Limbaugh says Iraqi abuse was 'Decent Punishment ' : Cleveland IMC (((i)))

Rush Limbaugh Continues to Justify Iraqi Prison Torture
Media Matters for America, 5/11/2004

WASHINGTON, May 11 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Media Matters for America has posted Rush Limbaugh's latest comments (May 10, 2004, Rush Limbaugh Show) about the torture of Abu Ghraib prisoners by U.S. Guards. Limbaugh continues to downplay the severity of the prison abuse, suggesting it was "decent punishment," and questioning the sincerity of the outrage expressed by Democrats, the media, and the public. Limbaugh continued that the prisoners were getting "a taste of (their) own medicine."

"Rush Limbaugh's consistently extreme commentary has operated with almost total impunity for far too long," Media Matters for America President David Brock said today. "Media Matters for America now has in place a system to monitor, analyze and correct conservative misinformation in the media -- including Rush Limbaugh, America's most listened-to political commentator."

Also on May 10, Limbaugh appeared to be referring to Media Matters for America in criticizing a new website for, he claimed, taking his quotes out of context : "I think what happens is that the media has come across a new website that's supposedly chronicling what I say, and they all go there and they read it and they see and then they take the propaganda of that website and repackage it and call it news. And they leave the context of my remarks out. For example, nowhere where I've been quoted have I been quoted as saying that I think what happened there is not good. I don't support it, and I don't encourage more of it. I have not said that -- or I have said that, they've not quoted me on that. There's a number of things that they've left out, uh, most of it context. But now there's just a central clearinghouse for out-of-context quotes from this program. They can go there and present as news, even though it's just repackaged propaganda."

"Rush Limbaugh falsely claims that Media Matters for America is taking his comments out of context," Brock said. "Since he does not point out any specific examples, we would encourage Mr. Limbaugh to show us where we have taken his words out of context. We stand by the validity of our reports."

"Limbaugh on latest photos of Iraqi prisoner abuse" and more analyses of conservative misinformation, can be found at the Media Matters for America website: http://www.mediamatters.org.

Media Matters for America is a Web-based, not-for-profit, progressive research and information center dedicated to comprehensively monitoring, analyzing, and correcting conservative misinformation in the U.S. media. Media Matters for America is the first organization to systematically monitor the media for conservative misinformation -- every day, in real time -- in 2004 and beyond. For more information, log on to http://www.mediamatters.org

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From the May 10 Rush Limbaugh Show:

Limbaugh on latest photos of Iraqi prisoner abuse

RUSH: Look, folks, let's just cut to the chase here, okay? I've been trying to very slowly and gently maneuver all of you into now. Here's cut-to-the-chase time. We all know what goes on in war. We all know that what's in these pictures we've seen -- and we haven't seen pictures of death -- even this latest picture of the dog and the nude Iraqi, have you seen that one? A couple of Americans are holding it looks like a German shepherd, some kind of vicious big dog, dogs are barking, bow-wow (barking sounds), the Iraqi prisoner is cowering there in fear, he's all nude, and the picture captions "dogs attack Iraqi". No, the dog isn't attacking anybody, the dog is on a leash. The dog is scaring an Iraqi prisoner. (Gasping.) No! We're scaring them, too. Is that allowed in the Geneva Convention? We're scaring them with dogs?

Yes, my friends, we are. The dog didn't attack anybody, dog's not the attacking anybody, dog is on a leash, both of them are. I've seen the picture. So, yeah, I mean I'd be scared too if I were nude and I'd been committing crimes against Americans, now the Americans have me in their prison and a couple of dogs barking at me? Yeah, I might be a little scared. So what? It's war! We all know what goes on in war. And here's what's happened. And I don't know how many of you are part of this group. I'm not part of this group, but there are a significant number of Americans -- let's leave the press and the Dems out of this because they're acting political here, they're acting and so are a lot of people, a lot of people are acting. They have to act outraged and surprised because that's what you think is expected of you.

How many of you went out to social occasions over the weekend, and this subject, this story came up? And how many of you wanted to really say, "I don't see the big deal here. This is war. These are people that tried to kill Americans." But you didn't say it or some variation of that because you were afraid that you were the bunch of people would start yelling at you for being insensitive or coarse or crude or whatever. So you said what you thought you had to say in order to get along during the controversial situation that this conversation came up wherever you were. How many of you did that? Admit it to yourself. You don't have to raise your hands out there. We're not counting hands here. I want you to think about it. Because the fact of the matter is that's what I think most people are doing. This is where my optimism and faith in people of this country remains steadfast. I don't think most people are that outraged by it. Let's put it this way, the public outrage nowhere near matches what we watched on television on Friday and yesterday. Exhibited by these holier-than-thou sanctimonious elected officials who are themselves acting and saying what they think you, their voters, want them to say, and what you their voters expect to hear.

