by TChris

The Bush administration is guilty of mind-boggling incompetence says David Corn, manifested most recently in Abu Ghraib. But that's only the latest example.

The Bush gang has bungled so many aspects of the Iraq occupation that its actions border on criminal recklessness. The most stunning revelation of Bob Woodward’s Plan of Attack is not that Bush ordered the Pentagon to begin planning an invasion of Iraq in November 2001; it is what is absent from the book: any indication that Bush and his lieutenants engaged in high-level planning concerning what to do after the invasion. ... If anyone else began such a complex and unprecedented project without mulling over the obvious pitfalls and complications, he or she would be out of work.

With Cheney and Rumsfeld, arrogance replaced deliberation. With Bush, incompetence replaced management. The result has been a disaster. Indeed, they should all lose their jobs.

Fire them in November. Vote Kerry.

"60 Minutes II" will air new abuse material in the form of a soldier's videotaped diary Wednesday night:

The CBS newsmagazine (8 p.m. EDT Wednesday) obtained the video diary of a soldier, whose name was withheld, talking about conditions at Camp Bucca and Abu Ghraib in Iraq where Iraqi prisoners were held. "We've already had two prisoners die ... but who cares?" the soldier says on the tape. "That's two less for me to worry about."

The tape reflects the soldier's dislike for the prison camp and the prisoners, according to CBS. "I hate it here," she says. "I want to come home. I want to be a civilian again. We actually shot two prisoners today. One got shot in the chest for swinging a pole against our people on the feed team. One got shot in the arm. We don't know if the one we shot in the chest is dead yet."

From the '60 Minutes' show site:

Throughout the tape, the soldier records her anger at the thousands of Iraqi prisoners under U.S. control at Camp Bucca. "They usually have three a week that break out and, of course, every time that I'm working they never do it," she says. "It's 'cause they are scared of me. I actually got in trouble the other day because I was throwing rocks at them."

...[Guards] Lisa Girman's and Canjar's families tried to bring attention to the problems at Camp Bucca last year. They called Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's office repeatedly and talked to his staff, but got no response. Their letters to the White House and two senators were also unanswered.

The AP reports that Lisa Girman's commander said she engaged in vigilante just to revenge the rape of Pvt. Jessica Lynch:

A female Army soldier in the notorious 320th Military Police Battalion meted out "vigilante justice" on Iraqi prisoners she believed had raped former POW Jessica Lynch, according to a letter from her battalion commander obtained by The Associated Press. Lt. Col. Jerry L. Phillabaum, the troubled battalion's commander, leveled the allegation in a rebuttal to charges against his leadership of the 320th, some of whose soldiers were charged with abusing prisoners last fall at the Abu Ghraib prison west of Baghdad.

The soldier Phillabaum named, then-Master Sgt. Lisa Girman, 35, called her former commander's description of the incident "completely false" and said Phillabaum was an "incompetent" leader trying to cover up his shortcomings by blaming others.

The guards and commanders can fingerpoint all they want. We think the fault lies with Bush and Rumsfeld. The buck stops there. Boot Bush.

by TChris

It had to happen. Say a critical word about the Bush administration or any of its activities, and the right-wing will launch an attack. It happened to Paul O'Neill. It happened to Richard Clarke. It happened to Gen. Shinseki. Now it's happening to Maj. Gen. Taguba.

The buzz in the right wing is that Taguba is "embittered" and has "a grudge against the Army." Right. That's why he's chosen to devote his life to serving his country in the military. At least they can't claim he's only trying to sell a book.

The assertion is that Taguba is bitter because his father, one of 10,000 Filipinos drafted to fight in World War II, wasn't properly recognized after 20 years of military service. So ... Taguba is getting even with the military by ... telling the truth? Or ... he's jeopardizing his career by fabricating a report because he has a grudge about the military's failure to honor his father? The logic in this attack is non-existent, but that's the way right-wing attacks work. Sadly, this one isn't likely to be the last.

by TChris

Law Professor Sanford Levinson asks a timely question: What is torture?

For over a decade, the United States has lived with a loose definition of "torture" that is significantly out of line with that of most of the rest of the world and invites the kind of manufactured distinctions that give lawyering a bad name. Moreover, officials in both Congress and the executive branch have winked and nodded at practices such as sending prisoners to countries that will do our dirty work for us.

Levenson explores the ambiguities that inhere in the United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, as well as the U.S. Senate's rather more limited understanding of torture, tacked on to the Convention as a condition of consenting to U.S. ratification.

It is easy to understand but difficult to accept one of Levenson's conclusions:

Why, then, should we feign shock that inexperienced, frightened, and foolish—it is almost pointless to view them as "evil"—young soldiers would have had little or no understanding of what the limits were on what they could do? They have received not the slightest trace of genuine leadership on this issue.

True, a failure of leadership is largely responsible for the abuses inflicted in Iraq. The soldiers who abused prisoners should not shoulder the blame alone, but neither should they be excused because appropriate limits had not been set. A soldier shouldn't need a JAG lawyer to explain that it's wrong to attack a prisoner with a dog or to engage in the humiliating acts revealed in the Abu Ghraib photographs.

