Best of the Web Today - May 5, 2004
By JAMES TARANTO
President Bush went on Al Arabiya television this morning and strongly denounced the abuse of Iraqi prisoners:
First, I want to tell the people of the Middle East that the practices that took place in that prison are abhorrent and they don't represent America. They represent the actions of a few people. Secondly, it's important for people to understand that in a democracy that there will be a full investigation. In other words, we want to know the truth.
In our country, when there's an allegation of abuse--more than an allegation in this case, actual abuse, we saw the pictures--there will be a full investigation and justice will be delivered. We have a presumption of innocent until you're guilty in our system, but the system will be transparent, it will be open and people will see the results.
This is a serious matter. It's a matter that reflects badly on my country. Our citizens in America are appalled by what they saw, just like people in the Middle East are appalled. We share the same deep concerns. And we will find the truth, we will fully investigate. The world will see the investigation and justice will be served.
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Reuters reports that Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller, who is in charge of reforming the U.S. military detention system in Iraq, offered both an apology and a promise: "I would like to personally apologize to the people of Iraq for the actions of a small number of leaders and soldiers who have violated our policies," he said. And: "I will personally guarantee that this will not happen again in any of the operations we have for detention and intelligence gathering."
All in all, we'd have to say the American system is working rather well. The abuses have led to a thorough investigation, an apology, a vow from the president himself that justice will be done, and a promise that reforms are in the works so this won't happen again. The New York Times has an interview with Hayder Sabbar Abd, who says he spent six months in U.S.-run prisons. Most soldiers "treated him well and with respect," he says, until November, "when punishment for a prisoner fight at Abu Ghraib degenerated into torture":
That night, he said, he and six other inmates were beaten, stripped naked (a particularly deep humiliation in the Arab world), forced to pile on top of one another, to straddle one another's backs naked, to simulate oral sex. American guards wrote words like "rapist" on their skin with Magic Marker, he said.
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Worldwide Wave of Hysteria
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As Democratic sharks circle Donald Rumsfeld, President Bush says Rumsfeld ‘Will Stay in My Cabinet’.
“Secretary Rumsfeld has served our nation well,” Bush told reporters in an appearance in the White House Rose Garden. Speaking slowly for emphasis, he added, “Secretary Rumsfeld has been the secretary during two wars, and he is an important part of my Cabinet.”
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With King Abdullah II of Jordan at his side, Bush also offered his first outright apology for the mistreatment suffered by Iraqis at the hands of their American captors. He said he was “sorry for the humiliation suffered by the Iraqi prisoners and the humiliation suffered by their families,” and said the images had made Americans “sick to their stomach.”
Bush spoke as his administration sought to counter a worldwide wave of revulsion over photographs showing Iraqi prisoners, some of them hooded, naked and in sexually humiliating poses, in an American-run prison in the Baghdad area.
Remember that “worldwide wave of revulsion” when a
pregnant Israeli mother and her four daughters were
murdered in cold blood by Arabs who videotaped the
atrocity? Remember the “worldwide wave of revulsion” when
four security contractors helping to rebuild Iraq were
burned alive, ripped apart, and hung from a bridge by
Arabs in Fallujah? Remember the “worldwide wave of
revulsion” when an Italian hostage was murdered by Arabs
on video?
You don’t?
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Friedman Gets Buzzed<font size=3>
Roger L Simon blog
Jeff Jarvis fisks Tom Friedman's column today and reminds us to keep our priorities straight into the bargain:
We have entered an era of apology. Democrats wanted Bush to apologize as Dick Clarke did. Reporters at the last press conference wanted Bush to confess to mistakes and apologize for them. Friedman wants Bush to apologize for what happened in that prison. Fine. But it's just a rhetorical charm bracelet. Forced apologies get you just as far as forced friendships.
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No, it's time instead for everyone -- Bush, Kerry, Iraqi leaders, European leaders, the U.N., Arab leaders -- to get priorities straight and remember that our priorities are alligned. If we let the stupidity of some guys in an Iraqi prison derail the cause of democracy and stability in Iraq over the niceties of friendship and apologies, then we're all a bunch of hopeless fools.
Jarvis, stop making sense!
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rogerlsimon.com |
