I don't know how much of you guys are regular news readers but I for one read newspapers daily and I think this topic is very important.
I think all(if not most) of you know about the recent scandal of iraqi prison abuse. The whole world is outraged over the actions of the 6 or 7 soldier's who humilited the Iraqi prisoners.
I for one think that it is an isolated incident, and that it does not reflect US Army as a whole. But the fact remains that it has clearly destroyed our reputation around the world. I believe Rumsfield should Resign, in order to show that we are commited.
i don't think he should resign I think he doing a somewhat alright job. People have this way of removing people, people who are highly qualified after one thing goes wrong that's fixable. They will get to bottom of this.
Rumsfield claims that these prison abuses are his responsibility. He should be man enough to live up to that and resign.
Unfortunately, that scene of the American citizen getting his head cut of is going to be repeated again and again.
The Bush policy which he claimed would free the world from terrorism, has made the world and certainly the US less safe. I would be in fear to travel abroad if I was carrying a US passport.
The types of abuses that took place in these prisons was more typical than the administration will ever let on. It has been happening in Guantanamo, and Afganistan, it happened in the first Gulf war, it happened in Vietnam and Korea and in the World wars.
Of course we should be outraged by what happened to the American citizen over there. We should also be outraged that US policy has created this mess and is responsible for the deaths of thousands of innocent Iraqis as well as hundreds of Americans.
Rumsfield should resign, if for nothing else, than to send a message to the Arab world that the US takes the abuses seriously. Making shallow claims that the US is the only country that would deal with this in public won't fool anyone. None of this would be public if ABC didn't air those photos.
Just my 2cents.
__________________ Hampshire Hosting
Affordable Shared and Reseller Hosting Hampshire Graphics
Affordable banners, logos, business cards and more.
i say keep him. where's the outrage when the four mutilated bodies were tramped across the screen and hung from a bridge? there's more outrage over the prison scandal than was these terrorists that were trying to kill the coalition troops and want your family dead. go figure.
This war on terror was portrayed as a crusade to rid the world of evil, where America plays the role of world cop, stopping baddies everywhere. As such, there exists a need to maintain the moral high ground at all times. Otherwise, if the US can stoop to the level of Saddam and the Taliban, then the reason for this war is lost.
Think of it this way. If criminal groups in the US routinely shoot police officers who get in their way, would it justify police officers shooting suspected criminals in their custody?
Whether or not Rumsfeld is directly responsible for the atrocities in Ghraib and other prisons, he is still the personification of the political-military strategy in Iraq that insisted on:
- unilateral aggressive action without international support (the "We're right, and we'll do this alone if we have t" mentality)
- a warplan that emphasized speed of victory without sufficient consideration of occupation requirements
- ignoring recomendations made by the military for additional troop assignments to handle occupation duty (which is why an MP brigade trained in traffic enforcement of all things is handling interrogation duties in Ghraib prison)
I doubt that the soldiers did this on their own accord. One of the first things a soldier learns in the Army is that there is a chain of command that is not to be broken.
I'm certain that orders were given to the soldiers to conduct these interrogation/torture acts by higher authority. How high? Well, the 'book' says it goes all the way to the Commander in Chief, George Bush!
Should he be fired?
We'll see in November!
__________________
******dotbob.com******
Cheap Domain Name Registrations**** -Dotbob.com
Should Rumsfield Resign 
