FURIOUS BUSH DEMANDS TO SEE ALL PRISONER ABUSE PHOTOS, VIDEOS

Drudge ^ | 5/9/04 | Matt Drudge

[demkicker]

A furious President Bush has demanded to see all photos and videos showing abuse of Iraq detainees, a senior White House source said late Sunday.

"The president was blindsided by the first TV images, he will not be blindsided again," the source, who demanded anonymity, explained to the DRUDGE REPORT.

The president has instructed Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to present him with him all known images that could further deepen the crises.

Monday editions of the NEW YORKER feature photos of a dog attacking a naked Iraqi detainee at Abu Ghraib prison.

President Bush was aware of the photo, the top source claims.

The White House is preparing for more fallout, and leaks from lawmakers.

The Pentagon is considering the possibility of showing the unseen material to members of Congress.

"It's clear the moment the evidence is sent to the Congress, we will see a new feeding frenzy in the media."

[GB]

That's why I think this is smart strategy. Dump it all out. If there's that much of it, bury the media in it, give them stacks and stacks and stacks of it. You pile it on, the returns for the folks who are salivating over this as a chance to screw Bush are going to diminish and diminish and diminish until they will eventually be non-existent.

IMHO, the worst heat that has been generated from this has already been generated, and I think Bush has made points by jumping on this like white on rice, I think Rummy made points with his performance the other day and I think the fact that the perps here are going to be court-martialed and punished ASAP is going to make points.

I think the problem here is that some folks can't think outside the "I hate the media" box, and think that it's kowtowing or giving in to the Dems and the EEEEEVILLL satanic media to dump this stuff when it's actually brilliant strategy.

[oceanview]

we'll have to disagree on that one. if someone hurt my kid, I wouldn't be thinking to stack that person in a homoerotic pyramid and photograph him for revenge. that just wouldn't "click" for me as a form of retribution.

[Arkinsaw]

And you don't think that this was a gay porn ring in a "don't ask, don't tell" military?!

No, the simplest answer is that they were told to loosen up prisoners, that discipline was lax, that this became part of the normal operating environment of the prison.

[oceanview]

that is true - but as other have pointed out, I do not believe the Pentagon is in possesion of all the material, the media has their own 'stash'.

[LandOfLincolnGOP]

I've got news for you - we are never going to be able to fight and win a war under those standards, we might as well just give the country to the islamofascists right now.

If we can't uphold our standards under adversity, we might as well give the country up to the islamofascists or the Rats.

But in every war, things like this are going to happen, and the entire military apparatus cannot be held hostage to the acts of every single US soldier.

On the contrary, we can't justify looking in the other direction just because facing up to terrible situation is embarrassing or a hardship.

I'm glad our President is giving this situation the response it deserves. I hope he stays with it until those responsible are held accountable.

[Gator113]

Well, I love President Bush and I believe that this Country may never recover should he be removed from the White House at this time.....BUT, if he dumps Rumsfeld over this crap, Bush WILL lose my vote!! I guess that would mean that I wouldn't get to vote, because I damn sure wouldn't vote for a traitorous Dem!

Perhaps I should double up on my blood pressure meds tonight!

[GB]

I don't have a bit of problem with Dresden or Tokyo or Hiroshima or Nagasaki, because that was the actual conduct of war. (Aside from the radiation, Tokyo was actually worse than the A-bomb strikes, you should read some of the details of LeMay's B-29 raids, it makes this war look like a stroll in the park).

I would've had problems with U.S. guards doing the kind of stuff we've seen in these photos to Hermann Goering in Spandau Prison, because IMHO as a society we should be above that.

[sinkspur]

we'll have to disagree on that one. if someone hurt my kid, I wouldn't be thinking to stack that person in a homoerotic pyramid and photograph him for revenge. that just wouldn't "click" for me as a form of retribution.

These prisoners didn't hurt your kid, nor did they hurt the kids of any of the guards.

But the guards despised them all the same, and wanted to humiliate them.

[GB]

And as I said, God knows how many copies of these things are circulating around on CD or via email that neither the DOD nor the media knows about.

