Posted on 06/12/2005 5:49:17 PM PDT by Former Military Chick
WASHINGTON -- The military announced the killing of four more U.S. soldiers on Sunday, pushing the American death toll past 1,700.
The news comes as police found the bullet-riddled bodies of 28 people -- many thought to be Sunni Arabs -- buried in shallow graves or dumped streetside in Baghdad.
GOP Congressman Wants Iraq Timetable
A Republican lawmaker who voted for the Iraq war now says he supports a timetable for the United States to withdraw.
Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C., told ABC's "This Week" that the U.S. has done about as much as it can do in Iraq. He said one of the main reasons for invading -- concern over Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction -- has proven false.
Jones will be among the lawmakers introducing legislation this week calling for a timetable for the withdrawal of American troops in Iraq.
President George W. Bush has said any timetable for withdrawal would encourage insurgents to wait for the foreign troops to leave. But Jones said he believes the Iraqis can defend their own country.
Jones said he began changing his mind about the war after attending the funeral of a U.S. service member killed in Iraq.
Cheney Nixes Idea Of Closing Guantanamo
Vice President Dick Cheney said Sunday there are no plans to close the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, despite calls from members of both political parties to do so.
The prison holds "bad people" captured in the war on terror, Cheney said in an interview to be broadcast Monday on on Fox News Channel's "Hannity and Colmes" show. Most of the prisoners are "hard core" terrorists, Cheney said.
Time magazine is reporting on an 84-page document detailing the Guantanamo interrogation of one detainee, Mohamed al-Qahtani.
Time says al-Qahtani is suspected of being the 20th hijacker involved in the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks; he was captured during the war in Afghanistan.
Time says interrogators at Guantanamo used such techniques as dripping water on al-Qahtani's head; strip-searching him and making him stand nude; and depriving him of sleep.
The account also says that after receiving fluid intravenously because he was dehydrated, al-Qahtani was told to urinate in his pants by interrogators who refused his request to use the bathroom.
The Defense Department said in response to the story that the interrogation "was guided by a very detailed plan and conducted by trained professionals motivated by a desire to gain actionable intelligence."
The Pentagon says al-Qahtani provided valuable information on the logistics of the attacks.
Human rights activists and some lawmakers are pressing for the prison to be closed because of allegations of torture and abuse of detainees.
The prison in Cuba holds about 540 detainees. Some have been there more than three years without being charged with any crime.
Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., told CNN's "Late Edition" that Guantanamo is one reason the U.S. is "losing the image war around the world."
Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., scoffed at the notion detainees at the U.S. prison are being abused.
On "Fox News Sunday," he read from the detainees' food menu, which included orange glazed chicken, fresh fruit and rice pilaf. He said sarcastically that he sent for the menu "so that average Americans could understand how we're brutalizing people in Guantanamo."
On Friday, Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., added his voice to to those seeking to close the prison.
"It's become an icon for bad stories," he said.
Also speaking on Fox Friday morning, Washington's director for Human Rights Watch called the prison "a legal black hole" that needs to be overhauled or closed down.
Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., agreed, telling NBC's "Meet The Press" that the "status quo is dangerous." He's called for a commission to look into the prison and determine its fate.
Also on Friday, an Amnesty International official reaffirmed the human rights group's call for the closure of the camp.
Board chairman Chip Pitts repeated the characterization that the facility is a "gulag" during an appearance before the House Judiciary Committee.
Earlier in the week, former President Jimmy Carter also clalled for the closure of the prison.
French Journalists Describe Captivity
A French journalist is back home in France, looking thinner but radiant after five months as a hostage in Iraq.
Speaking to reporters at an airport outside Paris, she told of being held in an Iraq cellar in "difficult conditions," tied up, blindfolded and given little water.
She says she was recently unbound and allowed to watch French television. She was moved to see a news ticker counting off her 140th day of captivity.
When she stepped off the plane, she was greeted by French President Jacques Chirac, who kissed her on the cheek. She spent the first minutes of her homecoming embracing her family.
A party is planned for her tonight at a square in Paris.
""Without the wealth and support of the West the Muslim world will collapse"
We give aid to Egypt and Jordan. We dont give aid to other middle eastern countries. I think you greatly overstate that the entire muslim world would collapse without american aid. It is as though you think american aid caused 9-11
""Walter Jones is no liberal, either.""
No but he is stupid and giving hope to Al Qaeda
Amen to that.
Pakistan,Saudi Arabia,Yemen,Kuwait,United Arab Emirates,Indonesia etc.. get American money through foriegn aid, military aid or oil consumption.
I think you greatly overstate that the entire muslim world would collapse without american aid. It is as though you think american aid caused 9-11
Before our use of Muslim oil in the 1930's the Muslim world was nothing their was no Saudi Royal Monarchy or anything. We propped it all up for oil and it is destroying us.
Without our assistance they cannot produce the oil and will go to the dustbin of history. All the oil workers and contracters are Westerners, they keep their people so ignorant they cannot sustain their own wealth.
NO it is just empty carbs with a little Cheese and sauce.
Pure Junk Food, but if you want it then keeping eating it I am not a health Nazi.
Sure sounds like an emotional decision, rather than a rational one.
D'OH! That's right - those were democrat supported wars.
The best way to end war and ensure peace is to kill the enemy.
Sure sounds like an emotional decision, rather than a rational one
Nailed it..!!
We have a WINNER..!!
Thank you, brother.
Actually we did our oil purchases fund the governments which fund the terrorists.
Our oil purchases fund the population growths and expansions which are the reason for the huge Muslim population we have today.
Becoming energy independent is an important step in defeating Islam.
The source of the problem is the Middle East dictators,
Look at Democracy in Muslim countries and look at Dictatorships either way we have governments that hate us.
In Lebanon Hezibollah is a mainstream party, in the Palestinian terroritories Hamas is a mainstream party, in Iraq Shia Muslims friendly with Iran won, the fact is it is their whole Islamic culture and Islam itself that is the problem.
OF course our leaders are scared to death to say this for a few reasons. But it is our investment in the Muslim world that allows them to be a potential force.
Without our oil, assistance, or aid they would collapse overnight. They are unable to produce oil themselves and have no other resource and engenuity to offer. They would simply Implode and go back to the hellhole they came from.
We dont give aid to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE.
indonesia isnt a middle eastern country.
Stationaing military forces in those countries isnt done out of aultruism, you do it for our own national security
I stand by what I said that the muslim world wount collapse . The entire US foreign aid budget is about $15b annually with Israel and Egypt getting half
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