Still, there's no doubt -- as Major General Antonio Taguba said today -- that a failure of leadership, going at least as high as Brigadier General Janis Karpinski, is to blame. In fact, the entire fiasco in Iraq stems from a failure of leadership: by Rumsfeld, Cheney and Bush.

Nick Berg, a 26 year old American contractor whose decapitated body was found in Iraq Saturday, reportedly was killed in retaliation for American abuse of Iraqi prisoners. His execution was videotaped and shown on an Iraqi website associated with al-Qaida and Islamic extremist groups:

A video posted Tuesday on an al-Qaida-linked Web site showed the beheading an American civilian in Iraq in what was said to be revenge for abuse of Iraqi prisoners. The video showed five men wearing headscarves and black ski masks, standing over a bound man in an orange jumpsuit - similar to a prisoner's uniform. The man identified himself as Nick Berg, a U.S. civilian whose body was found Saturday near a highway overpass in Baghdad.

"My name is Nick Berg, my father's name is Michael, my mother's name is Suzanne," the man said on the video. "I have a brother and sister, David and Sarah. I live in ... Philadelphia." After reading a statement, the men were seen pulling the man to his side and putting a large knife to his neck. A scream sounded as the men cut his head off, shouting "Allahu akbar!" - "God is great!" They then held the head up to the camera.

The killers read statements in the video, among them:

So we tell you that the dignity of the Muslim men and women in Abu Ghraib and others is not redeemed except by blood and souls. You will not receive anything from us but coffins after coffins ... slaughtered in this way."

Our heart-felt sympathies go out to Mr. Berg's family. We can't think of anything worse for any parent than watching your child tortured, brutalized or executed.

Congresswoman Diana DeGette (D-CO) says for the good of the nation, Rumsfeld must resign:

Secretary Rumsfeld's reckless leadership has jeopardized the lives of American soldiers and is seriously compromising our ability to prosecute the war on terror. It is not enough to be appalled by their actions. Day by day what was accomplished by the removal of Saddam Hussein is being undermined by our directionless occupation. Prior to the war, Mr. Rumsfeld told the American people time and time again that our troops would be greeted as liberators. As it turns out, instead of winning the hearts and minds of Iraqis, the American occupation is alienating many and sending some into the arms of extremists.

There have been too many failures under Secretary Rumsfeld's stewardship. It was his Pentagon that provided wholly inaccurate intelligence on the threat Iraq posed to the United States. It was his Pentagon that failed to create any plan to secure Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein. It was his Pentagon that failed to provide sufficient troops to quell the violence in Iraq. It was his Pentagon that failed to provide our G.I.s with body armor and sufficiently armored Humvees. It is not enough for Mr. Rumsfeld to come before Congress and express sorrow for the atrocities committed under his watch. The resignation of Secretary Rumsfeld is the first step for us in correcting this laundry list of failures. The American public demands accountability. Our brave men and women in uniform deserve nothing less.

We've agreed to be a sponsor at a reception for Diana on June 1, to benefit her re-election campaign. We must raise $1,000.00 for her. Please help. She doesn't have an on-line contribution page, but you can contribute through our paypal page by making a donation that ends in $.33. Any amount is fine.

Diana DeGette is an outstanding Congresswoman. Before serving in the state legislature and Congress, she was a criminal defense attorney. She is personally opposed to the death penalty. She authored the Colorado "bubble bill" protecting women at abortion clinics--which law was later upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Kelley Kramer responds to the Adminstration's media spin on the torture photos.

Quixote Files calls for an investigation into the role of Major General Geoffrey Miller to determine if he was the one responisble for setting up the conditions that allowed torture at Abu Graib prison.

Nicholas Yarris, the Pennsylvania death row inmate who was exonerated by DNA evidence and released from prison after serving 22 years ome months ago, knows Charles A. Graner, Jr., one of the prison guards who's charged in Iraq,and says he's a bad apple-- violent and abusive-- and that he had been reprimanded. More on Graner here. In a new press release we received by e-mail, Yarris says:

According to Yarris, Graner was responsible for moving prisoners within the facility and was "violent, abusive, arrogant and mean-spirited" toward Yarris and other inmates. Yarris said he knew of several instances in which Graner was involved in physically assaulting prisoners. Yarris also states that Graner was reprimanded by his superiors on several occasions and was disliked by both prisoners and other prison employees. Upon learning that Graner - a reservist called to active duty in Iraq in May 2003 who receives a $500 per month stipend from the DOC - was given a supervisory role at Abu Ghraib based on his civilian training and experience in Pennsylvania, Yarris expressed disgust.

"He was at the bottom level of prison guards," Yarris states, "so he must've done a good job bragging to the military about what a 'big shot' he was at [SCI-]Greene." Yarris also confirmed that, prior to being taken out of their cells, prisoners held in Administrative Custody at SCI-Greene were forced to strip naked in front of the transport team, lift their genitals, and bend over for a visual "inspection." The sexual humiliation of the prisoners at SCI-Greene is eerily similar to the tactics used by military personnel under Graner's supervision against Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib.

