Tuesday, May 24, 2005
Contacts:
Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624, mclarty@greens.org
Nancy Allen, Media Coordinator, 207-326-4576, nallen@acadia.net
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld must be
removed, say Green leaders, citing abuses of power.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Green Party leaders called on
Congress to begin immediate and far-reaching investigations of major
abuses by the Pentagon:
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Evidence of torture and abuse of detainees at
Abu Ghraib in Iraq, in Afghanistan, in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and
abuse at facilities in the U.S., especially at the Metropolitan
Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York.
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Recent reports that the Pentagon is unable to
account for more than a trillion dollars in financial transactions
and missing equipment; $8.8 billion in Iraqi oil sales unaccounted
for in a 2005 audit, according to the Special Inspector General for
Iraq Reconstruction.
"The astronomical waste of taxpayers' money,
torture of detainees, inadequate protection for U.S. troops facing enemy
fire, disregard for the effects of depleted uranium, and 1,600-plus
deaths of American personnel and tens of thousands of Iraqi civilian
deaths are more than a failure of accountability," said Gloria
Mattera, lead organizer of the demonstrations at the Brooklyn facility
and current Green candidate for Borough President in Brooklyn
<http://www.electgloria.org/>. "This is a massive abuse of
power. It deserves impeachment, criminal investigation, and
prosecution."
"The Department of Defense can no longer call the torture reports a
matter of excessive misbehavior by a few individuals," added Steve
Kramer, co-chair of the Green Party of the United States. "It's a
systematic problem -- a policy decision made at the highest levels. Mr.
Rumsfeld has disgraced his office and should resign immediately, or be
removed for the sake of our nation's integrity. And the missing one
trillion dollars must be accounted for before Congress considers another
dime in any war appropriations."
Despite its apologies, the Newsweek accounts of desecration of the Quran
by U.S. military personnel at detention centers have been corroborated
in reports from the International Committee of the Red Cross, legal
depositions, and in numerous other periodicals, including The Financial
Times.
"President Bush was more outraged by the fact that abuses are being
reported than by the abuses themselves," said Marc Sanson, who is
also co-chair of the Green Party. "Newsweek's retreat is a blow to
freedom of the press -- to the media's obligation to investigate and
report, regardless of threats from the powerful."
Greens noted that several U.S. generals have become increasingly grim
about the future of the occupation.
"The generals are confirming what antiwar protesters claimed from
the very beginning -- that the invasion of Iraq was based on a
misinformation campaign and will likely continue for years, with
mounting casualties," said David Cobb, 2004 Green Party candidate
for President. The Green Party led the political opposition to the
invasion and sharply criticized Democratic and Republican support for
President Bush's invasion plans, and now calls for an immediate end to
the occupation.
MORE INFORMATION
The Green Party of the United States
http://www.gp.org
1711 18th Street NW
Washington, DC 20009.
202-319-7191, 866-41GREEN
Fax 202-319-7193
"$1 Trillion Missing: Military waste under fire"
By Tom Abate, The San Francisco Chronicle, May 18, 2005
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2003/05/18/MN251738.DTL
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article8888.htm
"Generals Offer Sober Outlook on Iraqi War"
By John F. Burns and Eric Schmitt
The New York Times, May 19, 2005
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/19/international/middleeast/19iraq.html?
"Inaction in New York Prison Abuse Stirs Anger"
By Richard B. Schmitt and Richard A. Serrano, The Los Angeles Times, May
21, 2005
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/...
"High Uranium Levels Found in Troops and Civilians"
Project Censored
http://www.projectcensored.org/publications/2005/4.html
