Does Australia support abuse?
Well, it didn’t take long for the Fairfax papers to confirm that Uncle was wrong. As I pointed out, Major George O’Kane helped draft the Coalition’s official response to an ICRC report on its visit to Abu Ghraib in October 2003. As the Age says:
The letter Major O’Kane helped draft begins: “Thank you for your letter dated 12 November, 2003, enclosing the confidential work papers relating to visits to Camp Cropper and Abu Ghraib in October.”
In other words, O’Kane clearly knew about the serious prisoner abuse claims by (at the latest) early November. I’d like to see how Uncle spins this one.
Now, Robert Hill is going to prevent the Senate Estimates Committee calling Major O’Kane to give evidence. That would truly be a cover-up: I, for one, would like to know how closely Australian troops have been working on bypassing the Geneva Convention.
Hearing about the mistreatment of prisoners is one thing, actively legitimising it is far worse.
The “involved” dodge by Howard on this reeks. And did I hear a “not brought to my attention”? Keep sniffing.
I think if you really need to ponder this topic, you should have a look at the medically documented evidence of human rights abuses in Australia, as per DICWA’s report to the United Nations in 2002 which strangely has not been addressed[at all]. You wont be able to access this info via their website however, as since the time of the submission of the report, there was no longer enough funding to support updating this very important information on their website.
A fascinating aspect of the whole ‘debate’, is how so many non-intellectually impaired partisans seem to believe those ‘at the top’ knew precisely what was happening. You don’t have to be very bright [once you take off the emotional blinkers] to realise that NO senior person who was even moderately competent, for example, would approve a system which had half baked weekend warriors with their sorts of backgrounds, being permitted to video what was happening.
What happened was appalling. It’s the sort of behaviour that arises when low level [in both senses of the phrase] operatives have not been kept tightly on the leash.
But if it makes you happy to ‘believe’ that Howard or the Australian Bureaucrats knew all about it, who am I to try to take away your dreams? It’s far too pleasant a dream to expect you to let go of it voluntarily.
denial ain’ a river in egypt Norman