Shredding the Geneva Conventions: US 'Disappears' Prisoners

Published on October 27, 2004 By blogic In Politics

How can we be doing this? Do Bush supporters really believe everything's okay as long as we're better than the terrorists?

It's somewhat old news, now confirmed, that America has been hiding Iraqi prisoners from the Red Cross, Congress, and the prisoners' families. In other words, except in the view of their holders, these prisoners have disappeared from the face of the Earth. Now it appears that some of these prisoners are being moved outside Iraq for "interrogation."

This is a big deal: these are major violations of the Geneva Conventions. After World War II, we lobbied for, and signed, these conventions to prevent a recurrence of the terrible prisoner abuse that went on during the war. I have an ex-boss who hates Japan because of the way his father was treated during that war. Under the international law of which America was a primary proponent, these are war crimes.

Of course, it's not clear what's being done with these prisoners when they're whisked away, and even the Bush memo'd legal defense is hidden from the Congress and the public. Outside of the administration, legal experts have condemned the Bush administration's actions, and even Republicans responded with outrage.

I remember when we used to make darkly comic comments about the disappeared prisoners of the Soviet Union and Latin America. Now, we're the ones doing it.

Comments (Page 2)

Solitair

on Oct 29, 2004

Drmiler,
the report you want is titled "ARTICLE 15-6 INVESTIGATION OF THE 800th MILITARY POLICE BRIGADE," by Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba. You can certainly buy copies of the report. Try http://www.lulu.com/content/54077 for a free download.

Please feel free to read and comment.

Paul.

blogic

on Oct 29, 2004

Hey Daiwa,

We agree on something! I completely agree with you that the Geneva Conventions needs to be made more explicit as they apply to the legal questions that have come up in the few years.

Daiwa

on Oct 29, 2004

blogic -

Go figure.

Thanks for not taking this stuff personally. I strongly disagree with much of the substance and tactics of your blogs, but respect your right to express your views freely. One of the great things about America. Just imagine trying to have this kind of open dialogue in a Soviet bloc country in say 1980, or in Iran today.

Cheers,
Daiwa

Grim Xiozan

on Oct 29, 2004

Comrade,

I fully support our leader and Mother Russia.

I have no disagreement with our leaders, but I could use some more rice during the winter months...
(Creak...door opens)
OH NO!! COMRADE THE KGB HAS COME TO TAKE ME AWAY!!

SOVIET PLINKO FOR OUR COMRADES!!

Daiwa

on Oct 30, 2004

GX -

Cheers,
Daiwa

drmiler

on Oct 30, 2004

Reply #19 By: Grim Xiozan - 10/29/2004 8:53:59 PM
Comrade,

I fully support our leader and Mother Russia.

I have no disagreement with our leaders, but I could use some more rice during the winter months...
(Creak...door opens)
OH NO!! COMRADE THE KGB HAS COME TO TAKE ME AWAY!!

KGB
Kiss Goodbye your Butt

blogic

on Oct 30, 2004

GX,

SSG Geezer

on Oct 30, 2004

Bungy32

on Oct 30, 2004

Late breaking news: NO Iraqi prisoners Unaccounted for!

"It would lend credence to your inflamatory headlines if you actually quoted a news source [or even] an opinion piece. "

blogic

on Nov 01, 2004

Unfortunately, some of the writers here don't seem to feel the need to link to evidence of the facts they are claiming. People may disagree with my assertions sometimes, but at least I've given readers the power to judge the information for themselves.

Thankfully, most of the writers here include links, so we can debate their interpretations of the news, instead of whether or not their claimed news even exists.

Of course, the other problem of the Blogosphere is that there's now a news source that will defend any given thesis. I could argue that gravity stopped functioning two weeks ago, and probably find a new story that would back me up.

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