During his testimony today, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld warned that more photographs of U.S. soldiers abusing Iraqi prisoners would be released shortly--and that they were worse than those we've seen to date --depicting "sadistic, cruel and inhumane" acts.

NBC describes the as-yet unreleased photos:

U.S. military officials told NBC News that the unreleased images showed U.S. soldiers severely beating an Iraqi prisoner nearly to death, having sex with a female Iraqi prisoner and “acting inappropriately with a dead body.” The officials said there was also a videotape, apparently shot by U.S. personnel, showing Iraqi guards raping young boys.

Here's another column suggesting Bush is wrong to say prison abuse is inconsistent with the nature and temperment of Americans:

President Bush is entirely mistaken --180 degrees wrong -- when he says the abuse inflicted by U.S. soldiers on Iraqis at Abu Ghraib prison doesn't "reflect the hearts of the American people.'' Of course it does.

This is not to slur Americans. It reflects our hearts because it reflects all human hearts, in general. The potential to be cruel, to take advantage of situations, to abuse power, is lodged deep within the souls of, if not everyone, then practically everyone, and those who deny it are either oblivious or hypocrites or self-proclaimed saints.

[hat tip to Ted from Chicago]

by TChris

President Bush reportedly chastised Donald Rumsfeld for not giving him a full briefing on the extent to which U.S. soldiers abused Iraqi prisoners. But Rumsfeld isn't the only person who knew about the scandal. Doesn't Paul Bremer also deserve a scolding for burying his head in the sand?

Interesting questions were posed today during a briefing in Iraq.

Q Yeah, Dan (last name inaudible), The Washington Post. For Dan. You said, if I understood you correctly, that in January Ambassador Bremer heard about the Abu Ghraib issue when it was made public. I'm not aware that it was made public then, and it certainly wasn't made public here in Iraq. Could you tell me why, between January and now, or the last week or so, neither you nor Ambassador Bremer stood up at this podium to expose this issue to the Iraqi public with whom you're working so closely with?

MR. SENOR: Well, first of all, it was. A press statement was issued in January on this particular issue -- General Kimmitt can speak to the details -- and has been public since then. And to your second point, Ambassador Bremer on multiple occasions in meetings with Iraqi people, including public events, he has expressed his outrage about this particular issue. In fact, even as recently as yesterday, Ambassador Bremer appeared on Al-Iraqiyah, in which he had an interview with several Iraqi journalists, and about half the program was dedicated to this subject, and he addressed many of the issues you raise.

Q ...When did Ambassador Bremer see those photos?

MR. SENOR: I do not know when he saw the photos. I just know that he was made aware of the issue in January of 2004.

Does everyone who should be talking to the President follow the same rule? "Don't tell him anything that might upset him."

by TChris

Mexico has long maintained that Mexicans who commit crimes in the United States should not be executed when the U.S. failed to notify them of their right to request assistance from the Mexican consul, as the Vienna Convention requires. A recent ruling from the United Nations International Court of Justice supports that claim.

Mexico pressed its position before the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board today in the case of Osbaldo Torres. Torres is scheduled to die on May 18. In a rare victory for international relations, however, the Board recommended clemency for Torres. His fate is now in the hands of Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry.

by TChris

It's bad enough when prosecutors break the rules to secure a conviction. When an accused's own lawyer turns against him, there's no hope of a fair trial.

Both ends of the criminal justice system worked against Patrick Rugiero, who is serving a 30 year sentence after being convicted of drug crimes in federal court. Fortunately, federal Magistrate Steven Pepe has recommended that Rugiero receive a new trial.

Rugiero's trial lawyer, Deday LaRene, was under investigation for tax evasion when he decided to represent Rugiero. Magistrate Pepe found that government lawyers were willing to offer Rugiero a deal that would limit Rugiero's sentence to 15 years in exchange for Rugiero's cooperation, but that LaRene never pursued the offer because didn't want Rugiero to reveal that he paid LaRene $80,000 in cash.

Magistrate Pepe also criticized federal prosecutor Keith Corbett, head of the Organized Crime Strike force, for failing to give key documents to Rugiero’s appellate lawyers for more than four years.

This isn’t the first time that Corbett has been accused of withholding documents. Corbett was co-counsel in the 2003 Detroit terrorism trial and has been under fire for failing to turn over a letter that raised questions about a key government witness.

Rugerio asked for the file on LaRene's tax fraud investigation in 1997, leading to more than 20 court hearings, during which the Corbett claimed the file was "missing." Magistrate Pepe didn't buy it.

Eventually, much of the file was found down the hall from Corbett’s office, in a file cabinet in the office of IRS Special Agent Frank Scartozzi — a fact disclosed when Rugiero’s lawyer, David Schoen, was allowed to question Scartozzi under oath. Corbett, Pepe wrote, “must have known of its existence.”

U.S. District Judge Paul Gadola will now decide whether to accept Magistrate Pepe's recommendation.

American Progress has this Viewing Guide to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's testimony today. Here's an open thread to discuss what the embattled military chief has to say.

