There is something inherently dysfunctional with an Alabama Senator
who uses a New York Times article as an authoritative citation
to back up his slanderous questioning of a US Military Officer's honor.

This is exactly what Senator Jeff Sessions did on the Senate floor,
October 5, 2005, when he was rationalising his vote against the
McCain anti-torture amendment:

["

Now we have a letter pop up from a Captain Fishback who
has made allegations concerning the 82nd Airborne. I don't
know the full details of it. I will quote a small portion.
We heard all these complaints that say that he has
submitted proof of systemic abuses in the prisons. This is
a New York Times article, and the New York Times has made
a full- time effort to try to root out and expose and
publicize any misbehavior that has occurred there. They
have gone too far, sometimes, in my opinion. But this is
what the New York Times says:

Captain Fishback said he had seen at least one
interrogation where prisoners were being abused.

I don't know what "abused" means. I am a former
prosecutor. What does "abused" mean? Did they shake him?
Did they respond to being spit on by prisoners, as many of
our guards have been? Did they injure him in some way? I
think if they were beaten, he would have said they were
beaten. He didn't say that. He used a far more general
term, that they were "abused."

Then he goes on to say that he was told about other
ill-treatment of detainees by his sergeant.
"Ill-treatment," what is that? He didn't say they were
beaten, shot, killed, wounded, or tortured.

An investigation is being undertaken of these allegations.
It is odd, though, when asked to name the sergeants and
the people who conducted the activity so they could follow
up and investigate and make sure people who did wrong were
disciplined, Captain Fishback refused to disclose the
names of the sergeants, one who left the Army and the
other who has been reassigned because he did not want to
reveal his identity.

It is hard for the Army to investigate if the guy making
the complaint, telling Human Rights Watch and the New York
Times all these points, will not tell the Army what
actually occurred.

I am dubious, for complex technical reasons, of the
amendment that has been offered today and which we will
vote on later tonight because I am not sure it makes good
legal sense to have a law that is a moving law, it seems
to me, that complies with the Army regulations. Army
regulation is going to change, and you have a law and the
law is going to change while the regulation changes? A
statute is supposed to be permanent. As a lawyer, I am
troubled by that. I don't think this is a necessary
action. I don't intend to vote for the amendment for that
reason and a number of other complex reasons.

"]

Senator John McCain called Sessions out
for his dishonorable words of disparagement:

["

...I have had to come to this Chamber many times and have
had the privilege of doing so since 1987 when I entered
this body. I never thought I would have to come to the
Senate floor to defend the integrity and the reputation of
a brave young American who has put his life on the line
for his country defending the freedom of Afghan and Iraqi
people.

The remarks of the Senator from Alabama concerning his
allegations of abuse and his disparagement of his word and
his conduct is unacceptable. This young man, Captain
Fishback, served in Afghanistan and Iraq, is a member of
the 82nd Airborne, was highly decorated, and had the
courage to come forward because of his deep-seated
dedication to this Nation and his desire to see that we do
the right thing in the treatment of prisoners of war.

He says very eloquently:

...Do we sacrifice our ideals in order to
preserve security? Terrorism inspires fear
and suppresses ideals like freedom and
individual rights. Overcoming the fear posed
by terrorist threats is a tremendous test of
our courage...

Captain Fishback is a noble, brave young American. He does
not deserve to be disparaged on the Senate floor by any
Senator, and the Senator from Alabama owes him an abject
and deep apology.

"]

Sessions, proving his nugatory worth as a human being, responded:

["

...the Senator from Arizona has asked that I apologize for
disparaging Captain Fishback in my earlier remarks. I do
not believe I did so in any way. The Captain has a
distinguished record in the military. Nobody questions
that.

I did note, however, that his allegations contained in the
New York Times article said that he had:

seen at least one interrogation where prisoners
were being abused and was told about other ill
treatment of detainees by his sergeants.

In my statement I simply raised the question of what
"abuse" meant precisely, and whether, by implication, if
this was a basis for a charge, as the newspapers were
making and others were, that there was systematic abuse of
prisoners--which I do not believe to be the case.

I did note that, when asked to name the individual
sergeants who admitted they had been misbehaving or that
bad activities had occurred, he refused to give those
names.

If something is in error about that--I simply quoted from
the New York Times--I would be pleased to apologize. But I
think those in this Senate who have accused the
up-and-down members of the chain of command of the U.S.
Army, the U.S. Marines, and Department of Defense of
promoting policies to abuse prisoners, they ought to think
about whether they should apologize. I believe that
accusation is false.

"]

Alabama, does it make you proud to know that one of your Senators has
cowardly wrapped himself in the pages of the New York Times when
challenged to defend his despicable slandering of
an American Military Officer?

Captain Ian Fishback sacrificed more in his recent actions than all
of the Republicans Senators combined have sacrificed to support
Mr. Bush's War Upon Iraq. He is a West Point graduate and has served
two battlefield tours in the Global War Upon Terror.

He came to believe that the POW abuses he witnessed were both illegal
and institutionalized. He also rightfully felt that these abuses were
wrong. The Captain worked through his chain of command, to no avail.
He was ordered by his superiors not to visit with Senators McCain and
Warner when they came to his theatre. He discussed his feelings with
former West Point classmates and chaplains.

After his attempts to work through official channels Captain Fishback
then talked to the Human Rights Watch organization, and then spoke
openly to the country, costing him his career's future. This he did
for America. It isn't about individual cases of abuse. It is about
the belief held in the officer corps of the US Military that POW
abuse is acceptable, official SOP, and that the Geneva Conventions no
longer matter, but Sessions did not honestly try to portray obvious,
and he distorted the truth by citing only part of a New York Times
article.

Captain Fishback does not wish to betray the ID of the two Sergeants
who also spoke with Human Rights Watch. He feels, as a matter of
personal conscience, that he could not remain anonymous, but that it
is not his right to make that decision for the other two soldiers who
also spoke on institutionalized abuses. This is also an indication of
Captain Fishback's honor, yet this is exactly what Sessions used
as a weapon in his venal assault against the Captain.


Sessions needs a few rounds with the

Offical Abu Ghraib Interrogator's Model
Chemical Light Stick of GOP Enlightenmentݨ

properly applied by a former Chilean Intelligence Officer,
who is is now a freeboot contract employee for Blackwater USA.

Upon returning to the public's eye, and after
loudly speaking of the outrage he was forced to endure,
Senator Jefferson Sessions can be reminded
how fortunate he was to have been in Americans' control;

HIS NECK STILL REMAINS ATTACHED TO HIS SPINE.

=========================================================

The full transcript of the Congressional Reports (Senate)
for October 5, 2005 is available for download through the
Government Printing Office website in two ascii files:

<http://tinyurl.com/9jmtz>
<http://tinyurl.com/cj5k9>

----------------------------------------------

The Human Rights Watch Report,
"Leadership Failure: Firsthand Accounts of Torture
of Iraqi Detainees by the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne Division"
is available for download as a PDF file at:

<url=http://hrw.org/reports/2005/us0905/us0905.pdf>

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