Rumsfeld Admits U.S. Could Fail in Iraq
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld testified Wednesday before the Senate Appropriations Committee on the Pentagon's request for an additional $25 billion to fund the Iraq war. For the first time publicly, he admitted the U.S. might lose the war in Iraq.
Rumsfeld said the prison abuse scandal had delivered a "body blow" to the nation-building effort in Iraq that has cost the lives of more than 770 U.S. troops. "Will it happen right on time? I think so. I hope so. Will it be perfect? No ... Is it possible it won't work? Yes," Rumsfeld said.
There was a great exchange between Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Rumsfeld and Generaly Myers--we've posted the transcript here--in which Rumsfeld defends the treatment of Guantanamo prisoners and engages in legal hair-splitting over the Adminstration's refusal to apply the Geneva Convention to them.
We've reproduced an exhibit introduced at the hearing consisting of the Interrogation Rules for Prisoners in Iraq (pdf.) Rumsfeld insisted they complied with the Geneva Convention. Durbin vociferously disagrees. Monday, Sen. Durbin delivered a blistering floor speech on the Iraq War and Bush's judicial nomination of William Haynes for a lifetime seat on the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Some of the most flagrant legal violations have taken place at Guantanamo Bay. The administration claims that the detainees are not entitled to the protections of the Geneva Conventions, though they may be treated in accordance with some provisions of the conventions ``to the extent appropriate and consistent with military necessity.'' There is no room for hairsplitting when it comes to the law. This kind of policy sends a signal to lower ranking officials that the law is an obstacle to be overcome, not a bright line that cannot be crossed.
Contrary to this position, the Geneva Conventions protect all captured combatants and civilians. The official commentary on the conventions explains: ``There is no intermediate status; nobody in enemy hands can fall outside the law.'' The Geneva Conventions do not allow the hairsplitting which this administration has engaged in at Guantanamo and other places where there are detainees in this war on terrorism.
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