Lt. Col. Steven L. Jordan this week was cleared of all criminal charges regarding the Abu Ghraib scandal.Jordan, 51, had been acquitted in August at his court-martial of charges he failed to supervise the 11 lower-ranking soldiers who were convicted for what was deemed to be abuse of Iraqi prisoners. But Jordan was convicted of disobeying an order not to talk about the investigation, with the military jury recommending a criminal reprimand, the lightest possible criminal punishment.
This week, however, Jordan's lone conviction was thrown out by Maj. Gen. Richard J. Rowe, commanding officer of the Military District of Washington, D.C. Jordan will receive an administrative reprimand.
* * *
Somewhere out there, as we speak, there's a young liberal student who's becoming very angry.
They're twitching. They're starting to foam at the mouth. They're reflexively wanting to burn an American flag and to make paper mache figurines of Bush and Cheney wearing Nazi regalia.
Seriously.
* * *
The entire Abu Ghraib kerfuffle was nothing more than a garden-variety case of stupid soldiers doing stupid things, but within the context of a deranged and virulent media that was hell bent on destroying the Bush presidency, and electing a Democrat in his stead, regardless of the costs.
* * *
Here's a link to the source material for this entry, an article by Ben Nuckols of the Associated Press. For obvious reasons Mr. Nuckols' work is couched in very different terms.
Permalink | E-mail This | Technorati Links | Sphere: Related Content | Digg this! | FARK It!
Filed under:
Abu Ghraib
Comments (7)
The media's performance her... (Below threshold)1. Posted by Jim Addison | January 10, 2008 11:17 PM | Score: 2 (2 votes cast)
The media's performance here takes the prize for the number of headline stories relative to the importance of the actual news. I think the "Runaway Bride" took second place.
Notice the same outlets, print and electronic, which covered Abu Ghraib with literally hundreds of stories, cannot find the available space/time for news of current events in Iraq. Which, a thoughtful person might ask, is the more significant?
1. Posted by Jim Addison | January 10, 2008 11:17 PM |
Score: 2 (2 votes cast)
Posted on January 10, 2008 23:17
2. Posted by Scrapiron | January 10, 2008 11:32 PM | Score: 1 (3 votes cast)
I think we should demand that every college Frat member that hazes a newbie be subjected to the same news, trials, and punishment. That way we can be sure to catch at least one of the left wing liberal news media types kid in a trap. See how much they scream then. 5 to 10 in prison for hazing without injuring anyone might wake them up.
2. Posted by Scrapiron | January 10, 2008 11:32 PM |
Score: 1 (3 votes cast)
Posted on January 10, 2008 23:32
3. Posted by kindlingman | January 10, 2008 11:43 PM | Score: -8 (10 votes cast)
"The entire Abu Ghraib kerfuffle was nothing more than a garden-variety case of stupid soldiers doing stupid things, but within the context of a deranged and virulent media that was hell bent on destroying the Bush presidency, and electing a Democrat in his stead, regardless of the costs."
Do you suffer from short term memory loss? OR are you dissembling?.... Kerfuffle? You have misused that word and misled the ignorant with your statements. Sir, you have no shame if you mischaracterize Abu Ghraib in that fashion.
The "media was deranged and virulent" while the CIA electroshocked and waterboarded detainees: a 'kerfuffle'?
What Bizarro world do you live in? The CIA performed torture techniques outside of the militaries' approved interrogation methods and induced the military to be complicit in the process.Period.
Why does everyone forget that there was civilian management of prison interrogations and military management of prisoners?
Good Lord, the increased rendition process was to allow the CIA to continue their work in places other than Abu Ghraib after that.
3. Posted by kindlingman | January 10, 2008 11:43 PM |
Score: -8 (10 votes cast)
Posted on January 10, 2008 23:43
4. Posted by SPQR | January 11, 2008 12:34 AM | Score: 3 (3 votes cast)
kindingman, actually you are confused and conflating different issues together, misrepresenting what was at issue at Abu Ghraib. Evidently you have no shame at best.
4. Posted by SPQR | January 11, 2008 12:34 AM |
Score: 3 (3 votes cast)
Posted on January 11, 2008 00:34
5. Posted by marc | January 11, 2008 12:47 AM | Score: 2 (4 votes cast)
"...and to make paper mache figurines of Bush and Cheney wearing Nazi regalia."
Better check the left side of the Congressional aisle. They may be collecting newspaper and Elmer's glue as we speak.
kindlingman - I'll be kind. For a very short second. Reread what your wrote and compare that to what this case and thread is about.
Now, your second of grace is over... you're so ill informed on this subject as to be laughable.
In short, you're an idiot.
5. Posted by marc | January 11, 2008 12:47 AM |
Score: 2 (4 votes cast)
Posted on January 11, 2008 00:47
6. Posted by ryan a | January 11, 2008 1:06 PM | Score: -1 (1 votes cast)
The entire Abu Ghraib kerfuffle was nothing more than a garden-variety case of stupid soldiers doing stupid things, but within the context of a deranged and virulent media that was hell bent on destroying the Bush presidency, and electing a Democrat in his stead, regardless of the costs.
The entire ordeal at Abu Ghraib was quite a bit more than "stupid soldiers doing stupid things," in my opinion. I can't believe you attempt to characterize those events as little more than "garden variety" pranks. It was torture, and it was something that we should not condone, let alone dismiss. I find it pretty amazing that you are able to do that so easily.
I understand that you have a political position here. I can understand the fact that you feel the media went haywire with this--as they tend to do with any and all stories of this kind. But I really don't think there is a need, even while defending your support of GW Bush, to be apologetic about Abu Ghraib.
This officer was cleared, and we should all respect that. But that doesn't mean that it was all media-induced nonsense. In my opinion, it was a case in which soldiers went overboard with the power they held over the people they controlled. It's not something I think we Americans should ignore or dismiss.
6. Posted by ryan a | January 11, 2008 1:06 PM |
Score: -1 (1 votes cast)
Posted on January 11, 2008 13:06
7. Posted by Brian | January 11, 2008 4:14 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
The entire Abu Ghraib kerfuffle was nothing more than a garden-variety case of...
Eleven convictions is just "garden-variety" behavior, eh? What a low opinion you must have of American soldiers.
7. Posted by Brian | January 11, 2008 4:14 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on January 11, 2008 16:14