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Charges Sought Against Rumsfeld Over Prison Abuse!
As being reported by Time Magazine:
"A lawsuit in Germany will seek a criminal prosecution of the outgoing Defense Secretary and other U.S. officials for their alleged role in abuses at Abu Ghraib and Gitmo."
Just days after his resignation, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is about to face more repercussions for his involvement in the troubled wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. New legal documents, to be filed next week with Germany's top prosecutor, will seek a criminal investigation and prosecution of Rumsfeld, along with Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, former CIA director George Tenet and other senior U.S. civilian and military officers, for their alleged roles in abuses committed at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison and at the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The plaintiffs in the case include 11 Iraqis who were prisoners at Abu Ghraib, as well as Mohammad al-Qahtani, a Saudi held at Guantanamo, whom the U.S. has identified as the so-called "20th hijacker" and a would-be participant in the 9/11 hijackings. As TIME first reported in June 2005, Qahtani underwent a "special interrogation plan," personally approved by Rumsfeld, which the U.S. says produced valuable intelligence. But to obtain it, according to the log of his interrogation and government reports, Qahtani was subjected to forced nudity, sexual humiliation, religious humiliation, prolonged stress positions, sleep deprivation and other controversial interrogation techniques.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs say that one of the witnesses who will testify on their behalf is former Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski, the one-time commander of all U.S. military prisons in Iraq. Karpinski — who the lawyers say will be in Germany next week to publicly address her accusations in the case — has issued a written statement to accompany the legal filing, which says, in part: "It was clear the knowledge and responsibility [for what happened at Abu Ghraib] goes all the way to the top of the chain of command to the Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld ."
More at Time.com:
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1557842,00.html
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Robert Gates, nominee to replace Rummy, no Snow White either!
http://www.unbossed.net/index.php?itemid=1166
"...In any case Robert Gates, the nominee to replace Rumsfeld, is another of the unsavory hacks from an earlier era whom the Bush administration has excavated and dusted off.
Independent Counsel found insufficient evidence to warrant charging Robert Gates with a crime for his role in the Iran/contra affair. Like those of many other Iran/contra figures, the statements of Gates often seemed scripted and less than candid. Nevertheless, given the complex nature of the activities and Gates's apparent lack of direct participation, a jury could find the evidence left a reasonable doubt that Gates either obstructed official inquiries or that his two demonstrably incorrect statements were deliberate lies.
Reasonable doubt about obstruction of justice and perjury. A ringing endorsement, then, of Mr. Gates. Oddly, this gushing tribute to the man's integrity has not figured in the media reports today on Gates' nomination.
What you will hear is that Gates is "a Bush-family friend". The chattering classes prefer to avoid the term 'crony'. Indeed, Gates allegedly took part in the 1980 October Surprise by accompanying Wm. Casey and George H. W. Bush to Paris to negotiate with the Iranians behind Jimmy Carter's back. My hunch is that the chattering classes won't mention that.
As I discussed in the first installment, David Laufman served on the congressional investigation of the October Surprise, which he helped to turn into a whitewash. Therefore it is doubly unacceptable that Laufman would be confirmed to serve under the direction of another Bush-family crony, the presumptive SecDef Robert Gates...."
Microsoft/Gate is one of the companies boycotting Air America!
list of boycotters is interesting. Medical insurance companies, Mr. Frist's
HCA, Mr. Gates' Microsoft (I presume he has not cashed out).
Bill and Robert
Robert Gates is not the Microsoft billionaire. That's Bill Gates. To my knowledge, he was not involved in Iran-Contra, and is not currently looking to fill any type of government job (or any job because he doesn't ever need to work again).
Sigh...Gates, the Defense nominee...has a long convoluted...
involvement with I/Contra. That is why Reid has some pointed questions for him.
The entire Bush family, also deeply involved in all the I/C mess, has locked up all the records--they did this when Daddy Bush pardoned all the I/C criminals--Poindexter et. al.
A mind once expanded can never return to its original dimensions.
Anne Hathaway: 1556-1623
The greatest derangement of the mind is to believe in something because one wishes it to be so.
Louis Pasteur
Senator Reid has already said that he has some questions...
for Gates concerning his involvement in Iran/Contra. I doubt that the Bushes are anxious to have this dredged up.
A mind once expanded can never return to its original dimensions.
Anne Hathaway: 1556-1623
The greatest derangement of the mind is to believe in something because one wishes it to be so.
Louis Pasteur