Juan Cole gives Bush a fisking over his remarks Monday on Iraq. A must read. Here's a sample:

"BUSH: Mr. Secretary, thank you for your hospitality, and thank you for your leadership. You are courageously leading our nation in the war against terror. You are doing a superb job. You are a strong secretary of defense. And our nation owes you a debt of gratitude . . . "

Mr. Rumsfeld's leadership has brought the country to the brink of international disaster. It was his leadership that allowed dozens of Iraqi prisoners (the Red Cross estimates 90% of all prisoners held by the US were innocent) to be tortured, some tortured to death. His determination to create spaces of extra-judicial status contributed centrally to the practice of torture at Abu Ghuraib. Rumsfeld is personally responsible for most of the things that have gone wrong in Iraq. His one good enterprise, the war in Afghanistan against al-Qaeda, now appears to have been undertaken with great reluctance, half-heartedly, and to have been abandoned as soon as possible, all so he could plunge the US into the Iraq quagmire. He even stole $700 million from a Congressional appropriation for Afghanistan and spent it on Iraq. The sums involved dwarf even the Iran-contra scandal.

by TChris

A comment by Chicago Sun-Times columnist Zay Smith:

The attorney for Pfc. Lynndie R. England, an Army reservist charged Friday with mistreating Iraqi prisoners, regarding the prosecution:

"What is offensive to me is that we have generals and the secretary of Defense hiding behind a 20-year-old farm girl from West Virginia who lives in a trailer park."

That's not quite fair. They are hiding behind her only long enough to see if it works.

by TChris

The Bush administration expected Iraqis to welcome and embrace U.S. soldiers as friendly liberators. The administration had no discernable plan for the country after toppling Hussein, and it didn't consider that a caretaker government really has to be a caretaker if it wants to govern. If the U.S. doesn't accord Iraqis the fundamental human rights that we demand at home, it can't expect Iraqis to accept even temporary U.S. governance.

Physical abuse of prisoners is outrageous, but just as damaging to goodwill is the common knowledge that soldiers can arrest an Iraqi on a whim, causing him to disappear for months, detained without access to family or counsel or independent review.

Problems in the U.S.-run detention system in Iraq extended beyond physical mistreatment in prison cellblocks, involving thousands of arrests without evidence of wrongdoing and abuse of suspects starting from the moment of detention, according to former prisoners, Iraqi lawyers, human rights advocates and the International Committee for the Red Cross.

It's not a question of delays in processing people who are detained on the basis of strong evidence of wrongdoing.

In a report in February, the Red Cross stated that some military intelligence officers estimated that 70 percent to 90 percent of "the persons deprived of their liberty in Iraq had been arrested by mistake." Of the 43,000 Iraqis who have been imprisoned at some point during the occupation, only about 600 have been referred to Iraqi authorities for prosecution, according to U.S. officials.

There is a special court that hears cases against security detainees, but it's only completed 87 investigations so far. A reporter who tried to observe its proceedings was turned away. A secret court, just like Hussein had.

If the Bush administration wanted to devise a plan to alienate as many Iraqis as possible, it couldn't have done a better job. As a caretaker government, it couldn't have done much worse.

by TChris

The author of the Army report exposing abuse of Iraqi prisoners, Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba, will testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee tomorrow morning. In the meantime, even as President Bush reaffirms his support for Secretary of Defense Donald "See No Evil" Rumsfeld, at least one Republican lawmaker has joined Democrats in questioning whether Rumsfeld -- apologies notwithstanding -- should lose his job.

"I think it's still in question whether Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld and, quite frankly, General Myers can command the respect and the trust and the confidence of the military and the American people to lead this country," said [Sen. Chuck] Hagel, a decorated Vietnam veteran.

Update: Arab commentators are predictably upset, leading Reuters to deem the images of abuse "a gift to al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden." Dumping Rumsfeld would send a more effective message than the President's assurances that Americans are good people.

"After Mr. Bush's decision to keep Rumsfeld, all their apologies seem like lip service," Dubai-based political analyst Jawad al-Anani told Reuters. "Mr. Rumsfeld would have certainly lost his job if the prisoners were American."

Second update: Background on General Taguba here.

by TChris

Arrogating to themselves the power to decide that certain Iraqi prisoners deserved abuse, "U.S. military personnel singled out senior officials of Saddam Hussein's regime for special abuse in coalition prison, including solitary confinement for months on end," according to information provided to the Associated Press by a source who obtained the information from the Red Cross.

"Since June 2003 over a hundred 'high-value detainees' have been held for nearly 23 hours a day in strict solitary confinement in small concrete cells devoid of daylight," said the [Red Cross] report, which was given to coalition forces in February.

"Their continued internment several months after their arrest in strict solitary confinement constituted a serious violation of the third and fourth Geneva Conventions," said the 24-page report, confirmed by the ICRC as authentic after it was published by The Wall Street Journal Monday.

The AP learned that many of the abused detainees were included in the well-publicized "deck of cards," representing the most-wanted members of Saddam Hussein's regime. It is unclear whether Saddam Hussein has been mistreated.