Colin Powell's former Chief of Staff has something to say
Now, in a sworn declaration obtained exclusively by Truthout, Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, who was chief of staff to former Secretary of State Colin Powell during George W. Bush's first term in office, said he would be willing to state, under penalty of perjury, what top Bush officials knew and when they knew it.
He claims that Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and others knew the "vast majority" of prisoners captured in the so-called War on Terror were innocent and the administration refused to set them free once those facts were established because of the political repercussions that would have ensued...
"Their view was that innocent people languishing in Guantánamo for years was justified by the broader war on terror and the capture of the small number of terrorists who were responsible for the September 11 attacks, or other acts of terrorism," Wilkerson added. "Moreover, their detention was deemed acceptable if it led to a more complete and satisfactory intelligence picture with regard to Iraq, thus justifying the Administration’s plans for war with that country."
Via
Reddit.
For some reason, I'm surprised. Col. Wilkerson's been speaking out a long time, and I've always found him credible. We've known a long time that people were imprisoned because someone from a rival tribe wrongly pointed the finger at them and someone went along for whatever reason, but I didn't necessarily think Bush was involved. Cheney, yes. Powell should speak out more. Perhaps he's gotten too comfortable being an hnorary member of corporate boards. perhaps when you speak out, you become too controversial and don't get recognized or appointed to prestigious committees by people in political offices who don't want to be partisan, thus weakening what the committees are supposed to be nonbiased about.
ReplyDeleteI would love to see Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld prosecuted for war crimes. To comment on Anonymous, I originally thought that Bush was just a puppet to be manipulated by Cheney, Rumsfeld, etc., but now I think he's equally culpable.
ReplyDeleteI would love to see Bush, Cheney, Rumsffeld, et al. be prosecuted for war crimes. As a comment on what Anonymous said, I used to think that Bush was just a puppet figurehead to be manipulated by Cheney, Rumsfeld, etc., but no I realize he is equally culpable.
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