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Title: Beyond the pale
Source:
davidswanson
URL Source: http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/14407/print
Published: Sep 30, 2006
Author: Molly Ivins
Post Date: 2006-09-30 03:33:41 by Morgana le Fay
Keywords: None
Views: 102
Comments: 5
AUSTIN, Texas (CREATORS) -- Oh dear. I'm sure he didn't mean it. In Illinois' 6th Congressional District, long represented by Henry Hyde, Republican candidate Peter Roskam accused his Democratic opponent Tammy Duckworth of planning to "cut and run" on Iraq. Duckworth is a former Army major and chopper pilot, who lost both legs in Iraq after her helicopter got hit by an RPG. "I just could not believe he would say that to me," said Duckworth, who walks on artificial legs and uses a cane. Every election cycle produces some wincers, but how do you apologize for that one? The legislative equivalent of that remark is the detainee bill, now being passed by Congress. Beloveds, this is so much worse than even that pathetic deal reached last Thursday between the White House and Republican Sens. Warner, McCain and Graham. The White House has since reinserted a number of "technical fixes" that were the point of the putative "compromise." It leaves the president with the power to decide who is an enemy combatant. This bill is not a national security issue -- this is about torturing helpless human beings without any proof they are our enemies. Perhaps this could be considered if we knew the administration would use the power with enormous care and thoughtfulness. But of the over 700 prisoners sent to Gitmo, only 10 have ever been formally charged with anything. Among other things, this bill is a CYA for torture of the innocent that has already taken place. The first reported case of death by torture by Americans was in The New York Times in 2003 by Carlotta Gall. The military had announced the prisoner died of a heart attack, but when Gall actually saw the death certificate, written in English and issued by the military, it said the cause of death was homicide. The "heart attack" came after he had been beaten so often on this legs that they had "basically been pulpified," according to the coroner. The story of why and how it took the Times so long to print this information is in the current edition of Columbia Journalism Review. The press in general has been late and slow in reporting torture, so very few Americans have any idea how far it has spread. As is often true in hierarchical, top-down institutions, the orders get passed on in what I call the downward communications exaggeration spiral. For example, on a newspaper, a top editor may remark casually, "Let's give the new mayor a chance to see what he can do before we start attacking him." This gets passed on as, "Don't touch the mayor unless he really screws up." And it ultimately arrives at the reporter level as, "We can't say anything negative about the mayor." The version of the detainee bill now in the Senate not only undoes much of the McCain-Warner-Graham work, but it is actually much worse than the administration's first proposal. In one change, the original compromise language said a suspect had the right to "examine and respond to" all evidence used against him. The three senators said the clause was necessary to avoid secret trials. The bill has now dropped the word "examine" and left only "respond to." In another change, a clause said that evidence obtained outside the United States could be admitted in court even if it had been gathered without a search warrant. But the bill now drops the words "outside the United States," which means prosecutors can ignore American legal standards on warrants. The bill also expands the definition of an unlawful enemy combatant to cover anyone who has "has purposefully and materially supported hostilities against the United States." Quick, define "purposefully and materially." One person has already been charged with aiding terrorists because he sold a satellite TV package that includes the Hezbollah network. The bill simply removes a suspect's right to challenge his detention in court. This is a rule of law that goes back to the Magna Carta in 1215. That pretty much leaves the barn door open. As Vladimir Bukovsky, the Soviet dissident, wrote, an intelligence service free to torture soon "degenerates into a playground for sadists." But not unbridled sadism -- you will be relieved that the compromise took out the words permitting interrogation involving "severe pain" and substituted "serious pain," which is defined as "bodily injury that involves extreme physical pain." In July 2003, George Bush said in a speech: "The United States is committed to worldwide elimination of torture, and we are leading this fight by example. Freedom from torture is an inalienable human right. Yet torture continues to be practiced around the world by rogue regimes, whose cruel methods match their determination to crush the human spirit." Fellow citizens, this bill throws out legal and moral restraints as the president deems it necessary -- these are fundamental principles of basic decency, as well as law. I'd like those supporting this evil bill to spare me one affliction: Do not, please, pretend to be shocked by the consequences of this legislation. And do not pretend to be shocked when the world begins comparing us to the Nazis.
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#3. To: Morgana le Fay (#0)
excellent article - even though the subject matter is horrible. that Tammy Duckworth is a compelling figure. Here's a before & after picture. and here's her story from Stars & Stripes ‘The pedals were gone, and so were my legs’ Maj. Ladda 'Tammy' Duckworth, Air Medal, Army Commendation Medal By Leo Shane III, Stars and Stripes Maj. Ladda “Tammy” Duckworth remembers seeing a ball of flame after an RPG hit her helicopter, and wondering why her legs couldn’t work the control pedals. “I found out later the pedals were gone, and so were my legs,” she said. The 36-year-old Illinois Army National Guard pilot was returning from a mission Nov. 12 when the attack occurred. Before the attack, Duckworth said, she had flown more than 120 combat hours during her eight months in Iraq without incident. But that day insurgents scored a direct hit on her Black Hawk, seriously wounding her and another guardsman inside. Doctors told her she lost nearly half the blood in her body and almost lost her right arm as well. “I didn’t know I was hurt,” she said. “We had started taking some small-arms fire, and I turned to my co-pilot and said we could be in for some trouble. As the words left my mouth, there was a big fireball at my knees.” Duckworth said she remembers acting on instinct after that, doing everything she could to land the helicopter. Looking back now, she thinks her efforts did little, because the rocket punched a gaping hole into the aircraft floor and control systems. But her pilot in command, Chief Warrant Officer Dan Milberg, did manage to land the chopper safely. Once she realized they were on the ground, she reached up to turn off the helicopter blades. “That was the last bit of stress that caused me to black out,” she said. She passed in and out of consciousness for eight days. Milberg got Duckworth to a nearby rescue crew, who rushed her to a nearby camp, then to Germany for emergency surgery. Milberg earned the Distinguished Flying Cross for his actions that day. Duckworth, who was awarded the Air Medal, said she’s proud of her reaction to the crisis, but she called Milberg “the real hero” of the mission. Duckworth, who works as a supervisor for the charity Rotary International in her civilian life, has spent the last six months at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, rehabbing her still-injured right arm and learning to walk on two prosthetic legs. She also caught the attention of congressional officials during numerous hearings in Washington, for her blunt assertion that she’ll fly helicopters for the Army again someday. “This didn’t change who I am,” she said. “I’m an air assault pilot. I’m not about to let some guy who got lucky with an RPG decide how to live my life.” In early May she started that process, climbing back into a Black Hawk cockpit at Fort Belvoir, Va. Duckworth said she is proud of her Purple Heart, an award her late father, a Marine, also received. She is thankful that she lost only her legs and not her life, and she uses that as her motivation to get back to flying. “For me to sit around and feel sorry for myself, that’s going to dishonor my crewmates’ efforts to save my life,” she said. “I’m not about the pass up the second chance I’ve been given.” © 2006 Stars and Stripes. All Rights Reserved.
#4. To: Red Jones (#3)
Thanks for the extra info, quite a story.
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