Carter and the US Military

[Wolseley]

Nichevo:

Unless you were at Gitmo or Iraq, (and there are two people on this forum who have been), you’re only hearing one side of the story. You have no clue what you are talking about and neither does Jimmy Carter. In Gitmo right now, our people are subject to abuse from prisoners to which they can not respond. It can be denied that there have been many cases of torture because it’s simply not true.

Snicker:

While I have never been to gitmo I have read extensively about this issue. From just about ever political perspective there is. It’s undeniable that systematic torture has happened at Gitmo…undeniable. But conservatives just can’t accept this little bit of history. Instead of supporting punishing those who were behind the policy, conservatives just deny it every happened and call those who accept facts and say it did, liberals…what an evil word that has become.

Who knows more about any given situation, those who were actually there, or those who weren’t and only read about it?

 

[Snicker]

Wolseley:

Who knows more about any given situation, those who were actually there, or those who weren’t and only read about it?

Many of those who have accused the US of torture HAVE been there,
but they’re simply accused of being anti-American and dismissed by conservatives.

 

[gilliam]

Snicker:

Many of those who have accused the US of torture HAVE been there,
but they’re simply accused of being anti-American and dismissed by conservatives.

An al Qaeda handbook preaches to operatives to level charges of torture once captured, a training regime that administration officials say explains some of the charges of abuse at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp. … “There have been allegations made by detainees,” White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters. “We know that members of al Qaeda are trained to mislead and to provide false reports. We know that’s one of their tactics that they use. And so I think you have to keep that in mind.”

link to article is here

 

[jsk]

I guess the U.S. soldiers could use a few lessons in sensitivity and compassion from the Taliban, AlQaeda, Baathist. Since these are the kind of people making accusations against U.S. soldiers, they behave to a higher standard. (NOT!)

As I remember, a number of U.S. soldiers have been tried and convicted for prisoner abuse at Abu Gharib prison. How many Iraqis were treid and conviceted for hanging bodies of American contractors from bridges? How many are being punished for decapitating their prisoners?

Abuse is wrong…but our militry is one of the few who know that and will work to stop it. If the tables were turned at GTMO, I have no doubt that the Iraqi and Afghan detainees there would take great pleasure in torturing, maiming, disfiguring, and killing our soldies.

 

[thestickman]

gilliam:

At this rate Carter will go down as one of the worse ex-Presidents of all time.

He was one of the worst Presidents in our nation’s history and he seems determined to be the worst ex ever, IMO.

 

[thestickman]

Snicker:

Many of those who have accused the US of torture HAVE been there,
but they’re simply accused of being anti-American and dismissed by conservatives.

Correct, and rightly so. You might want to read the AlQeada training manual which says to scream “I was tortured!” Any and everytime you have access to the media if you are captured.

IMO, OBL & Co. have been studing the American left for a long long time–they sure know how to push those emotional buttons which blind the American and Eurpean liberal to the point they forget who’s actually the their real enemy.

 

[gilliam]

Some more up to date info:

**No Gitmo torture, Senate panel told **
**07/14/2005 **

A military investigation of interrogations at U.S. Naval Base Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, found no torture occurred, but one high-value al Qaeda operative was subjected to “abusive and degrading treatment” when he was forced to wear a brassiere, do dog tricks and stay awake for 20 hours a day.

“We looked at this very, very carefully – no torture occurred,” Air Force Lt. Gen. Randall M. Schmidt testified yesterday before the Senate Armed Services Committee. “Detention and interrogation operations across the board … looking through all the evidence that we could, were safe, secure and humane.”

Gen. Schmidt’s investigative report marked the most extensive look yet at the Bush administration’s jailing and interrogation of suspected al Qaeda and Taliban operatives seized in Afghanistan since the late 2001 U.S.-led invasion of that country. Human-rights groups like Amnesty International and some congressional Democrats, including Senate Minority Whip Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, have accused the administration of torturing detainees at the Guantanamo Bay prison.

(Excerpt) Read more at washtimes.com …

 

[mjdonnelly]

Snicker:

Many of those who have accused the US of torture HAVE been there,
but they’re simply accused of being anti-American and dismissed by conservatives.

