Letter from high-ranking retired ... Armed forces to .. McCain ...

[struggle4progress]

Letter from high-ranking retired members of the U.S. Armed forces to Senator John McCain, dated September 2005

September, 2005

Dear Senator McCain:<snip>

The abuse of prisoners hurts America’s cause in the war on terror, endangers U.S. service members who might be captured by the enemy, and is anathema to the values Americans have held dear for generations. For many years, those values have been embodied in the Army Field Manual. The Manual applies the wisdom and experience gained by military interrogators in conflicts against both regular and irregular foes. It authorizes techniques that have proven effective in extracting life-saving information from the most hardened enemy prisoners. It also recognizes that torture and cruel treatment are ineffective methods, because they induce prisoners to say what their interrogators want to hear, even if it is not true, while bringing discredit upon the United States. <snip>

Sincerely,


General Joseph Hoar, USMC (Ret.)
General John Shalikashvili, USA (Ret.)
General Donn A. Starry, USA (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Ron Adams, USA (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Robert G. Gard, Jr., USA (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Jay M. Garner, USA (Ret.)
Vice Admiral Lee F. Gunn, USN (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Claudia J. Kennedy, USA (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Charles Otstott, USA (Ret.)
Vice Admiral Jack Shanahan, USN (Ret.)
Major General Eugene Fox, USA (Ret.)
Major General John L. Fugh, USA (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Donald J. Guter, USN (Ret.)
Major General Fred E. Haynes, USMC (Ret.)
Rear Admiral John D. Hutson, USN (Ret.)
Major General Melvyn Montano, ANG (Ret.)
Major General Robert H. Scales, USA (Ret.)
Major General Michael J. Scotti, USA (Ret.)
Brigadier General David M. Brahms, USMC (Ret.)
Brigadier General James Cullen, USA (Ret.)
Brigadier General Evelyn P. Foote, USA (Ret.)
Brigadier General David R. Irvine, USA (Ret.)
Brigadier General Richard O’Meara, USA (Ret.)
Brigadier General John K. Schmitt, USA (Ret.)
Brigadier General Stephen N. Xenakis, USA (Ret.)
Ambassador/Former Vietnam POW Douglas "Pete" Peterson, USAF (Ret.)
Former Vietnam POW Commander Frederick C. Baldock, USN (Ret.)
Former Vietnam POW Commander Phillip N. Butler, USN (Ret.)

http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/news/politics/12825795.htm


Letter from General Colin Powell to Sen. McCain
October 5, 2005

Dear Senator McCain, <snip>

I fully support this amendment. Further, I join General Shalikashvili and the long list of other senior officers who have written you a letter in support of the Amendment.

Our troops need to hear from the Congress, which has an obligation to speak to such matters under Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution. I also believe the world will note that America is making a clear statement with respect to the expected future behavior of our soldiers. Such a reaction will help deal with the terrible public diplomacy crisis created by Abu Ghraib.

Sincerely,

General Colin L. Powell, USA (Retired)

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/politics/12825913.htm

[melissinha]

1. OMG

Powell's response is telling..... "Such a reaction will help deal with the terrible public diplomacy crisis created by Abu Ghraib."

[orion9941]

2. It truly saddens me to see how far our country has fallen.

My family in Germany asks when the America they know and love is coming back. I tell them that we would like to know the same thing over here too.

[cassiepriam]

5. tell them it is not looking like anytime soon, it gets worse by the day.

[SharonAnn]

3. Yes. "It's not about who they are. It's about who we are."

"It's not about who they are. It's about who we are."

Sen. John McCain

On this, I totally agree with him.

[cassiepriam]

4. And who we are is not a pretty picture....What a disgrace....

retired generals have to beg congress to prohibit torture.

[MADem]

6. I know a bunch of those guys!!!!

Good on 'em!!

[yurbud]

7. gave a nom for Powell turning on the chimp

Powell has his faults, but it astonishes me that the GOP passed him up as a candidate to give us the embarrassing sack of shit we're stuck with now.

But of course as Powell proves here, he has a mind of his own and instead of having no mind at all, which is why he was chosen over the moral and mental pygmy in the oval office.

[struggle4progress]

8. There are some important differences between conservatives ..

.. like McCain or Powell, with whom I often disagree, but who do have consciences, and the craven self-satisfied demagogues who currently control the Republican agenda ...

[teryang]

9. The crisis started in the executive office and secdef

...not Abu Ghraid. This anything goes, damn international law, invasion and torture policy began at the very top. Abu Ghraid is only a symptom of a very sick, sick, body politic.

[bemildred]

10. McCain does not give a shit about the military.

That ought to be clear, otherwise he would have attempted
to do something by now. Instead he trys to shore up the
Bushites and salvage the debacle in Iraq. That's what
McCain cares about.

[MasonJar]

11. What a distinguished group! It seems the Senate was also im-

pressed since the vote was 97 to 0. Naturally the victim of torture like McCain would speak out against others being tortured, but he certainly is a proponent of continuing this unconscionable war.