Open letter to Dubya

[dissention]

Originally Posted by strandinthewind

I am talking in terms of American soldiers being killed. Perhaps there will be an insurrection on the release of this video tape. But, that appears unlikely as the pics. that have been released already caused no such insurrection and neither did W's lame attempt in Islamic television to explain that the actions of a few American soldiers did not represent America's policies, etc. So, again, I think Iraq shows no signs of becoming a place where 5,800 American soldiers are killed wach year. But and again, only time will tell.

I'm saying that once a certain videotape is released, there's going to be a bloodbath in Iraq. Many credible sources have said that there is a videotape out there of American troops raping an Iraqi boy in that same prison (where over 60% of the prisoners are innocent). If this comes out into the open, say some prayers. What bothers me about the picture controversy is how they tried to cover it up ILLEGALLY. The 53-page report was classified by the Pentagon as "SECRET" and "CLASSIFIED," which is 100% illegal. By law, the government CANNOT keep war crimes a secret.

And I hope those f*ckers who acted out those abuses get the book thrown at them. Life in a prison, for sure. They are some truly sick f*cks. Evil, IMO.

[DeeGeMe]

Have y'all heard about the incident where the troops put a saddle on an elderly woman and rode her around like a donkey? If that's not sick, I don't know what else is.

[strandinthewind]

This is equally as sickening:

from http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,119157,00.html

Red Cross: U.S. Ignored Our Prison Pleas

Thursday, May 06, 2004

GENEVA — The international Red Cross said Thursday that it had repeatedly asked U.S. authorities to take action over alleged prisoner abuse at Iraq's Abu Ghraib (search) prison before recent revelations about the way detainees were treated.



"We were aware of what was going on, and based on our findings we have repeatedly requested the U.S. authorities to take corrective action," said Nada Doumani, spokeswoman for the International Committee of the Red Cross (search), speaking from Amman, Jordan.

The ICRC, which visits prisoners held by coalition authorities in Iraq, had previously declined to comment publicly on conditions at the prison.

"We've been visiting Abu Ghraib prison since already from last year," Doumani told The Associated Press. "We are of course aware of the situation since we talk with the detainees privately.

"We get testimony from them. We visit all the premises in this place. We crosscheck information we receive from different detainees. Definitely we were aware of what was going on in Abu Ghraib.

Doumani said the visits have been taking place every five or six weeks since last year. The most recent visit was March 20, she said.

The scandal over treatment of prisoners began when CBS television broadcast pictures of smiling American guards with Iraqi prisoners in humiliating positions. That unleashed a huge international outcry.

The ICRC is designated by the Geneva Conventions (search) on warfare to visit prisoners of war and other people detained by an occupying power. It traditionally discusses its observations only with the detaining authority, but has been under pressure to say whether it had specifically warned the United States about prisoner abuse before the photographs came to light.

Doumani didn't say specifically when it gave its first warnings, but that it was over a period of months.

[strandinthewind]

www.cnn.com is reporting as breaking news that:

"President Bush says he is sorry for the humiliation suffered by Iraqi prisoners at the hands of U.S. troops. Details soon. "

[dissention]

Originally Posted by DeeGeMe

Have y'all heard about the incident where the troops put a saddle on an elderly woman and rode her around like a donkey? If that's not sick, I don't know what else is.

They also gang-raped women in the prison and shocked their genitals afterwards. Any person who can do such is a thing is evil. This whole mess breaks my heart and it especially pains me that this is so widespread and not simply an "isolated incident" as the government would like us to believe.

[dissention]

Originally Posted by strandinthewind

www.cnn.com is reporting as breaking news that:

"President Bush says he is sorry for the humiliation suffered by Iraqi prisoners at the hands of U.S. troops. Details soon. "

A day late and a dollar short, bud.

I was insulted by McClellan's press briefing yesterday when he said that he was there to apologize on Bush's behalf. I felt like it was a slap int he face not only to the Iraqi's, but to the world.

[dissention]

Anybody watch C-SPAN this morning?! Charlie Rangel is preparing articles of impeachment! Nothing will probably come of it, but you never know. It'll make for good C-SPAN watching, though. Here's the transcript of what he said:

"...an atmosphere where all of the people in iraq have been demonized, where it appears to American people and certainly to our military that the people in iraq are responsible for 911 and causing us pain, that the Secretary of Defense did have info months ago about these atrocities and that he kept it from the president, he kept it from the Congress, and he kept it from the American people.

I think that this rises to the point that it's a high crime and a misdemeanor, if he disappointed the president, kept information from the congress and kept this information from the american people, I think America and the world wants us to show the outrage, not by rhetoric, but by taking action!

And if the president doesn't fire the secretary, if he doesn't resign, I think it's the responsibility of this Congress to file articles of impeachment and force him to leave office.

Then the whole world would know, not just our military, not just Americans, but the whole world what we stand for.

If people can say mission completed when it looks like there's victory, and we see atrocities like this and it happens on someone's watch. If they don't have the dignity to say, "I'm sorry," and move on, the we have the responsibility under our Constitution to remove these people from office. He kept the info away from this congress. We have the responsibility of oversight. I'm preparing articles of impeachment today."

[dissention]

Originally Posted by strandinthewind

I am talking in terms of American soldiers being killed. Perhaps there will be an insurrection on the release of this video tape. But, that appears unlikely as the pics. that have been released already caused no such insurrection and neither did W's lame attempt in Islamic television to explain that the actions of a few American soldiers did not represent America's policies, etc. So, again, I think Iraq shows no signs of becoming a place where 5,800 American soldiers are killed wach year. But and again, only time will tell.

I just saw the Berg video and almost threw up. Aparrently, there was finally a response to the Iraqi abuse photos and a group of them rounded up an American contractor and beheaded him on Monday. I knew it was going to happen, it was just a matter of time.

