"told everyone in the world" news release photo

[deek]

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld told Congress Friday, May 7, 2004 the U.S. military had 'told everyone in the world' in January 2004 it was investigating alleged abuses of prisoners in Iraq (news - web sites). The full text of the announcement by the U.S. Central Command in Florida Jan. 16, 2004 is seen in this handout image from the Department of Defense (news - web sites). (AP Photo/Department of Defense)

rate it at http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/040507/480/wx10905071947&e=3&ncid=1479

~~~presently at 3.0 with 2 votes

[NMDemDist2]

1. do we know when the pics were taken?

any dates on any of those pictures?

[RobertSeattle]

2. Note Jan 16 was a Friday

Friday is always a great day to "drop" bad news.

Here's the "original"

http://www.centcom.mil/CENTCOMNews/News_Release.asp?NewsRelease=20040143.txt

[ThomWV]

3. You Can Bet

If those fucking pictures had not hit the news channels you would have never heard another word about any of this, you can bet your ass on it.

[Jacobin]

4. Ah yes. Innoculated himself with that little

blurb.

How clever and cunning to "disclose" the problem.

:puke:

[peekaloo]

5. did ya catch Rummy's "CNN was there asking questions"?

:eyes:

[deek]

6. would be interesting to see the cnn tape n/t

.

[calimary]

8. Uh, sorry, rummy. THEY WEREN'T!

There wasn't a PEEP out of ANYBODY.

[calimary]

7. That's awfully teeny printing on that. The whole thing looks like

fine print.

I've already called Kennedy's and Pryor's offices about this. They're inevitably going to be hit with "gotcha" questions by the Tim Russerts and the Chris Matthewses and the Wolf Blitzers, picking up on rummy's lead of "this was announced to the world on January 14th, and it was announced to the world again in March..." rummy was trying to throw it back on THEM for being negligent (HA!, Pot, meet kettle!) in that they missed this and did nothing about it, and in effect, they knew about it way in advance, too.

Well, fine then.

Here's how they need to respond: "it's funny that YOU as a reporter/interviewer/talk show host/media person/news anchor would bring this up. Because frankly, we mustn't forget that the MEDIA missed this one, too. If indeed this WAS 'announced to the world' in mid January, and "announced to the world again" in March, weren't YOU in that world, too? Where were you on this? Why weren't you jumping all over this then, instead of being jolted awake only when these pictures got leaked?"

THAT'S what you say. THAT'S how you respond. THAT'S how you win the "gotcha" game. The media is EVERY BIT AS GUILTY HERE, FOR BEING AS ASLEEP AT THE SWITCH AS ANYBODY rUMMY ACCUSED OF BEING SO, ON THAT PANEL. I wrote an email to Joe Scarborough about this, too, after seeing him spinning this all to heck after the Senate panel hearing finished. Joe, YOU were on the air then, with your talk show. YOU were in "the world" when these announcements were made. WHERE WERE YOU?

The media IS SEVERELY TO BLAME for this as well. I say this as a retired member of that media. THEY missed it, too, and thus did a GROSS disservice to America, our troops, those abused prisoners, and "the world." HOW much sooner could we have gotten to the bottom of this, had the media done its job, and been watchdogs rather than lapdogs?

[Old and In the Way]

9. I'm sure if some journalists had followed up, they'd have gotten

"0" cooperation from the military for more information. It would have been 'investigated' until it was forgotten.

[muriel_volestrangler]

10. The earliest report I've found so far was January 20th

from CNN:

"Sources have revealed new details from the Army's criminal investigation into reports of abuse of Iraqi detainees, including the location of the suspected crimes and evidence that is being sought.

U.S. soldiers reportedly posed for photographs with partially unclothed Iraqi prisoners, a Pentagon official told CNN on Tuesday."

http://edition.cnn.com/2004/US/01/20/sprj.nirq.abuse/

"Partially unclothed" presumably means the hood was still on ...