According to Fox News, Abu Ghraib photos show "detainee 'abuse' "
May 12, 2009 8:15 pm ET by Media Matters staff
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If anybody has any sense, they won't release or clear any photographs or videotape or audio recordings in this matter: none zilch nada zero nothing... people were already played upon and manipulated enough, by the many images that were released with regard to that facility in IRAQ: it did nothing for anybody, it was just a lot of disgusting pictures was all... and if you think that people were charged or punished as a result of what they did at that facility in IRAQ, you're right they were, but it was not at all necessary for Justice to be achieved in that matter, to release those photos to the news media and to the public.
It was a sickness that could as easily have been treated in private, and never needed to be aired so publicly.
Justice was not achieved in this matter, but the release of the photos was critical to exposing the hypocrisy, cowardice, and negligence of those in the highest leadership positions.
Misleading CNN.com home page link:
Al Qaeda figure who gave Iraq link reported dead.
Misleading headline:
Al Qaeda figure who provided link to Iraq reportedly dead in Libya.
Actual first line:
The accused terrorist who said he was tortured into making a false connection between al Qaeda and Iraq has died in a Libyan prison, human rights monitors said Tuesday.
Notice the one word missing from the headline and the home page link that's included in the story? That's right -- FALSE. Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi FALSELY linked Iraq to al Qaeda, a link the Bush administration wanted so it could justify an attack on Iraq instead of going after Osama in the wake of the 9-11 attacks.
And if you dig REALLY deeply, you'll find this passage:
After the invasion of Iraq, he said his statements connecting Iraq to al Qaeda had been made in response to threats by American interrogators and by beatings at the hands of intelligence agents in Egypt, where he was transferred in 2002.
The Bush administration lied us into war, tortured, and lied about the effectiveness of torture. CNN can't be bothered to give that the coverage it deserves, but they CAN create misleading home page links and headlines. Your "liberal media" at work.
Why were our soldiers sent to Leavenworth for it while our president hid behind the "bad apples" excuse? Where was the pro-torture lobby when our soldiers needed them?
First, Iraq has nothing to do with al Qaeda. What's going on in Iraq is a civil war. Sunnis (the minority) who used to be in charge don't like being on the outs post-Saddam and want to be in charge again. Shia (the majority) who were oppressed by Sunnis for decades want to exact revenge now that they're in charge. Neither side cares for the continued US presence in Iraq. Killing "them" whoever "they" are doesn't accomplish anything for the US, and only serves to breed more of "them" -- one of "them" might not be a terrorist now, but kill his family members, or embarrass him in front of his neighbors by breaking into his house in the middle of the night or detaining him without charges, and he'll become one.
Afghanistan is also a shambles. al Qaeda has not been stopped and the Taliban is resurgent because the US tried to use superior firepower instead of fighting a counterinsurgency.
As for torture, first, it DOESN'T work. Look at my post -- Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi was tortured and gave FALSE information to make it stop. Waterboarding was done on some of these guys HUNDREDS of times, yet produced nothing of value -- if it works, why do it hundreds of times? If it works, why did those hundreds of times not yield results?
More importantly, even if torture did work (which it doesn't), the US cannot surrender the moral high ground by engaging in it. If we want to win friends and allies, if we want to condemn and punish wrongdoing by others, then we cannot commit bad acts ourselves.
You are sick. Mentally ill. Certified. All koolaid and no skool.