Kucinich Condemns U.S. Abuse of Iraqi Detainees as Acts of Betrayal
The following is a press release from May 1, 2004, by the Kucinich campaign
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Kucinich Condemns U.S. Abuse of Iraqi Detainees as Acts of Betrayal
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 1, 2004
Contact: Matt Harris, (216) 403-3980, media@kucinich.us, Terre Lundy, (515) 988-5534
Amid growing revelations of additional cases of torture and abuse against Iraqi detainees by U.S. and British troops, Democratic Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich today condemned the actions as a "betrayal of the principles of freedom, human rights, and justice that the Bush Administration has attempted to use to justify this unjust war."
"Each day brings new stories and photographs of the outrages being perpetrated against a people whose lives, liberties, and pursuit of a more hopeful future have been the Bush Administration's 'battle cry' since the beginning," Kucinich said. "When the true costs of this war are tallied, the price will have to include the savagery and inhumanity that have been inflicted - not just on the people of an occupied nation, but on the hearts and minds and souls of the people who occupied them."
Photographs published in Britain's Daily Mirror today show an Iraqi being battered with rifle butts, threatened with execution, and urinated on by British troops. During his eight-hour ordeal, the suspected thief had his jaw broken and teeth smashed, the Mirror reported.
The news follows the publication of photographs and videos showing US troops humiliating and torturing Iraqi prisoners. "These are atrocities committed against a people who lived through years of atrocities by a brutal dictator. Now, some are suffering the same fate under the flags of collation forces who are there, ostensibly, to spread freedom and restore stability. What kind of choice are we giving the Iraqi people - the brutality of Saddam Hussein or that of the U.S. occupying army?"
Kucinich said he hopes the recent reports reflect only rare and isolated examples. "I have the highest regard for our men and women and uniform, and I am confident that the overwhelming majority of them are performing admirably under unimaginably difficult circumstances."
Kucinich, who opposed the original war authorization resolution in the U.S. Congress in 2002 and who has made the withdrawal of U.S forces a centerpiece of his presidential campaign, said he is concerned that these recent revelations will increase the risks facing U.S. forces. Growing opposition and hostility among political and religious factions in Iraq toward the U.S. resulted in making April the bloodiest and deadliest month of the occupation, Kucinich noted. "Our troops have been targets all along," he said, "but now, they may face the wrath not just of insurgents and militias, but of the population in general.
"We have to get out of Iraq. That is the mission we have to accomplish," he said, ironically echoing President Bush's assertion of victory a year ago today. He again called on the leadership of the Democratic Party to join him in demanding the withdrawal of U.S. troops and a transfer of peacekeeping operations, administration, and management of Iraqi assets and reconstruction contracts to the United Nations.
"We have to stop calling for more troops, more money, and an as-long-as-takes mentality. How can we commit to an occupation without end? How can we allow our men and women in uniform to continue facing even greater risks? How can we tell the world community that we stand for peace and liberty and human rights when our mere presence in Iraq challenges those very same principles?"
Kucinich also said he was alarmed at plans quietly advancing in the Congress to set up "an emergency pool of funds" outside the normal appropriations process to support ongoing military operations in Iraq. Some Republican lawmakers are pushing the plan, which would make it unnecessary for the Bush Administration to return to Congress and publicly ask for supplemental appropriations. They are considering setting up a special reserve fund to pay for U.S. military operations in Iraq, which would avert the need for President Bush to formally request additional funds before his November re-election fight.
Under the reserve fund plan, congressional leaders could release money to the Pentagon while Congress is on recess later this year. The Pentagon has already said it will need at least an additional $4 billion beginning in September.
Such a plan, Kucinich argued, "would permit the Congress to give the Bush Administration a book of blank checks that will cause the war to be prolonged, the casualties to increase, the costs to continue to soar. My campaign," Kucinich concluded, "will allow voters to send a loud and clear message to the Congress, to the Bush Administration and to the leadership of the Democratic Party the price we've paid is already too high, the objectives are undefinable, and it's time for a totally new direction: not sending more troops there; bringing our troops back home."
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