The "Gitmo Outrage" Didn't Really Fly, The Left Is Trying New Tactic

[Annie]

http://donsurber.blogspot.com/2005/07/next-abu-ghraib.html

Sunday, July 3
The Next Abu Ghraib

The campaign to turn Iraq into Iraqynam is a public relations campaign pushed by jihadists and leftists. Last month's Gitmo campaign failed as only 20% polled agreed that detainees are treated unfairly. That means even the MoveOn crowd wasn't buying.

Al-Jazeera rolled out this month's campaign theme: America is training the new Iraqi police to be evil. This tactic owes a hat-tip to the demonization of the School of the Americas hysteria. It feeds on two things exaggeration and an absence of memory. In the pre-Irene Khan years, Amnesty International reported on Saddam's secret police:

Hundreds of people, among them political prisoners including possible prisoners of conscience, were executed. Hundreds of suspected political opponents, including army officers suspected of planning to overthrow the government, were arrested and their fate and whereabouts remained unknown. Torture and ill-treatment were widespread and new punishments, including beheading and the amputation of the tongue, were reportedly introduced. Non-Arabs, mostly Kurds, continued to be forcibly expelled from their homes in the Kirkuk area to Iraqi Kurdistan.

​

Sadly, these details (including the execution of children in front of their parents) are dismissed by the left today as "OK, Saddam was bad" as if all he did was suborn perjury. Also unmentioned are the massive suicide bombings and beheadings by the jihadists.

The Al-Jazeera report today tips its cap to a report in the Guardian as the echo chamber begins with the jihadists pinging off the leftists. The allegations include:

1. The creation of ghost detainment camps "inaccessible to human rights organisations" -- meaning lefties.
2. Violent interrogation methods.
3. It goes to Iraq's Ministry of the Interior.
4. Extrajudicial executions.​

These are serious allegations that should be investigated thoroughly. The United States and Britain should work to ensure that the new Iraqi police are as far removed from the old Iraqi secret police as possible. The British Foreign Office is investigating.

This won't be enough. It never is. The plan is to make it appear as though nothing has changed in Iraq. Al-Jazeera quoted Steve Crawshaw of Human Rights Watch as saying:

There has been the attempt to suggest that because Saddam's regime is over now everything is rosy in Iraq. What is happening in official places in Iraq is simply horrific and must be stopped.​

Nonsense. No one says things are rosy. Dragging a nation from the devastation of war and creating a new nation built on the principle of government of the people, by the people and for the people takes time. President Bush has said this all along. He told Naval Academy graduates on May 27: "Difficult and dangerous work remains. "

That work is made more difficult and dangerous by the anti-American PR campaign now undergoing. As with Abu Ghraib and Gitmo, of course this should be investigated. As with Abu Ghraib and Gitmo, of course any abuse should be prosecuted.

The new Iraq has its problems. But as Amnesty International reoports, so do:

Old Algeria ("Tens of thousands of cases of killings, abductions, “disappearances” and torture committed by security forces, state-armed militias and armed groups remained without investigation. Torture continued to be reported, particularly during secret detention.")

Old Egypt ("Torture and ill-treatment in detention continued to be systematic. Deaths in custody were reported.")

Old Iran ("At least two individuals died in custody and 159 people were executed, including one minor. At least two of the 36 people who were flogged reportedly died following the implementation of the punishment; no investigations were carried out into these deaths.")

Old Palestine ("Palestinian armed groups and members of various security services also killed some 18 Palestinians who allegedly “collaborated” with the Israeli security services.")

Old Saudi Arabia ("Allegations of torture were reported and flogging, which constitutes a cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment and may amount to torture, remained a routine practice. At least 33 people were executed.")

Old Syria ("Many of those arrested were held incommunicado at unknown locations. Torture and ill-treatment, including of children, were widely reported. At least nine people reportedly died as a result.")

Old Tunisia ("Torture and ill-treatment continued to be reported. Hundreds of political prisoners, including prisoners of conscience, remained in prison. Many had been held for more than a decade.")

The Selective Outrage by Al-Jazeera is to be expected. But the left's Selective Outrage is inexcusable. Look for it in the coming month.

posted by DonSurber

 

[Gunny]

You didn't REALLY think they were going to give it up and realize that all their contrived BS has amounted to nothing? Their track record indicates they'll just get more and more ridiculous with their fantasy allegations as time goes by. :happy2:

 

[Bonnie]

The Straight Scoop from Charlie Daniels Jul 3 9:41pm
by: Blackbirds (congodan)

I've just returned from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba
Naval Air Station base where we did three
shows for the troops and toured several
locations around the post visiting with some
of the finest military personnel on planet
earth. The kids seemed to really enjoy the
shows and especially liked "This Ain't No
Rag, It's A Flag" and "In America". We had a
great time with them.

