Monday, May 10, 2004
President Praises Rumsfeld
Today, at the Pentagon:
...With Rumsfeld at his side, Bush said his Cabinet officer was "courageously leading our nation in our war against terror... . You are a strong secretary of defense and our nation owes you a debt of gratitude."...
Debt of gratitude for what? This administration has already made sure that it will be at least another generation before we can righteously defend human rights abuses anywhere in the world. It's pathetic, I didn't think it was possible to alienate ourselves any further from the world.
To give you an idea of how much a (growing) portion of the world hates us read this post from Baghdad Burning:
...People are so angry. There’s no way to explain the reactions- even pro-occupation Iraqis find themselves silenced by this latest horror. I can’t explain how people feel- or even how I personally feel. Somehow, pictures of dead Iraqis are easier to bear than this grotesque show of American military technique. People would rather be dead than sexually abused and degraded by the animals running Abu Ghraib prison.
(...)
And through all this, Bush gives his repulsive speeches. He makes an appearance on Arabic tv channels looking sheepish and attempting to look sincere, babbling on about how this 'incident' wasn't representative of the American people or even the army, regardless of the fact that it's been going on for so long. He asks Iraqis to not let these pictures reflect on their attitude towards the American people… and yet when the bodies were dragged through the streets of Falloojeh, the American troops took it upon themselves to punish the whole city.
He's claiming it's a "stain on our country's honor"... I think not. The stain on your country's honor, Bush dear, was the one on the infamous blue dress that made headlines while Clinton was in the White House... this isn't a 'stain' this is a catastrophe. Your credibility was gone the moment you stepped into Iraq and couldn't find the WMD... your reputation never existed.
(...)
We heard about it all… we heard stories since the very beginning of the occupation about prisoners being made to sit for several hours on their knees… being deprived of sleep for days at a time by being splashed with cold water or kicked or slapped… about the infamous 'red rooms' where prisoners are kept for prolonged periods of time… about the rape, the degradations, the emotional and physical torture… and there were moments when I actually wanted to believe that what we heard was exaggerated. I realize now that it was only a small fragment of the truth. There is nothing that is going to make this 'better'. Nothing...
Rumsfeld talked about reparations. I don't know if Iraqis or Afghans would take anything from us. I don't blame them.
I feel helpless.
| Permalink Here
Today, at the Pentagon:
...With Rumsfeld at his side, Bush said his Cabinet officer was "courageously leading our nation in our war against terror... . You are a strong secretary of defense and our nation owes you a debt of gratitude."...
Debt of gratitude for what? This administration has already made sure that it will be at least another generation before we can righteously defend human rights abuses anywhere in the world. It's pathetic, I didn't think it was possible to alienate ourselves any further from the world.
To give you an idea of how much a (growing) portion of the world hates us read this post from Baghdad Burning:
...People are so angry. There’s no way to explain the reactions- even pro-occupation Iraqis find themselves silenced by this latest horror. I can’t explain how people feel- or even how I personally feel. Somehow, pictures of dead Iraqis are easier to bear than this grotesque show of American military technique. People would rather be dead than sexually abused and degraded by the animals running Abu Ghraib prison.
(...)
And through all this, Bush gives his repulsive speeches. He makes an appearance on Arabic tv channels looking sheepish and attempting to look sincere, babbling on about how this 'incident' wasn't representative of the American people or even the army, regardless of the fact that it's been going on for so long. He asks Iraqis to not let these pictures reflect on their attitude towards the American people… and yet when the bodies were dragged through the streets of Falloojeh, the American troops took it upon themselves to punish the whole city.
He's claiming it's a "stain on our country's honor"... I think not. The stain on your country's honor, Bush dear, was the one on the infamous blue dress that made headlines while Clinton was in the White House... this isn't a 'stain' this is a catastrophe. Your credibility was gone the moment you stepped into Iraq and couldn't find the WMD... your reputation never existed.
(...)
We heard about it all… we heard stories since the very beginning of the occupation about prisoners being made to sit for several hours on their knees… being deprived of sleep for days at a time by being splashed with cold water or kicked or slapped… about the infamous 'red rooms' where prisoners are kept for prolonged periods of time… about the rape, the degradations, the emotional and physical torture… and there were moments when I actually wanted to believe that what we heard was exaggerated. I realize now that it was only a small fragment of the truth. There is nothing that is going to make this 'better'. Nothing...
Rumsfeld talked about reparations. I don't know if Iraqis or Afghans would take anything from us. I don't blame them.
I feel helpless.
| Permalink Here
