Friday, June 19, 2009
When the new commander of the war in Afghanistan, Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, testified before Congress last week, he gave lawmakers the impression that he was not a supporter of the torture methods employed by the military against insurgents in Iraq, and tried to stop it. But Senator Russell Feingold (D-WI) wasn’t convinced that McChrystal, who oversaw all military commando operations until his promotion, was being completely honest during his testimony.
Instead of publicizing his concerns, Feingold quietly published them in the Congressional Record, saying the general’s testimony “appears to be incomplete, at best.” He also expressed doubts about McChrystal being “uncomfortable” with some forms of torture, due to the general’s declared support for other “techniques” used to make detainees talk.
While McChrystal was in charge of the U.S. Special Operations Command, members of the Special Forces helped operate prisoner camps in Iraq where detainees were allegedly abused, including severe beatings with rifle butts, burning and more. One of these locations, Camp Nama, located at Baghdad International Airport, was reportedly posted with signs reading “No Blood, No Foul,” and soldiers often referred to the camp as “Nasty *ss Military Area.”
Despite his comments, Feingold did not object when the Senate approved McChrystal under unanimous consent to his new post in Afghanistan.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Senator Slams General's Torture Testimony (by Justin Rood, ABC News)
Stan McChrystal, Dick Cheny, and the Nuances of “Torture” (by Jihn H. Richardson, Esquire)
Who the Hell Is Stanley McChrystal? (by Tim Heffernan, Esquire)
New Afghan Commander Oversaw Torture Program (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)
“No Blood, No Foul”: Soldiers’ Accounts (Human Rights Watch)
Comments