[strela]

I've seen what they did to Danny Pearl

My uncle saw what they did to a close friend of his who was working in Tower II on September 11. Considering that the only piece left of his friend was two molars and a section of jaw bone about the size of a pencil, they were extremely lucky to be able to identify him at all.

I agree that the pictures were a complete violation, my argument is that what I have seen so far is not torture.

I have not yet seen all of the pictures. But the old saying about there being fire where there's smoke comes to mind. A mind that could conceive of stripping these prisoners and forcing them into homoerotic poses is not that far from actually inflicting torture upon them.

[MJY1288]

I'm not defending the sick behavior of those in the pictures, all I'm saying is that I don't think it can be described as torture. I consider what I have seen so far as highly disturbing acts of sexual misconduct, based on the photo's of the couple who are posing for the picyures and whoever was taking them. I say prosecute then to the fullest extent. But I will not condemn what I see in the picture of the K-9's who are about to attack the prisoner, because I don't have the facts and I refuse to accept the context our leftist media has chosen to cast them in.

[Southack]

"No, the simplest answer is that they were told to loosen up prisoners, that discipline was lax, that this became part of the normal operating environment of the prison."

Not only permitting, but *videoing* felonius homosexual rapes was just a simple part of the normal operating environment?!

Come on. They *knew* that if those rape videos got out that they were going to Levenworth for life.

What has happened is that *one* of the men under threat of court martial decided to attempt extortion. Click on the Hackworth thread here and you'll see that he "wanted a better plea deal" or else he would release his nude photographs to make the military look bad.

Well, he didn't get his plea deal, and Hackworth was then given those photos (which were also sent to 17 members of Congress).

That was a bad idea; he's certainly not going to get a favorable sentence now...and his fellow prison guards are going to get hammered in public trials, too.

[oceanview]

there has to be something else "wrong" with these guards - homoerotic pyramid construction followed by photographs is not what a "normal" person would do in my opinion.

[SierraWasp]

Or... Maybe Ted Koppel will run them one at a time for a full hour, this time... suppose?

[FreeReign]

I never said that 60 Minutes II was legally subject to the Geneva convention.

No, what you did is chime in on a discussion with an indeterminate statement that "The principles of the Geneva Convention still apply ..." Exactly what they "apply" to was left to the imagination of the reader, and my imagination said "60 Minutes II." A news organization is not part of the government and cannot be forced to follow rules that apply ONLY to the government. Hence, YOUR error.

Only to your imagination is it left. The principle that you don't humiliate a prisoner as a curiosity, that you don't publish photos of POW's and that you don't add to their humiliation is a valid principle whether you are legally subject to the Geneva Convention or not. It still applies to what your behavior should be when releasing such photos. Get it???

Now buzz off.

I'm staying, and if you don't like someone disagreeing with you then get lost.

[oceanview]

you don't seem to understand - THEY WANT HIM TO BE RESPONSIBLE. The Dems and the media don't just want a thorough investigation of the guilty parties - they want Bush to fall, and they want the US to lose its ability to project military power in a war they don't "approve of".

[sinkspur]

I don't assume this was homo-erotic.

I think these sicko grunts knew that a) nakedness is a humiliation to a Muslim and b) homosexuality is anathema to Muslims.

So, if one wants to humiliate a Muslim, he strips them down, and poses them in homosexual poses, AND takes pictures of them.

With a woman.

[strela]

Take your meds. Please.

[lavrenti]

It really has turned out to be a bunch of psychos from the same unit playing out Caligula in their own personal pen with a nod and a wink from their immediate superiors.

All women, too. Hmm. This story might just shift soon enough.

Hackworth lost practically all credibility with his beloved fellow vets and current servicemen. Glad to see that consequence. As for the uncle, guess his beloved nephew gets a public trial in Baghdad thanks to him. He probably already rues the day he decided to interfere in a criminal investigation.

Hmm. That's a felony. Hope Hack is aware of that, too.

[Southack]

"I don't assume this was homo-erotic. ... So, if one wants to humiliate a Muslim, he strips them down, and poses them in homosexual poses..."

You contradict yourself. Homosexual poses are by definition homo-erotic.