Bush Tries to Discredit Amnesty International

They smeared John McCain in the 2000 Republican primaries. They smeared Al Gore in the general election. They got the Swiftboat Veterans for the truth to smear John Kerry's war record. Now they are trying to smear Amnesty International.

I hate them. Bush, Cheney, Rove, Karen Hughes, and all of the rest. They are engaging in an effort to control the damage from stories and reports about our torture of detainees by attacking the messengers. Newsweek made a mistake when it reported a Koran had been flushed down a toilet. It retracted the story. So now they are trying to use the reflected embarassment from the Newsweek affair to bring into question Amnesty International's credibility.

In case you didn't know, Amnesty International issued it's annual report last week. They deliver a well-documented, thoroughly researched report on human rights in every country of the world. This year the United States was faulted for abuses at Guantanamo Bay, and selectively criticizing torture by other nations. AI faulted the U.S. for not upholding a leadership role on the issue of human rights

Bush called AI's report absurd.

Bush is absurd. And pathetic. And an embarassment to every honest American. We need to impeach him. We cannot continue as a nation with an ideological zealot in the White House making a mockery of our nation's most treasured principles.

If you need a reminder of the magnitude of Bush's lies, check out this compilation provided by th progressive website, American Progress. It has cataloged the lies and distortions of the Bush Administration with regard to the Iraq War. An amazing and disturbing list.

Addendum on June 1: If you aren't aware of the "Downing Street Memo" that detailed the plans of the Bush Administration to go to war in Iraq regardless of the evidence, you can read it for yourself here.

More lies by Cheney

Dick Cheney has no regard for the truth or the American people. Yesterday, he sought to discredit the Amnesty International report criticizing the United States treatment of prisoners in Guantanamo Bay. He claims that he was "OFFENDED" by the report!

In the face of all the evidence given not only by prisoners released from the facility, but organizations such as Amnesty, the Red Cross, as well as a former member of the military translator that recently released a major book about what he witnessed, Cheney denies it all, claiming in one broad stroke that all of this evidence has been fabricated:

“Occasionally there are allegations of mistreatment,” Cheney said. “But if you trace those back, in nearly every case, it turns out to come from somebody who had been inside and released to their home country and now are peddling lies about how they were treated.”

He neglects to mention that these reports also come from the International Red Cross, Human Rights Watch, members of the F.B.I. and our own military. He neglects to mention that even the members of the “coalition of the willing”, Britain and Australia, are upset with what we are doing in Guantanamo Bay.
Of course, Cheney had no problem citing AI's reports on Saddam in trying to justify our "pre-emptive" war against Iraq. But now, I guess, the people at AI are a bunch of left-wing extremists that want the terrorists to win.

The contempt for the truth from these men in the White House is unforgivable.

I cannot believe we have not begun to draw up impeachment papers.

For more on Cheney's hypocrisy check out this posting Daily Koz, a Democratic website.

Vets of War in Iraq Deserve Praise and an Apology

A mainstream newspaper had a very telling editorial on this memorial day. In part, it read:

In exchange for our uniformed young people's willingness to offer the gift of their lives, civilian Americans owe them something important: It is our duty to ensure that they never are called to make that sacrifice unless it is truly necessary for the security of the country. In the case of Iraq, the American public has failed them; we did not prevent the Bush administration from spending their blood in an unnecessary war based on contrived concerns about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. President Bush and those around him lied, and the
rest of us let them. Harsh? Yes. True? Also yes. Perhaps it happened because Americans, understandably, don't expect untruths from those in power. But that works better as an explanation than as an excuse.

It is sad but true that these men were asked to die to defend our nation from another nation (Iraq) which presented no credible threat to us. It would have been nice to have leveled with the men and women of our military about their mission before asking them to put their lives on the line. The best that the Bush administration can say now is that this war was to bring down a dictator and to attempt to reform the politics of the Mideast. Whether these men and women were willing to lay down their lives for that was something they should have been able to decide.

Filibuster Bluster

The Senate has reached an agreement on this issue on the eve of the votes scheduled for some of Bush's most controversial Appeals Court nominees. If you are wondering about the filibuster, check out this MSNBC article. Aside from the politics of this, it is an excellent opportunity to learn more about how the Senate actually does business. Many Senators have reflected on this in recent days and political scientists are being tapped for their expertise as journalists grapple with this story involving arcane procedural rules and traditions. The New York Times has an interesting article trying to put all of this into perspective.

Little Action on Darfur

It is hard to say that there is good news on the crisis in the Darfur region of Sudan, but at least the African Union is promising to increase their troop strength in the region. Hopefully this will happen quickly. Sudan is still languishing in a horrible predicament, and more action is needed as quickly as possible to save lives.

Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times points out how little has been done on the tragedy in Darfur in the last 100 days. Did anyone see Nightline last night? Darfur was the topic and I missed it!

Mounting Evidence of U.S. Torture

Evidence continues to pile up that paints an overall picture of the United States disregarding the most basic standards of decency and fairness. A report surfaced in today's news with new allegations of torture and humiliation being used on prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. The report isn't due out for several weeks, but sources spoke to the New York Times about the sexual and psychological abuse that was witnessed and reported to the military.

It is time that Donald Rumsfeld, Ricardo Sanchez, and other top officials be made to face more intense invesitgations. Too much of this has gone on under their watch for them to continue to evade a large scale investigation any longer. These things happened on their watch, and they must be held accountable. Our national reputation and the standards for international decency stand in the balance.