9/23/2006

America Takes "Moral High Ground"?

Former US Army intelligence officer Speaks Out against Bush Administration.



















"I never thought I would live to see the day when my government, implicitly or explicitly, would turn its back on agreements we have honored for decades; agreements which reflect the values on which our county was founded and which are contained in the U.S. Constitution, Bill of Rights and US law which recognizes the Geneva Conventions. Unfortunately, this is happening now as the so-called “compromise” between the Bush Administration and John McCain, Lindsay Graham and John Warner, continues to permit violations of international human rights law as President Bush retains the discretion to authorize torture of prisoners.

I simply cannot understand why President Bush insists on US interrogators being permitted to employ techniques which are recognized worldwide as torture and which we would absolutely condemn if they were used by an enemy on US prisoners. It is sufficient that they are immoral and beneath us as Americans. In addition, intelligence personnel universally reject them as effective means of obtaining valid information from prisoners."


"The author was a US Army intelligence officer from 1961 to 1983. The genesis of the letter is General Kimmon’s recent presentation of the Army's new field manual on interrogation, which pointedly referred to the Geneva Conventions. At that time, General Kimmons emphasized that "No good intelligence is going to come from abusive interrogation practices.""

Read more @ General Wesley Clark's Community Network.

In an embarrassment to the White House, Colin Powell Colin Powell — Bush's first secretary of state — announced his opposition to his old boss' plan, saying it would hurt the country.
Powell's Letter to Sen. McCain.










Thirty One other Retired Military Leaders
Oppose Bushes reinterpretation of the
Geneva Convention.


GENERAL JOSEPH HOAR, USMC (RET.)
GENERAL JOHN SHALIKASHVILI, USA (RET.)
ADMIRAL STANSFIELD TURNER, USN (RET.)
LIEUTENANT GENERAL ROBERT G. GARD, JR., USA (RET.)
VICE ADMIRAL LEE F. GUNN, USN (RET.)
LIEUTENANT GENERAL CLAUDIA J. KENNEDY, USA (RET.)
VICE ADMIRAL ALBERT H. KONETZNI JR., USN (RET.)
LIEUTENANT GENERAL CHARLES OTSTOTT, USA (RET.)
VICE ADMIRAL JACK SHANAHAN, USN (RET.)
MAJOR GENERAL JOHN BATISTE, USA (RET.)
MAJOR GENERAL EUGENE FOX, USA (RET.)
MAJOR GENERAL JOHN L. FUGH, USA (RET.)
REAR ADMIRAL DON GUTER, USN (RET.)
MAJOR GENERAL FRED E. HAYNES, USMC (RET.)
REAR ADMIRAL JOHN D. HUTSON, USN (RET.)
MAJOR GENERAL MELVYN MONTANO, ANG (RET.)
MAJOR GENERAL GERALD T. SAJER, USA (RET.)
BRIGADIER GENERAL DAVID M. BRAHMS, USMC (RET.)
BRIGADIER GENERAL JAMES P. CULLEN, USA (RET.)
BRIGADIER GENERAL EVELYN P. FOOTE, USA (RET.)
BRIGADIER GENERAL DAVID R. IRVINE, USA (RET.)
BRIGADIER GENERAL JOHN H. JOHNS, USA (RET.)
BRIGADIER GENERAL RICHARD O’MEARA, USA (RET.)
BRIGADIER GENERAL MURRAY G. SAGSVEEN, USA (RET.)
BRIGADIER GENERAL ANTHONY VERRENGIA, USAF (RET.)
BRIGADIER GENERAL STEPHEN N. XENAKIS, USA (RET.)
AMBASSADOR PETE PETERSON, USAF (RET.)
COLONEL LAWRENCE B. WILKERSON, USA (RET.)
HONORABLE WILLIAM H. TAFT IV
















See Generals Letter to Senate Armed Services Committee:

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I suppose those are just more on the cut-n-runners. I'm amazed at how good the Bush administration alchemists are at getting the folks to believe their lies -- even when they admit that they were wrong.