[dissention]

http://pennlive.com/newsflash/pa/ind...0077760820.xml


Pa. family angry with American government over son's brutal death

By JASON STRAZIUSO
The Associated Press
5/11/2004, 2:34 p.m. ET

WEST CHESTER, Pa. (AP) — The family of an American civilian shown beheaded on an Islamic militant Web site huddled in in tears Tuesday after learning of the existence of the graphic videotape.

The video showed Nick Berg, 26, in a staged execution carried out by an al-Qaida affiliated group. The video said the killing was to avenge the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by American soldiers.

"My name is Nick Berg, my father's name is Michael, my mother's name is Suzanne," the man said on the video before being killed. "I have a brother and sister, David and Sara. I live in ... Philadelphia."

Berg's family said U.S. State Department officials on Monday had told them Berg was decapitated. The family, though, had wanted that information to remain private.

When told about news of the Web site Nick Berg's father, brother and sister, collapsed to the ground in a tearful hug in their front yard.

"I knew he was decapitated before," said the father, Michael Berg. "That manner is preferable to a long and torturous death. But I didn't want it to become public."

Michael Berg lashed out at the U.S. military and Bush administration, saying his son might still be alive had he not been detained by U.S. officials in Iraq without being charged and without access to a lawyer.

Nick Berg, a small telecommunications business owner, spoke to his parents on March 24 and told them he would return home on March 30. But Berg was detained by Iraqi police at a checkpoint in Mosul on March 24. He was turned over to U.S. officials and detained for 13 days.

His father, Michael, said his son wasn't allowed to make phone calls or contact a lawyer.

FBI agents visited Berg's parents in West Chester on March 31 and told the family they were trying to confirm their son's identity. On April 5, the Bergs filed suit in federal court in Philadelphia, contending that their son was being held illegally by the U.S. military. The next day Berg was released. He told his parents he hadn't been mistreated.

Michael Berg said he blamed the U.S. government for creating circumstances that led to his son's death. He said if his son hadn't been detained for so long, he might have been able to leave the country before the violence worsened.

"I think a lot of people are fed up with the lack of civil rights this thing has caused," he said. "I don't think this administration is committed to democracy."

The Bergs last heard from their son April 9, when he said he would come home by way of Jordan.

Berg had traveled several times to Third World countries to help spread technology, his family said. He had previously traveled to Kenya and Ghana, where they said he had purchased a $900 brick-making press for a poor village, the family said.

Berg's mother, Suzanne Berg, said her son was in Iraq to help rebuild communication antennas.

"He had this idea that he could help rebuild the infrastructure," she said.

Michael Berg described himself as fervently anti-war, but said his son disagreed with him.

"He was a Bush supporter," Berg said. "He looked at it as bringing democracy to a country that didn't have it."

Suzanne Berg said she was told her son's body would be transported to Kuwait and then to Dover, Del. She said the family had been trying for weeks to learn where their son was but that federal officials had not been helpful.

"I went through this with them for weeks," she said. "I basically ended up doing most of the investigating myself."

[The Tower]

Originally Posted by dissention

I just saw the Berg video and almost threw up. Aparrently, there was finally a response to the Iraqi abuse photos and a group of them rounded up an American contractor and beheaded him on Monday. I knew it was going to happen, it was just a matter of time.

You actually saw the entire video??? YIKES!!! I thought it hadn't been broadcast in the U.S.

Just awful....

[dissention]

Originally Posted by The Tower

You actually saw the entire video??? YIKES!!! I thought it hadn't been broadcast in the U.S.

Just awful....

The group that killed him posted it online on a website made to resemble the Department of Homeland Security web site.

I DID NOT watch the entire thing. I couldn't bring myself to do it. The video quality is superb, so you can see everything that happens. They beheaded him alive with a handsaw and I had to turn it off when I heard his screams; my stomach almost gave way. From what others tell me at the Democratic Underground, it gets INCREDIBLY graphic and what they do at the end of the video is more unbelievable than the beheading itself.

[strandinthewind]

Originally Posted by dissention

I just saw the Berg video and almost threw up. Aparrently, there was finally a response to the Iraqi abuse photos and a group of them rounded up an American contractor and beheaded him on Monday. I knew it was going to happen, it was just a matter of time.

EEK - that is horrifying.

But still, it is not the 5,00 or so a year in Vietnam that I think is required to say Iraq is the same as Vietnam and this guy was a civilian

In any event, let's hope no more of these happen

[DeeGeMe]

Originally Posted by dissention

The group that killed him posted it online on a website made to resemble the Department of Homeland Security web site.

I DID NOT watch the entire thing. I couldn't bring myself to do it. The video quality is superb, so you can see everything that happens. They beheaded him alive with a handsaw and I had to turn it off when I heard his screams; my stomach almost gave way. From what others tell me at the Democratic Underground, it gets INCREDIBLY graphic and what they do at the end of the video is more unbelievable than the beheading itself.

There are now several sites that have the video. I have no desire to see it.

P.S.--I'm a DU'er too! Big surprise there, huh?

[dissention]

Originally Posted by DeeGeMe

P.S.--I'm a DU'er too! Big surprise there, huh?

BIG surprise. I'm feeling the DU love. That place rawks.

[dissention]

Originally Posted by strandinthewind

EEK - that is horrifying.

But still, it is not the 5,00 or so a year in Vietnam that I think is required to say Iraq is the same as Vietnam and this guy was a civilian

In any event, let's hope no more of these happen

To be honest, now that I have had time to digest what I saw, I have some serious reservations about it. Ther's no doubt that the poor man was murdered in a horrific manner, but I think the US has something to do with it. There are way too many things that don't make any sense in that video.