Let's face it, folks, we live in a society where sometimes the truth has to be shaded, denied, covered up, in order to protect people's feelings, in order to just keep things on a even keel. Remember during the Clinton years had all these stories about how lying is good for America? Remember that? Saves people's hurt feelings, spares people pain, lies here and there are actually good. Well, I think that was a series of stories designed to mitigate damage against Clinton, because he'd been found in contempt of court for lying. Just like there's the most incredible story, and I actually had this, got it over the weekend. Where is this story? Oral sex -- can I say oral now without getting bleeped in Indianapolis? You heard about this? You see the front page of the New York Times today? I got bleeped 11 times in Indianapolis for using the word orgy, damn, and what's the other word? I forget. [talking to program observer] Urinate! Because it's an Emmis owned station and Emmis stations have been fined so they're not taking any chances. So I get this headline: Oral Sex to Cut Rates of Teenage Pregnancy, and I say, hmm, I'm sure I can say oral, but can I say sex? I can sail oral cavity, except how many people -- you go out and say epidermis, a lot of people think you're making a sex joke because they don't know what epidermis is. But look at this, this is from the UK Guardian, Oral Sex Lessons to Cut Rates of Teenage Pregnancy.

Did you hear this, Dawn? You have young daughters. Oral sex recommended to cut rates of teenaged pregnancy. And you watch, it won't be long before this will be heralded as one of the great legacies of the Clinton years. Folks, somebody asked you what you think about this prisoner thing just tell them the truth and I guarantee you the more people you will tell the truth will say yeah, I agree with you, than you know.

For Immediate Release
May 11, 2004
Aboard Air Force One En Route Fort Smith, Arkansas

Q Is there any difference you know of between the Vice President's reaction to this -- to these photos in the Iraqi abuse case, and the President's? All we've heard from the Vice President is that people should get off Don Rumsfeld's back.

MR. McCLELLAN: No, I think the President and the Vice President have expressed similar views strongly supporting Secretary Rumsfeld, who has served very ably during times -- during times of war.

Q My question's about the President's deep revulsion to the photos and the abuses. We haven't heard anything from --

MR. McCLELLAN: Look, you can talk to the Vice President's office, but I am sure he --

Q They were not returning calls --

MR. McCLELLAN: -- I am sure he shares the President's sentiments and the sentiments -- these are sentiments that the American people share, as well.

Q Was the Vice President talking about --

MR. McCLELLAN: Because they do not represent our United States military and the more than 200,000 people who have served very honorably in Iraq.

Q Do you think the Vice President will do the Rush Limbaugh show again, given his almost embrace of these photos?

MR. McCLELLAN: You can ask the -- ask those questions to the Vice President's office. They have a -- they have a press office.

Q They're not -- they're not returning calls about this matter. Is there a reason for that, that you know of?

MR. McCLELLAN: I think you can talk -- they talked to reporters over the weekend about some of the Vice President's views.

Q About Rumsfeld, but not about this specific incident and any revulsion to it, or --

MR. McCLELLAN: I haven't heard anything about that, but you're welcome to call them.

What happened to these prisoners was horrible, even if they were the baddest of the bad. The severety of the actions of seven idiots in the military should not be down played by Rush Limbaugh or anyone for that matter. I understand the outcry directed at the military and government leaders running the war on this issue. But where is the outrage when terrorist attack four American civilian contractors, mutilate them, burn them, and hang them from a bridge? I do not recall reading anything on here that labeled that incident a horrible inhumane act. Today a twenty six year old PA man had his head cut off by five Al Qaeda terrorist. The video of this act is all over the net. Where is the outrage and anger over this horrible act? Where is the condemnation of these terrorists? Where are the cries for justice and human rights? None of these acts by the American soldiers or the terrorist can be justified nor can they BE IGNORED.

