Posted on 06/18/2005 8:23:36 AM PDT by doug from upland
(NOTE: for full disclosure, why aren't they saying that the DemocRATic Party contributed to this article?)
US senator stands by Nazi remark
Thursday 16 June 2005, 21:38 Makka Time, 18:38 GMT
The US holds about 520 detainees at Guantanamo Bay
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A US senator has refused to apologise for comparing the actions of US soldiers at Guantanamo Bay to those of Nazis, while others have decried or defended the mandate and method used to hold prisoners there.
US Senator Dick Durbin on Wednesday refused to apologise for comments he made on the Senate floor referring to Nazis, Soviet gulags and a "mad regime" like Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge in Cambodia.
Illinois Republican party chairman Andy McKenna had demanded he apologise.
"Senator Durbin's comments come as a great disservice to our military personnel in Guantanamo," he said.
"They are also a great disservice to all US soldiers and veterans who have fought, and continue to fight, to overcome evil regimes and spread democracy around the world."
Durbin did not plan to apologise for the comments, spokesman Joe Shoemaker said.
"This administration should apologise to the American people for abandoning the Geneva Conventions and authorising torture techniques that put our troops at risk and make Americans less secure," Durbin had said in a statement on Wednesday evening.
Attack
During a speech on Tuesday, Durbin, the Senate's number two Democrat, quoted from an FBI agent's report describing detainees at the naval base in Cuba as being chained to the floor without food or water in extreme temperatures.
(insert in article... US Senator Dick Durbin -- "You would most certainly believe this must have been done by Nazis, Soviets in their gulags, or some mad regime - Pol Pot or others - that had no concern for human beings")
"If I read this to you and did not tell you that it was an FBI agent describing what Americans had done to prisoners in their control, you would most certainly believe this must have been done by Nazis, Soviets in their gulags, or some mad regime - Pol Pot or others - that had no concern for human beings."
Durbin is not alone in his criticism.
Human-rights groups have long accused the administration of unjustly detaining suspects at the prison camp. Amnesty International last month called the detention centre the "gulag of our times".
Rebuttal
President George Bush and other administration officials, however, have strongly resisted such comparisons and questioned Amnesty's objectivity.
(insert in article... Alberto Gonzales, US Attorney General -- "It's difficult to explain to a mom and dad who's lost their son or daughter how you can have someone in Guantanamo Bay, release them and then they kill your son and daughter")
"I take strong exception to any characterisations that try to diminish what our military is doing and the standards and values that they adhere to," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.
The Bush administration calls the Guantanamo prisoners enemy combatants who are entitled to fewer legal protections than those afforded to prisoners of war under the Geneva Conventions.
Defence
According to US Attorney-General Alberto Gonzales on Wednesday, the US government often considers whether it would be better to stop detaining prisoners at Guantanamo.
(insert in article with Gonzales photo...Gonzales (L) has defended the right to hold enemy combatants)
"That's a question that is evaluated, I would say, quite often," he said in Sheffield, England, where he will attend a meeting of G8 interior ministers on Thursday and Friday.
On Wednesday, he had said "there will of course be an end", but did not specify when.
He also pointed out that about a dozen of those who had been released had returned to fight against the US.
"It's difficult to explain to a mom and dad who's lost their son or daughter how you can have someone in Guantanamo Bay, release them and then they kill your son and daughter," he said.
Since the camp was set up after the 11 September 2001 attacks on the US, 167 detainees have been freed and 67 others released to the custody of their home governments.
About 520 detainees from about 40 countries remain at Guantanamo. Only 12 have been handed over to military commissions for investigation of possible war crimes and four have been charged.
Debate
In a three-hour hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, legal experts from the US military and the Justice Department said the US had a right under the Geneva Conventions to hold enemy combatants.
But committee chairman Senator Arlen Specter suggested lawmakers would have to clarify what he called a "crazy quilt" of laws and regulations governing the detentions.
Some lawmakers want the facility closed, saying it has become a liability that inflames Muslims against the United States.
"Guantanamo is an international embarrassment to our nation, to our ideals and it remains a festering threat to our security," Senator Patrick Leahy, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said.
Survey
A Pew Research Centre poll, taken over the weekend, indicated most Americans agree that reports of abuse at Guantanamo are isolated incidents, and 39% think the news media is paying too much attention to the issue.
The poll found a sharp partisan divide on the issue - Democrats believing the abuses to be systemic and Republicans saying they were isolated incidents.
Hello patriots, my friends…I have some bad news once again
You won't believe what they've been doing...our great nation they've been screwing
There’s a lesson that we cannot trust Democrats…sewer rats
We hear the sound of treason
They would sell our country out…of that, you shouldn't have a doubt
They would be abdicating freedom…it’s in writing, you should read ‘em
There’s a lesson that we cannot trust Democrats…sewer rats
We hear the sound of treason
Hatred of the USA…they are displaying everyday
There's disdain for our Constitution…it is time for retribution
There’s a lesson…we…cannot trust Democrats…sewer rats
We hear the sound of treason
It is power they must gain...it is a plan that is insane
If one of them cannot be president...they hope that we fail, it's evident
With our defense, we cannot trust Democrats
We hear the sound of treason
They want rule by the U.N…these guys are very evil men
Their socialism's the ideal…that is the way the lefties feel
There’s a lesson that...we cannot trust Democrats…sewer rats
We hear the sound of treason
This whole situation must really confuse Muslims. On the one hand, their fellow terrorists are being held by so-called "Nazi" guards, on the other, Muslims want to be Nazis. The self-loathing must inevitably lead to rampant homosexulization of the Muslim world, and thats not good for anyone....
Awww shucks! Thanks!
They have a mission to dominate the world. If they are met with active resistance it proves that the infidel is evil and must be destroyed. If they are met with passive resistance it proves that the infidel is inferior and deserves to be destroyed. If they are met with indifference or acceptance it proves that the infidel is stupid and might be useful in fighting resisters or as slaves.
Link to contact your senator
Link to contact your representative
ABC CBS NBC CNN its all the SAME, Propaganda.
Might as well call them all AmeriJazerra.
Show them how much Gravitas Hugh Bris has. Vote with your remote! Shut down the Alphabet channels.
He's Got A Plan
Zippo Hero
Seven Dead Monkeys Page O Tunes
Don't be a know nothing do nothing dumbocrap!
"Hitlery's legal stance on everything"
>>>>>The most disgusting thing about Durbin's comments is that these Democrat politicians only say what their constituents want to hear. Does this mean that the good people of Illinois agree with him, or is he committing political suicide with this?<<<<<
A caller from IL to Rush's show on Thursday said the exact same thing.....the people of IL love it when Durbin does this.....go figure!
As an IL conservative who has never voted democrat, I am fed up with people making a blanket generalization about IL residents.
While these dem socialist/marxist skirt by in elections, you are wrong to condemn an entire state. Look into the political structure and see how the RINOs of this state (and others) would rather keep the liberal status quo instead of standing up to the corruption.
Some conservatives have enough hurdles to overcome without having other conservatives lump us with liberals when an election was lost.
I look forward to reading your suggestions on legally dismantling the extremely corrupt democratic system and appeasing RINOs in this and other states.
BUMP!
LOl, careful, my friend. I said something along these same lines (kill all the bastards who even look middle eastern)and some weenie on this forum said he was reporting me for a violation. I don't know if this means I will get a detention and have to sit in the corner or what. Damn word police are everywhere.
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