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"...even the wicked get worse than they deserve." - Willa Cather, One of Ours

Friday, May 07, 2004

Sec Def Rumsfeld's Testimony

CNN (live)

There are several interesting items to note in Rumsfeld's testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee"

1) It is clear from Sen. McCain's questions that Rumsfeld does not have, intentionally I think, a knowledge of the details (i.e. the MP company's chain of command, the exact orders given to the guards). This is probably in order to maintain some deniablility, though it did make him look a bit confused at one point. His excuse/explanation is that he didn't want to interfere with the criminal investigation by "reaching down" for information.

2) Rumsfeld announced that we have detained more than 41,000 Iraqis during the course of combat and post-war operations, and that we have released more than 31,000 of those detainees so far.

3) Asked by Sen. Byrd whether he had read the Taguba report, Rumsfeld said that he not yet read it, only the executive summary. Also he stated that the first time he saw the images in question was last night. I think these statements have to do with issues similar to point #1 above - deniability. Good grief -- he should have taken the time to read the report

4) Rumsfeld said that there are many more photos and also some videos showing the misconduct of prison guards. When those videos come out, the fecal matter will hit the rotary impeller device all over again.

Other notable Abu Gharib events today: Major General Antonio M. Taguba, Deputy Commanding General (Support), Third United States Army, Camp Doha, Kuwait (he of the famous report) has been transferred to the office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Readiness, Training and Mobilization, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs, Washington, DC.

Now, is that a demotion or a promotion? It sounds bad, but it is really a promotion. It is necessary to get your ticket punched in this kind of job in order to set you up for promotion to one of the more senior political commands in the Army.
Posted by: Zayphar / 5/07/2004 11:59:00 AM
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