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January 17, 2005
No Regrets
Specialist Graner said he had no regrets, even as he was led in shackles from the courtroom after being sentenced to 10 years over his actions in Abu Ghraib.
He certainly takes his cue from his commander-in-chief. Last week, even as the administration publicly gave up pretending to search for those "missing" weapons of mass destruction, White House Press Secretary Scott McLellan remained unfazed ""Based on what we know today, the president would have taken the same action because this is about protecting the American people." Bush probably won't even stop arguing the weapons were somehow smuggled, hidden, dismantled. It's not like he will be held accountable for statements like this from September, 2003:
"I think he dispersed them. I think he is so adapted at deceiving the civilized world for a long period of time that it's going to take a while for the troops to unravel. But I firmly believe he had weapons of mass destruction. I know he used them at one time."
You see, according to Bush, "accountability moment" has come and gone with the election. He won and that's it. In some sense, can you blame him for thinking this day? Recent polls show that six in ten people feel hopeful about Bush's second term:
Nearly two-thirds of those polled described Bush as likable, strong and intelligent. A majority said he is dependable and honest.
A majority said he's honest -- this, after so many lies with such deadly consequences have been exposed time after time. On the one hand, it's clear that the media have been failing miserably. On the other hand, the lies are so blatant, so in-your-face, it's hard to argue this is just the propaganda system at work. Somehow, people seem to not want to come to terms with what their country is doing. The stratgey seems to be, I guess, ok, let's continue hiding our heads in the sand and pretend the rest of the world does not exist.
Graner, being small fish, will pay some price for his actions, regrets or none. His lawyer has correctly pointed out the different treatment he received compared to all the other soldiers who've been tried in connection with Abu Ghraib:
Womack said look no further than the final glimpses of Graner to see what he calls the attitude of the Government. Graner was in shackles and cuffs as he was led past the unblinking eye of the media. The other four soldiers sentenced were slipped out the back of the building.
Bush, on the other hand, will now go on and attend $40-$50 million "inaugration festivities;" express no regrets; make plans to attack Iran, continue the occupation of Iraq with terrible consequences for people of Iraq as well as for soldiers deployed there as part of an unwanted, unpopular occupation; appoint as Attorney General the man who devised ways torturers can legally defend themselves; and appoint as Secretary of State the woman who has loyally repeated whatever lie she needed to repeat in order to push the warmongering agenda... Why shouldn't specialist Graner not correctly perceive all that has happened is that he's being punished because he was too eager with his digital camera. Why should he feel like he's done anything wrong?
Posted by zeynep at January 17, 2005 01:55 PM
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