Bush and the neocons who formulate his foreign policy borrowed their middle east strategy from the Israeli Zionists, who borrowed theirs from the US military one hundred years ago: antagonize the natives until they commit an atrocity against the settlers, and then roll in the military to wipe them out or pen them up in their reservations. It worked well in the western territories of the US and works well in the palestinian territories. If the neocons have their way, they hope to antagonize the entire muslim culture into committing atrocities against the west, and thereby persuade the europeans and the russians to join them in their crusade against the islamic terrorists who obstruct control of the oil the US desperately requires. Russia has plenty of energy resources, by the way, and would be happy to sell them to the EU and Japan, or even China. The US military, by itself, is not strong enough to subjugate the entire middle east (as Israel is not strong enough to subjugate the Palestinians), so the neocons hope to destabilize the region (and their energy supplies to Europe) until the Europeans are forced to join them in the military domination of the region (as the neocons have joined Sharon in his attempt to dominate the west bank). Lurid accounts of the US military abuse and torture and assassinatoin of Arab prisoners allow the neocons to continue to pursue their strategy of incitement and retaliation.

"That's really what cost my son his life, the fact that the United States government saw fit to keep him in custody for 13 days without any of his due process or civil rights," -- Mr Berg.

Parents of a UScontractor executed by Islamic militants in Iraq are blaming the Bush administration for his death, saying that US authorities had contributed to the tragedy by unlawfully detaining their son for nearly two weeks before his disappearance.

Michael Berg claimed yesterday that his son, Nick, was held by US authorities without access to a telephone or lawyer because of suspicions that he was an insurgent or terrorist. By the time he was finally released in early April, according to Mr Berg, the security situation had so deteriorated that it was difficult for him to make his way home...

Your dislike of Isreal is obvious and you don't seem to have a problem with what happened to Nick Berg. Nick Berg was Jewish. Coincidence?

Posted by mking:

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - An American civilian who was beheaded in a grisly video posted on an al-Qaeda-linked Web site was never in U.S. custody despite claims from his family, a coalition spokesman said Wednesday.

The body of Nicholas Berg, 26, was found Saturday near a highway overpass in Baghdad, the same day he was decapitated, a U.S. official said.

Berg, who was last in contact with U.S. officials in Baghdad on April 10, was shown in the video on a Web site bearing the title "Abu Musab al-Zarqawi shown slaughtering an American," referring to an associate of Osama bin Laden believed behind a wave of suicide bombings in Iraq.

The video posted Tuesday showed a bound Berg in an orange jumpsuit - similar to those issued to prisoners held by the American military at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He was sitting in front of five men, their faces masked, as one read an anti-American text.

After pushing Berg to the floor, the men severed his head using sawing motions with a big knife and held it up for the camera. They said his killing was in response to the abuse of Iraqis at Abu Ghraib prison.

The body of the self-employed telecommunications businessman from West Chester, Pa., was being flown to Dover, Del., on an Air Force plane, the military said.

But unanswered questions remained about Berg in the days before he vanished, as well as where and when he was abducted.

Berg, who was Jewish, spoke to his parents March 24 and told them he would return home on March 30, according to his family in suburban Philadelphia.

But Berg was detained by Iraqi police at a checkpoint in Mosul on March 24. He was turned over to U.S. officials and detained for 13 days, the family said.

His father, Michael, said his son was not allowed to make phone calls or contact a lawyer.

Coalition spokesman Dan Senor told reporters that Berg was detained by Iraqi police in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. The Iraqis informed the Americans, and the FBI questioned him three times about what he was doing in Iraq.

Senor said that to his knowledge Berg "was at no time under the jurisdiction or detention of coalition forces."

Michael Berg told The Associated Press, however, that U.S. officials were "playing word games."

"The Iraqi police do not tell the FBI what to do. The FBI tells the Iraqi police what to do. Who do they think they're kidding?" the elder Berg said.

Calls by the AP to police in Mosul failed to find anyone who could confirm Berg was held there. The U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority runs Iraq, controlling not only the police, but the military and all government ministries.

FBI agents visited Berg's parents March 31 and told the family they were trying to confirm their son's identity.

On April 5, the Bergs filed suit in federal court in Philadelphia, contending their son was being held illegally by the U.S. military. The next day, Berg was released. He told his parents he had not been mistreated.

Berg's father blamed the U.S. government for creating circumstances that led to his son's death, saying if his son had not been detained for so long, he might have been able to leave Iraq before the violence worsened.

"I think a lot of people are fed up with the lack of civil rights this thing has caused," Michael Berg said. "I don't think this administration is committed to democracy."

Asked for details about Berg's last weeks in Iraq, Senor replied: "We are obviously trying to piece all this together, and there's a thorough investigation." He said he was reluctant to release details but did not say why.

"The U.S. government is committed to a very thorough and robust investigation to get to the bottom of this," Senor said, adding that "multiple" U.S. agencies would be involved and that the FBI would probably have overall direction.