We saw Camp X-Ray, where the Taliban
detainees are being held only from a
distance, but I picked up a lot of what's
going on there from talking with a lot of
different people.

The truth of the matter is that this
operation is under a microscope. The Red
Cross has an on site presence there and
watches everything that goes on very closely.
The media is not telling you the whole truth
about what's going on over there. The truth
is that these scum bags are not only being
treated humanely, but they are probably
better off healthwise and medically than
they've ever been in their lives. They are
fed well, able to take showers and receive
state of the art medical care. And have their
own Moslem chaplain. I saw several of them in
a field hospital ward where they were being
treated in a state of the art medical
facility.

Now let's talk about the way they treat our
people. First of all, they have to be watched
constantly. These people are committed and
wanton murderers who are willing to die just
to kill someone else. One of the doctors told
me that when they had Taliban in the hospital
the staff had to really be careful with
needles, pens and anything else which could
possibly be used as a weapon. They also throw
their excrement and urine on the troops who
are guarding them. And our guys and gals have
shown great restraint in not retaliating. We
are spending over a million dollars a day
maintaining and guarding these nasty killers
and anyone who wants to see them brought to
the U.S.A. for trial is either out of their
heads or a lawyer looking for money and
notoriety. Or both.

I wish that the media and the Red Cross and
all the rest of the people who are so worried
about these criminals would realize that this
is not a troop of errant Boy Scouts. These
are killers of the worst kind. They don't
need protection from us, we need protection
from them. If you don't get anything else out
of this soapbox, please try to realize that
when you see news coverage much of the time
you're not getting the whole story, but an
account filtered through a liberal mindset
with an agenda.

We have two fights on our hands, the war
against terror and the one against the
loudmouthed lawyers and left wing media who
would sap the strength from the American
public by making us believe that we're losing
the war or doing something wrong in fighting
it. Remember these are the same people who
told us that Saddam Hussein's Republican
guard was going to be an all but invincible
enemy and that our smart bombs and other
weapons were not really as good as the
military said that they were.

They also took up for Bill Clinton while he
was cavorting around the Oval office with
Monica Lewinsky while the terrorists were
gaining strength and bombing our Embassies
and dragging the bodies of dead American
heroes around the dusty streets of Somalia.
It's a shame that we can't have an unbiased
media who would just report the truth and let
us make up our own minds.

Here I must commend Fox News for presenting
both sides much better than the other
networks. They are leaving the other cable
networks in the dust. People like being told
the truth.

Our military not only needs but deserves our
support. Let's give it to them.

The next time you read a media account about
the bad treatment of the Taliban in Cuba,
remember what I told you. Been there done
that.

Footnote: I got an e-mail from a rather irate
first cousin of mine the other day who has a
daughter who's a lawyer and she seemed to
think that I was painting all lawyers with
the same brush. Please understand that I'm
not doing that at all. That would be like
saying that all musicians were drug addicts.
There are a lot of good and honest attorneys
out there. I happen to have one of them. But
it seems that they never get any airtime.
It's always the radicals who get their
opinions heard, who fight the idea of the
military tribunals and cite The Constitution
and the integrity of America as their source
of justifying their opinions. Well, first of
all The Constitution says "We the people of
the United States", it doesn't mention any
other country.

 

[Gunny]

We have two fights on our hands, the war
against terror and the one against the
loudmouthed lawyers and left wing media who
would sap the strength from the American
public by making us believe that we're losing
the war or doing something wrong in fighting
it. Remember these are the same people who
told us that Saddam Hussein's Republican
guard was going to be an all but invincible
enemy and that our smart bombs and other
weapons were not really as good as the
military said that they were.

They also took up for Bill Clinton while he
was cavorting around the Oval office with
Monica Lewinsky while the terrorists were
gaining strength and bombing our Embassies
and dragging the bodies of dead American
heroes around the dusty streets of Somalia.
It's a shame that we can't have an unbiased
media who would just report the truth and let
us make up our own minds.

I doubt anyone could have said this better.

 

[Bonnie]

I doubt anyone could have said this better.

I agree!!