AND I have been there! The detainees were not tortured, nor was there any sign of them being tortured.

However, the detainees did throw feces at the guards, spit at them, urinate on them, and bite them.

What is your definition of torture? The guards have the exact same living conditions as the detainees as far as air conditioning, protection from the elements. It is required, I think by the Geneva Convention.

 

[thestickman]

Snicker:

It’s undeniable that systematic torture has happened at Gitmo…undeniable.

If it’s so undeniable where’s the links to the evdidence this is actually true?

 

[HagiaSophia]

thestickman:

He was one of the worst Presidents in our nation’s history and he seems determined to be the worst ex ever, IMO.

From aJay Nordlinger Column:
"…Shortly thereafter, Carter actually acted as PR adviser and speechwriter to Arafat. As Brinkley says, he "drafted on his home computer the strategy and wording for a generic speech Arafat was to deliver soon for Western ears .

"Care for a quick walk down Memory Lane? Joshua Muravchik reminded us of some Carter nuggets in a 1994 piece for The New Republic. While in office, Carter hailed Tito as “a man who believes in human rights.” He said of Ceausescu and himself, “Our goals are the same: to have a just system of economics and politics . . . We believe in enhancing human rights.” Since leaving office, Carter has praised Syria’s late Assad (killer of at least 20,000 in Hama) and the Ethiopian tyrant Mengistu (killer of many more than that). In Haiti, he told the dictator Cédras that he was “ashamed of what my country has done to your country.”

While in North Korea, Carter lauded Kim Il Sung, one of the most complete and destructive dictators in history. Said Carter, “I find him to be vigorous, intelligent,…and in charge of the decisions about this country” (well, he was absolute ruler). He said, “I don’t see that they [the North Koreans] are an outlaw nation.” Pyongyang, he observed, was a “bustling city,” where shoppers “pack the department stores,” reminding him of the “Wal-Mart in Americus, Georgia.”

Then there’s his notorious friendship with Daniel Ortega, former strongman in Nicaragua. In 1984, when the Reagan administration was trying to put maximum pressure on Ortega to submit to democracy, Carter urged Habitat for Humanity to build in Nicaragua. A fine idea, perhaps, but here’s the (classic) Carter twist: “We want the folks down there to know that some American Christians love them and that we don’t all hate them.” In 1990, of course, Carter traveled to Managua to monitor the elections and to certify what he figured — and hoped, it seemed — would be a Sandinista victory. When the democratic opposition won instead, Carter was memorably churlish, even bitter. As Kirkpatrick says, “You’d have thought a democrat would be happy.”

A SINKING FEELING
Small wonder that Free Cuba activists are nervous. Carter has vowed to “share ideas on how to improve the relationship between the United States and Cuba.” The worry is, he is more interested in perfuming and legitimizing the dictator than in pushing for human rights and democratic elections. Cuba’s people are hardly in need of more Fidel smooching and more indifference to their plight…"

nationalreview.com/20may02/nordlinger052002.asp

 

[KathleenElsie]

Snicker:

I think Carter is the best ex-prez of all time. He has been tireless in his message of peace and in his service of the poor.

Good man or intentions does not + good prez and leader. :banghead:

Snicker did you live through the Carter years?
My DH and I did. Inflation, gas shortages and all. Oh, also interest rates through the sky so poor and moderate persons could not purchase nor sell homes. Those rich people that had money got richer with their investments while the poor got poorer quickly.
So IMHO Mr. Carter is trying to make up for some of the things that were started while he was prez.

PEACE

 

[JimmyV]

Let’s keep in mind that Jimmy Carter is a highly arrogant and pompous man. Therefore, making the claim that Carter is the greatest ex-president only serves to feed into Carter’s self-idolization.

Mr. Carter has been out of elected office for 25 years now. During the 1st Gulf War he actively opposed U.S. efforts to form a coalition against Saddam Hussein. Carter went so far as to visit foreign countries to dissuade them from joining the coalition. The real question: Is Carter the first ex-president to commit an act of treason?