Thursday, May 06, 2004
The Last To Know
It appears that the International Red Cross was "fully aware of the full spectrum of abuses of Iraqi prisoners by American soldiers at the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad and had repeatedly urged the United States to take corrective action, a spokesman for the humanitarian organization said today."
So, if the Red Cross knew about the abuse, and asked U.S. officials to remedy these conditions, why did Bush have to learn about the situation from 60 Minutes II?
One other thing, if the Red Cross knew about the abuse, and had written "regular reports" to the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq, how likely is it that this was the conduct of six soldiers acting on their own? Did the Red Cross just happen to interview a steady stream of prisoners that were abused by these same six soldiers, or was the abuse in fact more widespread? And if there were regular reports of widespread abuse, why did it take so long for action to be taken?
So, if the Red Cross knew about the abuse, and asked U.S. officials to remedy these conditions, why did Bush have to learn about the situation from 60 Minutes II?
One other thing, if the Red Cross knew about the abuse, and had written "regular reports" to the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq, how likely is it that this was the conduct of six soldiers acting on their own? Did the Red Cross just happen to interview a steady stream of prisoners that were abused by these same six soldiers, or was the abuse in fact more widespread? And if there were regular reports of widespread abuse, why did it take so long for action to be taken?
