DU Yahoo story: At Rummy's Bizarro Pentagon, Torture is Rewarded While Sex

[pbartch]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/huffpost/20050811/cm_huffpost/005427

At Rummy's Bizarro Pentagon, Torture is Rewarded While Sex is a Firing Offense
Arianna Huffington Wed Aug 10,10:41 PM ET

Here’s all the proof you need that the lunatics have taken over the Pentagon and DoD asylums (that is, if the lunacy of their Iraq policies hadn’t already convinced you): Four-star General Kevin Byrnes, the third most senior of the Army’s 11 four-star generals, was sacked over allegations that he had an extramarital affair. Meanwhile, Lt. General Ricardo Sanchez, the senior commander in Iraq during the Abu Ghraib torture and abuse scandal, is being considered for promotion to, yep, four-star general.

<snip>
Was the affair with a man? Was the man underage? Did he not only ask, but also tell? Was, say, one of the Bush twins involved? Did the illicit liaison entail incredibly kinky behavior... something involving a dog leash, women’s panties, fake blood, a Koran, and a Lynddie England mask?

<snip>

My only question is: was Rummy given photos of Gen. Byrnes en flagrante delicto? Must have been. If you’ll recall, Rumsfeld told Congress that it took him months to look into the reports of abuse at Abu Ghraib because, even though he’d been alerted that U.S. soldiers were humiliating and torturing naked Iraqi prisoners, “It is the photographs that give one the vivid realization of what actually took place. Words don’t do it.”

<snip>
Here is the vile and pathetic scorecard from the Abu Ghraib/Guantanamo outrages: Only one high ranking officer involved has been demoted (Gen. Janis Karpinski, the former head officer at the prison). One! Indeed, many of the others involved have been promoted, including two senior officers who oversaw or advised on detention and interrogations operations in Iraq -- former deputy commander Maj. Gen. Walter Wodjakowski and Col. Marc Warren, formerly the U.S.’s top military lawyer in Baghdad. And the former top intelligence officer in Iraq, Maj. Gen. Barbara Fast, was also given a promotion. Meanwhile Maj. General Geoffrey Miller, who had a hand in both Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo, and who new evidence strongly suggests instigated some of the worst interrogation tactics, has yet to be held accountable... The same, of course, goes for Rumsfeld.

The message is clear: overseeing a system that led to prisoners being buggered with chemical lights and having electrodes attached to their genitals will get you a leg up in Bush’s military; giving the high, hard one to someone other than your wife will get you booted out the door.

Gee, it looks like David Brooks is right -- we really have become a more virtuous country.

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. Thanks, Arianna! You tell it!

[ellenfl]

2. this comes as no surprise after how clinton was treated.

to the fundies, sex is the gravest of crimes.

ellen fl

[cdb]

4. Not just fundies...it is the culture here

think about TV... you can see violence on tv 24/7... on most channels somebody is getting shot or beaten, but sex?? Nope.

[MADem]

3. Before anyone starts feeling sorry for the diddling General

Keep this in mind.

At the three star level and above, the White House staff, if not the President himself (and sometimes the Commander in Chief DOES get involved), is very, very vested in the selection process. These guys do not go through a selection board like ordinary officers, they get put on a list by the SECDEF, and the toadies at the White House go over it with a fine toothed comb, and pick the "best fit" to match their worldview. The diddling General was promoted BY BushCo. His conduct had to be egregious, scandalous, very prejudicial to good order and discipline, and/or his wife was ready to go public in a screaming fit. The only reason this guy was "got gone" is because it would have been a serious distraction and there was no way to cover it up or cast doubt on any accusation.

What happened with Sanchez, I agree, is even more disgraceful, but two wrongs never make a right. And Sanchez, clearly, has no ethics, else he wouldn't still be serving.

Here's a prime example of the bullshit that goes on, and the politics that happens at the three and four star level--do take the time to click and read, and keep in mind that the General in this article I cite made his considerable reputation under Clinton. You will see what I am trying to say....

http://www.military.com/NewContent/0,13190,Galloway_091003,00.html

[ellenfl]

5. i heard that it wasn't the affair that downed

him, it was the fact he disobeyed a direct order to end the affair.

ellen fl

[MADem]

6. That sounds about right

If it can be swept under the rug, at that paygrade, SWEEP AWAY!

But when you thumb your nose when you are in fact given a huge break, one that your subordinates would not get under any circumstances, then all bets are off.

Is your source connected to the imbroglio?? I'd be interested in hearing the inside story on this case...

[ellenfl]

7. sorry, don't remember where i heard it . . .

maybe on ed schultz.

ellen fl

[MADem]

8. Turns out your info was right on the mark!

WAPO, a Brit paper and the US wires have picked up the story, and they are questioning why this guy got nailed so hard, especially since he was separated from the wife from 04 and his divorce became final on the day the relieved him for cause. There's another thread on this very issue with a lot of links http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1687961

Having seen this sort of thing before, I was inclined to believe that his behavior had to be at issue (usually they will find a way around it) but now I am of the mind that it wasn't his personal behavior, but his PROFESSIONAL OPINIONS that got him fried...