Kucinich condemns U.S. abuse of Iraqi detainees as acts of betrayal
Sarah
For Immediate Release: May 1, 2004
Amid growing revelations of additional cases of torture and abuse
against Iraqi detainees by U.S. and British troops, Democratic
Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich today condemned the actions as
a "betrayal of the principles of freedom, human rights, and justice
that the Bush Administration has attempted to use to justify this
unjust war."
"Each day brings new stories and photographs of the outrages being
perpetrated against a people whose lives, liberties, and pursuit of a
more hopeful future have been the Bush Administration's 'battle cry'
since the beginning," Kucinich said. "When the true costs of this war
are tallied, the price will have to include the savagery and
inhumanity that have been inflicted - not just on the people of an
occupied nation, but on the hearts and minds and souls of the people
who occupied them."
Photographs published in Britain's Daily Mirror today show an Iraqi
being battered with rifle butts, threatened with execution, and
urinated on by British troops. During his eight-hour ordeal, the
suspected thief had his jaw broken and teeth smashed, the Mirror
reported.
The news follows the publication of photographs and videos showing US
troops humiliating and torturing Iraqi prisoners. "These are
atrocities committed against a people who lived through years of
atrocities by a brutal dictator. Now, some are suffering the same
fate under the flags of collation forces who are there, ostensibly, to
spread freedom and restore stability. What kind of choice are we
giving the Iraqi people - the brutality of Saddam Hussein or that of
the U.S. occupying army?"
Kucinich said he hopes the recent reports reflect only rare and
isolated examples. "I have the highest regard for our men and women
and uniform, and I am confident that the overwhelming majority of them
are performing admirably under unimaginably difficult circumstances."
Kucinich, who opposed the original war authorization resolution in the
U.S. Congress in 2002 and who has made the withdrawal of U.S forces a
centerpiece of his presidential campaign, said he is concerned that
these recent revelations will increase the risks facing U.S. forces.
Growing opposition and hostility among political and religious
factions in Iraq toward the U.S. resulted in making April the
bloodiest and deadliest month of the occupation, Kucinich noted. "Our
troops have been targets all along," he said, "but now, they may face
the wrath not just of insurgents and militias, but of the population
in general.
"We have to get out of Iraq. That is the mission we have to
accomplish," he said, ironically echoing President Bush's assertion of
victory a year ago today. He again called on the leadership of the
Democratic Party to join him in demanding the withdrawal of U.S.
troops and a transfer of peacekeeping operations, administration, and
management of Iraqi assets and reconstruction contracts to the United
Nations.
"We have to stop calling for more troops, more money, and an
as-long-as-takes mentality. How can we commit to an occupation
without end? How can we allow our men and women in uniform to
continue facing even greater risks? How can we tell the world
community that we stand for peace and liberty and human rights when
our mere presence in Iraq challenges those very same principles?"
Kucinich also said he was alarmed at plans quietly advancing in the
Congress to set up "an emergency pool of funds" outside the normal
appropriations process to support ongoing military operations in Iraq.
Some Republican lawmakers are pushing the plan, which would make it
unnecessary for the Bush Administration to return to Congress and
publicly ask for supplemental appropriations. They are considering
setting up a special reserve fund to pay for U.S. military operations
in Iraq, which would avert the need for President Bush to formally
request additional funds before his November re-election fight.
Under the reserve fund plan, congressional leaders could release money
to the Pentagon while Congress is on recess later this year. The
Pentagon has already said it will need at least an additional $4
billion beginning in September.
Such a plan, Kucinich argued, "would permit the Congress to give the
Bush Administration a book of blank checks that will cause the war to
be prolonged, the casualties to increase, the costs to continue to
soar. My campaign," Kucinich concluded, "will allow voters to send a
loud and clear message to the Congress, to the Bush Administration and
to the leadership of the Democratic Party the price we've paid is
already too high, the objectives are undefinable, and it's time for a
totally new direction: not sending more troops there; bringing our
troops back home."
http://www.kucinich.us/talksabout/iraq-talksabout.php
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http://www.kucinich.us/schedule.htm