Salon: You Have A Right To Know

Salon is breaking exclusive information and photos of the alleged prisoner abuse of Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib.

Barbara Olshansky, deputy legal director at the Center for Constitutional Rights, said, "We brought the lawsuit because we wanted to make sure the public knew what the government was doing, particularly at these detention facilities," and, "It is the public's right to know."

Interesting that charges in this case were brought months ago.But it is the public's right to know, yet once again, even if the public has no such right to know when it comes to what is causing radical Islamist rioting around the world. I say that because the bulk of the MSM still refuses to publish a few cartoons of Mohammed.

Obviously, Salon has no problem putting our soldiers at greater risk, which was one of the government's arguments against release of more photos, but God forbid any of them risk the wrath of radical Islam by taking a genuinely principled position.

Meanwhile, military trials of the soldiers who served at Abu Ghraib continue. Next month, two more enlisted men, both dog handlers, will face a military court at Fort Meade in Maryland. No high-ranking officer or official has yet been charged in the abuse scandal that blackened America's reputation across the world.

Allow me to show you some pictures and tell you some things apparently Salon doesn't even have. Did you know the Japanese admitted to dissecting live American POW's during WWII?

UKUOKA, Japan "I could never again wear a white smock," says Dr. Toshio Tono, dressed in a white running jacket at his hospital and recalling events of 50 years ago. "It's because the prisoners thought that we were doctors, since they could see the white smocks, that they didn't struggle. They never dreamed they would be dissected."

These are American POW's from 1945 - remember that war?

That's the late Nick Berg at left - he had his head cut off. We didn't have a right to see it, though. He wasn't an enemy combatant. By the way, Salon, I haven't seen a story on Jill Carroll. Do you know or care if she's still alive? Does the media care as much about Jill Carroll as they apparently do Dick Cheney's hunting companions? Doesn't look like it from here.

Do you remember the Vietnam War?

During the early years, one out of three Americans taken prisoner was expected to die in captivity--a toll reduced to one out of five by war's end.

It's going to be sad watching the Left howl over the new Abu Ghraib pictures ... especially knowing that some of the very same folks with the very same thinking spit on honorable Americans who endured this below.

The most systematic torture of American POWs during the conflict began in fall 1965 and didn't end until fall 1969, when the Nixon Administration finally went public with evidence of the mistreatment. An estimated 95 percent of the prisoners in the North experienced some form of torture.

Navy Lt. j.g. Rodney A. Knutson, a radar intercept officer captured with pilot Lt. j.g. Ralph E. Gaither when their F-4 was shot down on Oct. 17, 1965, got an early taste of what lay ahead. His captors bound his arms so tightly that they lost circulation. He was denied food and water. He was beaten. When he still refused to cooperate, his torturers moved on to a new, more sinister method-the "rope torture." Knutson was subjected to this technique on Oct. 25, 1965. The prisoner was forced face down onto a bunk with his ankles in stocks and a rope tied at his elbows, with the rope then pulled up to run through a hook in the ceiling. The guard hoisted the prisoner off the bunk so he could not ease any of his weight-producing extreme pain and constricting breathing.

USAF Capt. Konrad W. Trautman suffered the rope torture on a dozen occasions. "The pain is literally beyond description," said Trautman, who was shot down and captured Oct. 5, 1967. "After about 10 or 15 minutes in this position, tied up so tightly, your nerves in your arms are pinched off, and then your whole upper torso becomes numb. It's a relief. You feel no more pain. ... However when they release the ropes, the procedure works completely in reverse. It's almost like double jeopardy-you go through the same pain coming out of the ropes as you did going in."

America ... you do have a right to know. War is hell, being held prisoner in one is another dreadful level of it most of us will never have the misfortune of experiencing ... because we have a much larger number of brave and honorable American soldiers willing to fight our battles for us, than perhaps some few rogue fools who caused the nonsense at Abu Ghraib.

Now, Salon ... when do we get to see the Mohammed cartoons? I believe we have a right to know.

Comments

[Rick]

Yes, we should drop a Big Boy sized a-bomb on Japan every other year. Our last president was very busy supporting the Vietnamese as they tortured prisoners. Of course, disembowling people hardly rates up there with wearing granny panties on ones head, please! Did they have any real pictures of torture? What the hell is the fuss all about?

[Rick]

Yes, we should drop a Big Boy sized a-bomb on Japan every other year. Our last president was very busy supporting the Vietnamese as they tortured prisoners. Of course, disembowling people hardly rates up there with wearing granny panties on ones head, please! Did they have any real pictures of torture? What the hell is the fuss all about?

[Bill]

Dan, Thank you for the reminder of what our men have gone through. I lost several good friends in Nam. Abu Ghraib was a mockery on par with the usual hazing at a frat house. All is fair in love and war.

For Ms. Olshansky, there are NO SUCH THINGS as Constitutional Rights. There are rights granted to us by our Creator but there are no rights granted by the constitution. The US Constitution merely enumerates rights that preexist the constitution. Maybe MS. Oshansky has a problem with reading comprehension. If so, she should check out US v Cruikshank, 1876 for a legal explanation. So Ms. Oshansky rename your center properly.

[lwm]

So, we shouldn't lead by example and set a higher standard for ourselves??

[Phoenix]

Best yet, Dan. Even though I am salivating with fury.

Your perspective is so trenchant, I have to write a letter to Salon to get the visceral hatred out of me.

[russ]

Did you forward this portion of your excellent expose of the balless but seditious swine at Salon?