee are going to appose Eric Holders nomination because they are afraid he will bring back justice for these real criminals the Bush crime family. Send e-mails now to congress letting them know we won the election in a land slide and elections have implications and they will be next to get voted out.

    • 3 years ago
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