 |
|
 |
| [-] |
| [−] |
| [−] |
| [−] |
| [−] |
Prev | List | Random | Next |
Some of you have probably already heard about a New York "human rights group" that intends to sue Donald Rumsfeld in Germany for "for mistreating a 9/11 plotter". (In some versions of the story the focus is on "German Courts" - but more on that in a moment.)
Here's the coverage from the New York Daily News:
Rummy's Got A New Woe--Torture Suit By 9/11 ThugThis is little more than a publicity stunt, of course. Michelle Malkin offers perspective.WASHINGTON — A New York human rights group plans to sue Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld for mistreating a 9/11 plotter and a former American general intends to back up the case, Time magazine reported yesterday.
The Center for Constitutional Rights will file the claim in Germany next week on behalf of Mohammad Al-Qahtani and 11 Iraqis who claim they were tortured in Baghdad’s infamous Abu Ghraib prison. German courts claim a “universal jurisdiction” for war crimes.
Before you go ballistic on GermanyHaving lived there I can assure you Germany has been a more reliable partner in the war on terror than most news stories would have you believe.The German government isn't filing the lawsuit. It's 11 Iraqis and a Saudi who went court-shopping and filed in Germany because the country "provides 'universal jurisdiction' allowing for the prosecution of war crimes and related offenses that take place anywhere in the world." A previous lawsuit was filed on similar grounds and was dismissed. Yes, Germany has its share of weasels. But German Chancellor Angela Merkel isn't one of them and outrage at the country is premature.
But that "Germany angle" is something of a red herring. It's more worthwhile to examine the (geographically American-based) "group behind the group" - the "Center for Constitutional Rights". The Capital Research Center offers this analysis of the group (via Stop the ACLU):
The Center for Constitutional Rights is openly anti-American and pro-terrorist. Groups suspected of ties to terrorism give money to CCR. The granddaughter of the executed Communist spies Julius and Ethel Rosenberg works there. The late (second) wife of the traitor Alger Hiss left money to CCR in her will. Actors Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon fund CCR, as does singer Natalie Merchant and 1940s Communist relic Pete Seeger (the folk singer from The Weavers). Insurance magnate Peter B. Lewis, a kingpin of George Soros’s “Democracy Alliance,” writes big checks to CCR, as does Soros’s Open Society Institute.This is not the first time left wing extremists have joined with terrorists in the war against the free world, or worked "in the background" (with media cover describing them as "human rights" or "veterans" groups) - as I've noted before, Leftist groups and Islamic terrorists view each other as "useful idiots" in their respective eternal struggles against humanity.Although CCR is headquartered in New York City’s Greenwich Village, it’s not a bunch of latte-sipping do-nothing artsy dreamers who sit around comparing notes on Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Karl Marx. These are dedicated revolutionaries who, quite literally, want to overthrow the American system of government. Look on their website and you’ll see the same kind of revolutionary Communist catch-phrases that you’ll find in the works of Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin, Leon Trotsky, and Mao Zedong.
Its current president, Michael Ratner, is an adjunct law professor at Columbia University. He served as special counsel to Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, a Marxist who was overthrown in 2004. Ratner is a classic limousine liberal, or more accurately, a Rolls Royce revolutionary.
Speaking of "veterans" and "useful idiots", enter ex-General and former leader of the Abu Ghraib porn squad commandos, "retired" Colonel Janis Karpinski :
Retired Army Col. Janis Karpinski is the star witness backing the detainees...Before Bush demoted her from brigadier general because of the abuse, Karpinski commanded the Long Island-based 800th Military Police Brigade that ran all of Iraq’s prisons, including Abu Ghraib.
This disgrace to the uniform hasn't missed a chance to attack her country since she was busted for her contribution to the abuse in January, 2004.
In his final report, Major General Antonio Taguba blamed Karpinski for the abuse by not paying attention to the daily operations of the prison. According to Taguba, Karpinski rarely visited the prisons during her tenure, and she reviewed and signed reports about claims of abuse without following up to make sure her orders were carried out. As a consequence, the abuse was allowed to continue and her subordinates developed a lax attitude towards protocol. Brigadier General Karpinski was cited throughout the Taguba Report for repeated violations of Army procedure, good management and exercising her command as directed by Army regulations. During interviews it was reported within the Taguba report that Brigadier General Karpinski was disconnected from the reality of the situation in her area of command.That was four months before CBS broadcast the photos that transformed the story from an Army disciplinary action to a world wide scandal that changed the course of the war in Iraq."14. (U) During the course of this investigation I conducted a lengthy interview with BG Karpinski that lasted over four hours, and is included verbatim in the investigation Annexes. BG Karpinski was extremely emotional during much of her testimony. What I found particularly disturbing in her testimony was her complete unwillingness to either understand or accept that many of the problems inherent in the 800th MP Brigade were caused or exacerbated by poor leadership and the refusal of her command to both establish and enforce basic standards and principles among its soldiers. (ANNEX 45 and the Personal Observations of the Interview Team)General Karpinski was issued a Memorandum of Admonishment by LTG Sanchez, Commander, CJTF-7, on 17 January 2004.
Read more about Karpinski's post-military career activities here, here, and here.