Rumsfeld: "These events occurred on my watch, I am responsible, I take full responsibilty." He says, paraphrasing, "We were wrong, I apologize, the treatment is inconsistent with the values of our nations and teaching of our military. It is fundamentally Un-American." He will find a way to financially compensate the abused prisoners.

He praises military personnel who brought the pix to light. Now he is addressing corrective measures.

Shouting protest by demonstrators in the gallery. They are being physically ejected. Yelling "Fire Rumsfeld." Rumsfeld keeps his cool, nervous laughter erupts.

We're going back to work. You can take it from here.

The New York Times reports on the life and current status of Lynndie England, the female national guardsman featured so prominently in the Iraqi abuse photos:

While in Iraq, members of the 372nd say, Private England became romantically involved with another man implicated in the abuse scandal, Specialist Charles A. Graner. Military officials say she is pregnant and has been sent to Fort Bragg, N.C. She has not been charged, as Specialist Graner and five other members of the 372nd have. But military investigators have called her a suspect in the abuse inquiry and continue to question her.

Her mother says the military has not provided her with a lawyer.

Update: Lynndie England officially has been charged with abusing prisoners and may face a court-martial proceeding.

by TChris

If your mother likes to read and has an interest in politics, you might want to give her Amy Goodman's new book, The Exception to the Rulers: Exposing Oily Politicians, War Profiteers, and the Media that Love Them.

So what's the connection to Mother's Day?

Goodman says that one of her goals is to go where the silence is and fill it, to give a voice to the voiceless. In many respects, she's a motherly figure. She empowers citizens, tells those untold stories out of an honest caring for the struggle of the voiceless and is critical of injustice, inequality and war. This compassion embodies the true spirit of Mother's Day as represented by its founders who wanted much more than flowers.

The first proposition for Mother's Day in the United States came in the late 1850's by Appalachian homemaker Anna Jarvis. She organized "Mother's Work Day" to raise awareness of poor health conditions in her community. Then in the 1870's Julia Ward Howe, a Boston poet, pacifist, suffragist and author of the lyrics to the "Battle Hymn of the Republic," organized a day encouraging mothers to rally for peace, since she believed they bore the loss of human life more harshly than anyone else.

Mother's Day became an officially recognized national holiday in 1914 after Jarvis' daughter, also named Anna successfully lobbied the Wilson administration.

by TChris

Remember: if any little thing bothers you in life, no matter how silly, just ask your government to make it illegal. Much of the time, your government will oblige.

The city council in Gaston, North Carolina passed an ordinance prohibiting dogs in store windows -- unless the store is a pet shop. The ordinance is targeted at Clint Baucom, a bail bondsman who keeps his two dogs in his storefront office.

Baucom says his dogs give his office a sense of protection, and he's able to better care for them at the store given his round-the-clock business hours.

But, because others think the dogs are "ugly" and don't portray the "positive image" that Gaston desires, Baucom's dogs can no longer lounge around in a room with a view.

by TChris

With nearly half of all probable voters seemingly incapable of recognizing evil when it seizes the Presidency, it is important for progressives to enlist the support of new voters. You can help by supporting America Votes.

America Votes is a new coalition of many of the largest membership-based groups in the country, who have come together to increase voter registration, education and participation in electoral politics. This historic partnership represents a combined membership of more than 20 million Americans in every state in the country. Groups that are part of America Votes work on a broad range of issues including environmental protection, education, human and civil rights, women's rights, choice and labor.

America Votes is seeking volunteers in 17 states tomorrow for Election Action Day, the start of a six month campaign to register and educate new voters. Help them if you can.

Must read...Baghdad blogger Riverbend's Just Go.

People are seething with anger- the pictures of Abu Ghraib and the Brits in Basrah are everywhere. Every newspaper you pick up in Baghdad has pictures of some American or British atrocity or another. It's like a nightmare that has come to life. Everyone knew this was happening in Abu Ghraib and other places… seeing the pictures simply made it all more real and tangible somehow. American and British politicians have the audacity to come on television with words like, "True the people in Abu Ghraib are criminals, but…" Everyone here in Iraq knows that there are thousands of innocent people detained. Some were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, while others were detained 'under suspicion'. In the New Iraq, it's "guilty until proven innocent by some miracle of God".

People are so angry. There’s no way to explain the reactions- even pro-occupation Iraqis find themselves silenced by this latest horror. I can’t explain how people feel- or even how I personally feel. Somehow, pictures of dead Iraqis are easier to bear than this grotesque show of American military technique. People would rather be dead than sexually abused and degraded by the animals running Abu Ghraib prison.

...Today's lesson: don't rape, don't torture, don't kill and get out while you can- while it still looks like you have a choice... Chaos? Civil war? Bloodshed? We’ll take our chances- just take your Puppets, your tanks, your smart weapons, your dumb politicians, your lies, your empty promises, your rapists, your sadistic torturers and go.

Go read the whole thing.

Awesome series this week in the Boston Herald on the wrongfully convicted and the need to establish an Innocence Commission. Please go read some of the stories of these innocent men who were wrongfully convicted and sentenced to long prison terms for crimes they did not commit.