Keith Olbermann - Disgraced commander calls out Cheney for 'scapegoating' Abu Ghraib soldiers

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This video is from MSNBC's Countdown, broadcast Apr. 22, 2009.


A Senate report revealed that former President George Bush and top-ranking officials in his administration approved harsh interrogation techniques that were later used in prisons at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib. Former Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski claims soldiers convicted in the Abu Ghraib torture scandal were victims of scapegoating and had been merely obeying orders.

"In my judgment, the report represents a condemnation of both the Bush administration's interrogation policies and of senior administration officials who attempted to shift the blame for abuse - such as that seen at Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay and Afghanistan - to low-ranking soldiers," said Senator Carl Levin, the committee chairman.

MSNBC's Keith Olbermann stated on Wednesday's edition of Countdown, "When the torture of prisoners in Abu Ghraib prison came to light, Rumsfeld blamed it on a few bad apples. He was right. What we know is that the few bad apples were Rumsfeld himself and Mr. Bush, Cheney and more. They were the bad apples. And as happens with bad apples, they corrupted others around them."

Karpinski called out former Vice President Dick Cheney on his defense of torture interrogation techniques when he refused to defend those involved in torture at Abu Ghraib. "Mr. former Vice President, if you're saying that this was necessary today and that it produced good intelligence, where were you five years ago, stepping up to the plate and saying, hold on, we can't discuss this because this is classified information, but these soldiers did not design these techniques," said Karpinski with a raised voice.

Left unsaid, however, was that a few of the Abu Ghraib soldiers such as Charles A. Graner, Jr. were prosecuted and imprisoned for crimes that went beyond the publicly known authorizations. For instance, Graner allegedly punched a detainee until he lost consciousness.

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Janice_Karpinski_calls_out_Dick_Cheney_0423.html

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• keith
• olbermann
• bush
• cheney
• war
• on
• terror
• waterboarding
• torture
• abu
• ghraib
• wolfowitz
• 911
• iraq
• afghanistan

[Rodney92]

Let the trials begin. Put Rumsfeld in jail.

[Fieldon]

No surprise that the coward Cheney let the little guys ("a few bad apples") take the fall for his torture policies

[GARLlCjr]

i hope graner enjoys getting fucked up the ass on a daily basis in jail



[gd129]

Yup, I bet Bush and Cheney all taught the Abu Ghraib soldiers to put the prisoners in naked people pyramids and put them on leashes.

Countdown doesn't get enough credit for being liberal propaganda, all you hear is Fox News is conservative propaganda, I think this is worse.

[ladykiri42]

Common German soldiers were prosecuted for not saying, "I refuse to obey and illegal order." Therefore, all are guilty from the bottom to the very top. They should be prosecuted.

[trollfinger]

You should type in "george bush iraq briefings bible quotes" and you'll see their poison.

[trollfinger]

Of course. Peopple like Bush who had no problem using the military. These people (Bush/Cheeny) who dodged the draft have no right to do things like this.

[ultraflem]

If your thinking about joining the military in the U.S.A. This is how much your government cares about you. Not one little bit. They'll use you up and throw you away.

[cammmodotorg]

If you are serious about putting an end to this abuse of our young people who enlist to find honor, but find only disgrace and broken promises, then join us at our site which is the same as our user name.

[ushadrons]

How about both.

[wildwilly1111]

Wow!

W's gang either knew torture was wrong and had dubious memos crafted to try to cover their butts, or they were convinced torture was OK but lost their courage and sold out the soldiers when the deeds came to light.

Liars or cowards - pick your poison