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Politics : Impeach George W. Bush -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?


To: Neocon who wrote (26943)5/13/2004 5:05:41 PM
From: Enigma  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 93284
 
It has become impossible now because of the widespread insurgency. Nowhere is safe - you can't prevail over a civilian population which has turned against you. Rummy should resign - because of the prisoner abuses (but what else is new?- many of the methods are used at home)- but because he has cocked up in a big way earning the enmity of the military.



To: Neocon who wrote (26943)5/13/2004 7:59:12 PM
From: Skywatcher  Read Replies (2) | Respond to of 93284
 
Here's what happens..BOYKIN IS BACK and of COURSE tied to this torture scandal....was waiting for his Christian Zealot ass to surface again
General Who Made Anti-Islam Remark Tied to POW Case
By Andrea Shalal-Esa
Reuters

Tuesday 11 May 2004

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Army general under investigation for anti-Islamic remarks has been linked
by U.S. officials to the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal, which experts warned could touch off new outrage
overseas.

A Senate hearing into the abuse of Iraqi prisoners was told on Tuesday that Lt. Gen. William Boykin,
an evangelical Christian under review for saying his God was superior to that of the Muslims, briefed a
top Pentagon civilian official last summer on recommendations on ways military interrogators could
gain more intelligence from Iraqi prisoners.

Critics have suggested those recommendations amounted to a senior-level go-ahead for the sexual
and physical abuse of prisoners, possibly to "soften up" detainees before interrogation -- a charge the
Pentagon denies.

Congressional aides and Arab-American and Muslim groups said any involvement by Boykin could
spark new concern among Arabs and Muslims overseas the U.S. war on terrorism is in fact a war on
Islam.

"This will be taken as proof that what happened at Abu Ghraib (prison) is evidence of a broader culture
of dehumanizing Arabs and Muslims, based on the American understanding of the innate superiority of
Christendom," said Chris Toensing, editor of Middle East Report, a U.S.-based quarterly magazine.

One Senate aide, who asked not to be identified, said any involvement by Boykin could be explosive.
"Even if he knew about the abuse, that would be a big deal," he said.

Boykin has declined comment, and defense officials could not say what the extent of his involvement
or knowledge about the mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners might have been.

Boykin touched off a firestorm last October after giving speeches while in uniform in which he referred
to the war on terrorism as a battle with "Satan" and said America had been targeted "because we're a
Christian nation." He said later he was not anti-Islam or any other religion.

President Bush distanced himself from Boykin's remarks, but the Pentagon said it would not fire the
general, who played a role in the 1993 clash with Somali warlords and the ill-fated hostage rescue
attempt in Iran in 1980.

CALLS FOR REASSIGNMENT

Hussein Ibish, communications director for the Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee, said
his group and others had repeatedly called for Boykin to be reassigned to a less sensitive job until the
Pentagon inspector general completes his investigation of Boykin's remarks.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner and congressional Democrats have also
urged Boykin to step aside, but the Pentagon has defended his right to free speech.

Defense officials said the IG investigation, begun last fall, was nearly done and a report could be
issued next month.

"I'm not saying Boykin is directly responsible. ... But there is a collective failure here," Ibish said.
"There is a tolerance in our society, in our government, in our media for hateful rhetoric when directed
against Arabs and Muslims.

"It definitely contributes to a climate in which these young MPs apparently felt it was ... OK to abuse
Muslim and Arab men like this."

Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Council on American Islamic Relations, chided the Pentagon for
not acting promptly to discipline Boykin and the delayed engagement of top military leaders on the
prisoner abuse scandal.

"It creates a climate in which ... the perpetrators believe they're carrying out the policies of those
above them, whether those policies are explicit or not," Hooper said.