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Politics : Don't Blame Me, I Voted For Kerry -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?


To: ChinuSFO who wrote (35841)7/16/2004 4:55:52 PM
From: longnshortRead Replies (3) | Respond to of 81568
 
I know 5 members of the teachers Union(very liberal Bush Haters) all they talk about is getting more salary and benefits. Never about the children . Just about how they need more money, for themselves. They say all their fellow teachers feel the same. We just shake our heads



To: ChinuSFO who wrote (35841)7/16/2004 5:04:22 PM
From: Ann CorriganRead Replies (1) | Respond to of 81568
 
Taxpayers do not argue with the fact that quality teachers should receive commensurate salary. We object to fact that American taxpayers get little value for the vast amounts of funding for elementary education. Education community refuses to change their failing ways and that's why they protest NCLB. They put their own interests ahead of the future of American children. Check out this fact--public school teachers on average send their own children to private schools. Why?



To: ChinuSFO who wrote (35841)7/16/2004 5:32:25 PM
From: SkywatcherRespond to of 81568
 
Bremer May Testify on Iraq Prisoner Abuse
The Associated Press

Thursday 15 July 2004

Lawmakers want Bremer to testify next week on Iraqi prisoner abuse by members
of U.S. military.

Washington - More cases of possible mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners have come to Congress'
attention and need investigation by the Pentagon, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services
Committee said Thursday.

Sen. John Warner, R-Va., also said that L. Paul Bremer, the former head of the American-led
occupation in Iraq, may testify about prison abuse at a congressional hearing next week.

"I'm not trying to, you know, drop a little hint here. I'm just saying ... each day that comes along,
new incidents that occurred in the past" are revealed and will need to be investigated, Warner said.

Despite a number of hearings and media revelations in the months since the abuse scandal broke,
questions linger about the extent of wrongdoing at U.S. military prisons, how it happened and who
should be held accountable.

Before the Senate goes into recess next week, Warner wants Bremer to testify at a public hearing.

Warner spoke to reporters after his committee had a private, classified briefing on the status of
several Defense Department investigations into abuse stand. He gave no further details on what new
allegations came up during the briefing.

But just this week, the Red Cross said the United States might be hiding detainees in lockups
around the world that the group's representatives have not visited.

The Pentagon denies the charge. The CIA has declined comment on whether it may be holding
terrorism suspects at foreign locations.

The scandal began unfolding with the release of pictures from mistreatment of prisoners at Iraq's
Abu Ghraib prison. Questions have arisen about prisons in Afghanistan and Guantánamo Bay, Cuba,
and the deaths of detainees, as well as whether abuse was part of interrogations.

Also, Bush administration memos seemed to indicate that officials had condoned or approved the
use of torture.

Since the disclosures, victims have filed lawsuits and an American contractor Nick Berg was
beheaded in Iraq in May, purportedly in retribution for the abuse. U.S. officials have acknowledged that
the scandal has diminished America's standing in the world.

The abuse forced the United States last month to back off an effort to continue an exemption that
American soldiers had from international prosecution for war crimes.

Warner has held three public hearings of his committee since May, summoning Defense Secretary
Donald H. Rumsfeld and other Pentagon officials to testify. For more than a month, Warner set the
issue aside as he worked on passing defense spending legislation.

But now, the possibility of hearings with people who know what happened has diminished because
of current criminal investigations, Warner said.

"We cannot in any way jeopardize the rights of individuals being investigated," the senator said.

"And consequently, we cannot, at this time, bring them before the committee," he said.

In addition to investigating the allegations of abuse at its facilities in Iraq and Afghanistan, the
Pentagon is assessing interrogation techniques used in the fight against terrorism and procedures
used at Abu Ghraib by military intelligence and contractors.