Senor said that in Iraq, Berg had no affiliation with the U.S. government, the coalition or "to my knowledge" any coalition-affiliated contractor. But Senor would not specify why Iraqi police, who generally take direction from coalition authorities, had arrested him and held him.

Police in Mosul "suspected that he was engaged in suspicious activities," Senor said, refusing to elaborate. Berg was released April 6 and advised to leave the country, Senor added.

Michael Berg said that in early April, his son refused a U.S. offer to board an outbound charter flight because he thought the travel to the airport - through an area where attacks had occurred - was too risky.

State Department spokeswoman Kelly Shannon said that on April 10, Berg told a U.S. consular officer in Baghdad that he wanted instead to travel to Kuwait on his own.

Berg apparently had an Iraqi in-law in the Mosul area, according to emails to his family.

Brig. Gen Mark Kimmitt said the only role the U.S. military played in Berg's confinement was to liaise with the Iraqi police to make sure he was being fed and properly treated because "he was still an American citizen."

It was unclear whether al-Zarqawi was shown in the Web site video or simply ordered the killing. Al-Zarqawi also is sought in the assassination of a U.S. diplomat in Jordan in 2002, and Washington has offered a $10 million reward for information leading to his capture or killing.

Berg's father, brother and sister wept in their front yard Tuesday when told of the video.

"I knew he was decapitated before," said his father, Michael. "That manner is preferable to a long and torturous death. But I didn't want it to become public."

The father said "there's a better chance than not" that his son's captors knew he was Jewish. "If there was any doubt that they were going to kill him, that probably clinched it, I'm guessing," he said.

Michael Berg said that in early April, his son refused a U.S. offer in to board an outbound charter jet because he thought the travel to the airport - through an area where attacks had occurred - would be too dangerous.

Amnesty International condemned the killing as "a serious crime under international law," and said those responsible should be brought to justice.

President Bush said "there's no justification" for Berg's slaying and that those who beheaded Berg wanted to "shake" America's resolve in bringing democracy to Iraq.

U.S. officials fear the savage killing might prompt more foreigners working on international reconstruction projects to flee the country.

Since the security situation deteriorated last month, about three out of 10 Americans and other non-Iraqis involved in reconstruction projects financed by the U.S. Agency for International Development have fled Iraq, the USAID director Andrew Natsios told The Associated Press.

Berg's killing happened amid a climate of intense anti-Western sentiment, which flared in Iraq after last month's crackdown on Shiite extremists and the three-week Marine siege of Fallujah west of Baghdad. Anger at the United States swelled with the publication of photographs showing Iraqis abused and humiliated at Abu Ghraib prison, which continue to stir rage throughout the Arab world.

U.S. officials had feared the shocking photographs would endanger the lives of American troops and civilians.

Seven soldiers from the 372nd Military Police Company face charges in the mistreatment of prisoners at Abu Ghraib in a scandal that has sparked worldwide outrage. One of those soldiers faces a court-martial in Baghdad next week, the first to go to trial.

At one point in the video, Berg addressed the camera.

"My name is Nick Berg. My father's name is Michael. My mother's name is Suzanne," he said while seated in a chair. "I have a brother and sister, David and Sara. I live in ... Philadelphia."

The video then showed Berg sitting on the floor, his hands tied behind his back, flanked by the masked men, as a statement was read in Arabic. Berg sat still during the statement, facing the camera, occasionally raising his shoulders.

The men said they had tried to trade him for prisoners at Abu Ghraib.

"For the mothers and wives of American soldiers, we tell you that we offered the U.S. administration to exchange this hostage for some of the detainees in Abu Ghraib, and they refused," one of the men read.

"So we tell you that the dignity of the Muslim men and women in Abu Ghraib and others is not redeemed except by blood and souls. You will not receive anything from us but coffins after coffins ... slaughtered in this way."

After the statement, the assailant directly behind Berg took a large knife from under his clothing while another pulled Berg onto his side. The video showed assailants thrusting the knife through his neck as a scream sounded before the men cut Berg's head off, repeatedly shouting "Allahu akbar!" - or "God is great."

They then held the head up to the camera.

The video is of poor quality, and its time stamp seems to show an 11-hour lapse between when the assailants finish their statement and push Berg down, to when they behead him. That suggests a delay between those two portions of tape posted on the Web site.

The decapitation recalled the kidnapping and videotaped beheading of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. Last month, Iraqi militants also videotaped the killing of Italian hostage Fabrizio Quattrocchi.

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You've made your point, you hate America and Isreal. But you still will note denounce what happened to Nick Berg? You see nothing wrong with these kind of acts as long as they are against Americans or Israelis? Sick.

Cleveland Indy Media Center