Quod Veritas Est?
Senator Dick Durbin spoke in the United States Senate about conditions and interrogations techniques in at the US Prison camp in Guantanamo Bay. His comments must have struck a nerve, because the Republican attack dogs came out in full force accusing Mr. Durbin of placing our brave soldiers all over the world in danger.
Here is what Senator Durbin said (with emphasis added):
Numerous FBI agents who observed interrogations at Guantanamo Bay complained to their supervisors. In one e-mail that has been made public, an FBI agent complained that interrogators were using “torture techniques.” That phrase did not come from a reporter or politician. It came from an FBI agent describing what Americans were doing to these prisoners.
...
Let me read to you what one FBI agent saw. And I quote from his report: "On a couple of occasions, I entered interview rooms to find a detainee chained hand andfoot in a fetal position to the floor, with no chair, food or water. Most times they urinatedor defecated on themselves, and had been left there for 18-24 hours or more. On one occasion, the air conditioning had been turned down so far and the temperature was so cold in the room, that the barefooted detainee was shaking with cold....On another occasion, the [air conditioner] had been turned off, making the temperature in the unventilated room well over 100 degrees. The detainee was almost unconscious on the floor, with a pile of hair next to him. He had apparently been literally pulling his hair out throughout the night. On another occasion, not only was the temperature unbearably hot,but extremely loud rap music was being played in the room, and had been since the day before, with the detainee chained hand and foot in the fetal position on the tile floor.
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. Sadly, that is not the case. This was the action of Americans in the treatment of their prisoners.
And here is what Senator Frist on the record in response to what Senator Durbin had said:
[a] Senate colleague who, this week, called Guantanamo a ‘‘death camp’’ and drew parallels to Hitler’s Germany, Stalin’s gulags, and Pol Pot’s killing fields. This was a heinous slander againstour country, and against the brave men and women who have taken great care to treat the captured terrorists with more respect than they would ever have received in any point in human history. ...Do we know how many havebeen killed at Guantanamo? Zero.That’s right: zero people. And yet we have members of this body who have come to the Senate floor to level the most egregious charges, compare our troops to Nazis,and charge the United States with crimes against humanity. To accuse our sons and daughters, who are serving proudly to keep killers from the battlefield, with committing genocide and war crimes is beyond the pale.
...
But comparing our Nation, our Government and our military to the regimes of Hitler’s Germany,Stalin’s Soviet Russia, and PolPot’s Cambodia is the height of irresponsibility.
See the disconnect? The disassembling?
No, Senator Frist. Lying from the Senate floor is the height of irresponsibility. Ignoring the truth of the message brought by Senator Durbin is the height of irresponsibility. You owe Senator Durbin and the people of this nation an apology.
Here is what Senator Durbin said (with emphasis added):
Numerous FBI agents who observed interrogations at Guantanamo Bay complained to their supervisors. In one e-mail that has been made public, an FBI agent complained that interrogators were using “torture techniques.” That phrase did not come from a reporter or politician. It came from an FBI agent describing what Americans were doing to these prisoners.
...
Let me read to you what one FBI agent saw. And I quote from his report: "On a couple of occasions, I entered interview rooms to find a detainee chained hand andfoot in a fetal position to the floor, with no chair, food or water. Most times they urinatedor defecated on themselves, and had been left there for 18-24 hours or more. On one occasion, the air conditioning had been turned down so far and the temperature was so cold in the room, that the barefooted detainee was shaking with cold....On another occasion, the [air conditioner] had been turned off, making the temperature in the unventilated room well over 100 degrees. The detainee was almost unconscious on the floor, with a pile of hair next to him. He had apparently been literally pulling his hair out throughout the night. On another occasion, not only was the temperature unbearably hot,but extremely loud rap music was being played in the room, and had been since the day before, with the detainee chained hand and foot in the fetal position on the tile floor.
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. Sadly, that is not the case. This was the action of Americans in the treatment of their prisoners.
And here is what Senator Frist on the record in response to what Senator Durbin had said:
[a] Senate colleague who, this week, called Guantanamo a ‘‘death camp’’ and drew parallels to Hitler’s Germany, Stalin’s gulags, and Pol Pot’s killing fields. This was a heinous slander againstour country, and against the brave men and women who have taken great care to treat the captured terrorists with more respect than they would ever have received in any point in human history. ...Do we know how many havebeen killed at Guantanamo? Zero.That’s right: zero people. And yet we have members of this body who have come to the Senate floor to level the most egregious charges, compare our troops to Nazis,and charge the United States with crimes against humanity. To accuse our sons and daughters, who are serving proudly to keep killers from the battlefield, with committing genocide and war crimes is beyond the pale.
...
But comparing our Nation, our Government and our military to the regimes of Hitler’s Germany,Stalin’s Soviet Russia, and PolPot’s Cambodia is the height of irresponsibility.
See the disconnect? The disassembling?
No, Senator Frist. Lying from the Senate floor is the height of irresponsibility. Ignoring the truth of the message brought by Senator Durbin is the height of irresponsibility. You owe Senator Durbin and the people of this nation an apology.
posted by Diane at 4:20 PM
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