A RECKLESS CHARGE AGAINST THE MILITARY...IN AN UNEXPECTED PLACE
By Michelle Malkin · June 07, 2005 12:54 PM
CNN's Eason Jordan. Newsweek. Linda Foley. One of this blog's big themes has been challenging reckless anti-military bias by the MSM, wherever it rears its ugly head. Last night, disappointingly, that place was Fox News Channel (for which I serve as a contributor).
Jim Hoft at Gateway Pundit first tipped me off to the claim by Washington Post reporter/FNC contributor Ceci Connolly on my favorite newscast last night about the number of homicides of prisoners at the hands of the U.S. military. I watched the rerun of Brit Hume's show and saw it for myself. You can see the exchange at Jackson's Junction. Key transcript excerpt:
Connolly: I do think though that one of the problems for the United States is that there have been instances of prisoner abuse. And there have been instances that are our own Pentagon and our own FBI have documented in their investigations and reports. At Abu Ghraib. In Afghanistan. There have been many homicides of prisoners.
Brit Hume: How many?
Connolly: I believe close to 100.
Hume: A hundred murders?
Connolly: Homicides around the world. In Afghanistan. In Iraq. That have come through Pentagon investigations.
Connolly is off base, way off base.
I called Connolly this morning at the Washington Post, informed her that her comments have sparked controversy in the blogosphere, and asked her to explain. She promptly e-mailed me seven newspaper articles along with the following note:
I tried to go into Nexis and send some clips to you. My apologies if I've flooded your inbox. I believe on the program last night I used a qualifier such as about or estimated or as many as. We know more than 100 deaths of detainees have been investigated. Not that many have been ruled homicides to date. My larger point however was that the United States has committed serious violations with respect to prisoner abuse (Abu Ghraib, Camp Bucca, Baghram) and that those episode hurt the nation's credibility.
I appreciate her quick reply. Unfortunately, none of the seven articles she sent provide any substantiation for her "close to 100 homicides" allegation. Two of the articles are irrelevant and two flatly contradict her claim:
- The first article (David Cloud, "Seal Officer Hears Charges in Court-Martial in Iraqi's Death," New York Times, May 25, 2005, p. A8) and second article (Douglas Jehl, "Inmates Were Reportedly Kept Off Books to Speed Transfer," New York Times, October 9, 2004, p. A6) refer to a Navy Seal lieutenant who allegedly joined his men in striking and killing an Iraqi detainee at Abu Ghraib prison. The lieutenant is charged with dereliction of duty, assault and battery, making false statements to investigators, and conduct unbecoming an officer. He is not charged with murder. The articles contain no quantitative information on the number of detainees murdered by U.S. troops.
- The third article (Eric Schmitt and Douglas Jehl, "Army Says CIA Hid More Iraqis Than it Claimed," New York Times, September 10, 2004, p. A1) and fourth article (Eric Schmitt and Thom Shanker, "Rumsfeld Issued an Order to Hide Detainee in Iraq," New York Times, June 17, 2004, p. A1) say the military failed to account for certain "ghost detainees.” Neither article cites any instances of physical abuse. Neither article cites any quantitative information on the number of detainees murdered by U.S. troops.
- The fifth article (Robert Burns, Associated Press, "Army Investigators Says (sic) 27 Iraqis and Afghans Killed in U.S. Custody," March 25, 2005) and sixth article (Douglas Jehl and Eric Schmitt, "U.S. Military Says 26 Inmate Deaths May Be Homicide," New York Times, March 16, 2005, p. A1) state that 26 or 27 prisoners died as a result of "homicide or suspected homicide.” This flatly contradicts what Connolly said last night.
- The seventh article (John Lumpkin, "More than 100 have died in U.S. custody in Iraq, Afghan wars; more than one-fourth checked for abuse," Associated Press, March 16, 2005) is a longer version of this article. As the article makes clear in the very first paragraph, only about a quarter of the cases have been investigated as involving possible abuse by U.S. troops. The 108 deaths encompass all detainee deaths, including those attributed to natural causes and accidents.
This article, which Connolly did not send, provides further details about the detainees who died while in U.S. custody. Among the deaths listed (see "read more," below), 29 were attributed to natural causes or accidents; 18 were deemed "justified homicide" or "suspected justified homicide;” only 23 were being "investigated as involving criminal homicide or abuse by U.S. personnel." Among those 23, just 3 were explicitly attributed to murder, with the rest still under investigation or involving lesser charges such as derilection of duty, maltreatment, and involuntary manslaughter. (By the way, the U.S. Army, Navy, and other government agencies were able to provide this information to the ACLU because, unlike the ACLU, ahem, they did not shred these sensitive records.)
It is possible that additional U.S. military personnel have been charged with murder since the AP article was published, but 3 is a long, long way from "almost 100.""
michellemalkin.com |
