Sy Hersh says Condi, Donald knew

Book says Bush officials warned of prison abuse
By JOHN H. CUSHMAN JR.
New York Times

WASHINGTON -- Senior military and national security officials in the Bush administration were repeatedly warned by subordinates in 2002 and 2003 that prisoners in military custody were being abused, according to a new book by a prominent journalist.

.......

Hersh asserts that a CIA analyst who visited the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in the late summer of 2002 filed a report of abuses there that drew the attention of Gen. John A. Gordon, the deputy to Condoleezza Rice, the White House national security adviser. But when Gordon called the matter to her attention and she discussed it with other senior officials, including Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, no significant change resulted. Hersh's account is based on anonymous sources, some of them secondhand, and could not be independently verified.

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reported it to two of his superiors, Gen. John P. Abizaid, the regional commander, and his deputy, Lt. Gen. Lance Smith.

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"I said there are systematic abuses going on in the prisons," the unnamed officer is quoted as telling Hersh. "Abizaid didn't say a thing. He looked at me -- beyond me, as if to say, `Move on. I don't want to touch this.'"

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Hersh also reports that FBI agents complained to their superiors about abuses at Guantanamo, as did a military lawyer, and that these complaints, too, were relayed to the Pentagon.
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"but in the reliance of George Bush and Donald Rumsfeld on secret operations and the use of coercion -- and eye-for-eye retribution -- in fighting terrorism."

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In particular, Hersh has reported that a secret program to capture and interrogate terrorists led to the abuse of prisoners.

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after his article describing the secret operation was published in May, "a ranking member of Congress confirmed its existence and further told me that President Bush had signed the mandated finding officially notifying Congress."

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/nation/2790432

"do we have to go through this again, we already whitewashed this a number of times."

No. 889-04
IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 10, 2004
Department of Defense Statement on Seymour Hersh Book

Based on media inquiries, it appears that Mr. Seymor Hersh’s upcoming book apparently contains many of the numerous unsubstantiated allegations and inaccuracies which he has made in the past based upon unnamed sources.



Detainee operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere have been examined extensively – both within the Department of Defense and by an independent panel led by former Secretary of Defense Jim Schlesinger. The U.S. military itself -- not Mr. Hersh or any other reporter – first publicized the facts of the abuses at Abu Ghraib in January 2004, four months before Mr. Hersh “broke” the story.



To date the Department has conducted 11 investigations, of which eight reports have been completed and released, additionally:



* Over 13,000 pages of reports have been compiled thus far.
* Investigators have completed 950 interviews.
* 43 Congressional briefings and hearings have been conducted (not to mention 39 additional briefings for Congressional staff).

Those responsible for criminal activities at Abu Ghraib or other detention facilities are being held accountable.



* 45 individuals have been referred for courts-martial
* 12 for General Officer Letters of Reprimand
* 23 Soldiers have been administratively separated

There are ongoing investigations, and there will be more information disclosed. Thus far these investigations have determined that no responsible official of the Department of Defense approved any program that could conceivably have authorized or condoned the abuses seen at Abu Ghraib.



If any of Mr. Hersh’s anonymous sources wish to come forward and offer evidence to the contrary, the department welcomes them to do so. There are several open investigations, and we would certainly investigate their allegations without prejudice or hesitation.


http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2004/nr20040910-1240.html


:shrug:

kicked

If the photos would have been destroyed the torture issue would have been a minor blip on the American radar screen. It seems that this issue has been processed in most American's minds as a "few bad apples", a rare episode and a situation that few want to deal with.

The Cover Up has been succesful.

When the Sec. of Defense can openly admitt that he has violated the Geneva Convntion numerous times and nothing is done about it we can be sure that the Neo Fascists control Amerika.

Rumsfailed Admitted to Violating Geneva Convention

Rumsfailed admitted in public that when CIA Director Tenet requested that an Irai prisoner be sent to a secret Afghan/US Prison that Rumsfailed did so. After four months a DOD Attorney stated that this was an illegal act. Rumsfailed then ordered that this prisoner be sent back to Abu Graib but the prisoner was not listed at that location, also an illegal act. That is two violations of the Geneva Convention by Rumsfailed. Tenet and Rumsfailed violated the Geneva convention, thereby also The Constitution of the USA. Recently it has been found out that even more detainees were "ghost detainees". The fact that he has not been charged speaks volumes.

Does the US no longer follow the Geneva Convention or the Constitution of the USA?

It appears so.

Senator Chris Dodd's statement on Haiti

I cite those international agreements because we think of our Nation as being a nation of laws, not of men. These agreements either meant something or they didn't.

The Santiago Declaration and the Inter-American Charter on Democracy, apparently both documents mean little or nothing when it comes to supporting democratically elected governments in this hemisphere--not ones that you necessarily like or agree with or find everything they do is in your interest, but we do adhere to the notion that democratically elected governments are what we support in this hemisphere.

Video.

911 was a lie

New Book Says Bush Officials Were Told of Detainee Abuse

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/12/international/middleeast/12abuse.html?ex=1252641600&en=47f0138382ee7662&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland

He may have fleshed out the story, but there still aren't any named sources that might make it a bombshell. Sad. And frustrating for him, I'll bet.

But you can bet they'll have more "forgery" stories

It's gonna take aLOT of practice among us to sing to the people.

BUT,...we will sing,...and the people will be touched.

NEVER give up!!!!