...there is no longer any doubt as to whether the current administration has committed war crimes," [Maj. Gen. Antonio] Taguba wrote. "The only question that remains to be answered is whether those who ordered the use of torture will be held to account."
The remarks by Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba, who's now retired, came in a new report that found that U.S. personnel tortured and abused detainees in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, using beatings, electrical shocks, sexual humiliation and other cruel practices.
This is not an anti-war nut or a sufferer of "Bush Derangement Syndrome," pls. note. It's a retired Major General.
The group Physicians for Human Rights, which compiled the new report, described it as the most in-depth medical and psychological examination of former detainees to date.
Sad to say, this is another one of those cases where I--well I haven't exactly buried the lead, but I am almost (but not quite) dismissively walking past it. Why?
Because of course the architects of what happened at Abu Ghraib (et al) committed war crimes. They were (and are) evil thugs. And of course, we're going to have to hope that the god in whom they claim to believe is indeed just. Because if so, they'll be dancing with the devil in the firelight sooner or later.
We're going to have to hope that because--unless I'm being too cynical (again) -- that's the only way in which they're going to be held to account.
So I look sadly at the first part of that news story and move on, on to one of the most baffling examples of double-talk I think that I have ever read.
"It adds little to the public discourse to draw sweeping conclusions based upon dubious allegations regarding remote medical assessments of former detainees, now far removed from detention," [Navy Cmdr. J.D.] Gordon [a Pentagon spokesman] said.
I'm quite sure you're not supposed to do that to the English language...
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