Winehole23
04-08-2010, 09:52 PM
Bush Knew Gitmo Inmates Innocent, Court Told (http://www.myfoxny.com/dpps/news/dpgonc-bush-knew-gitmo-inmates-innocent-court-told-mh-20100408_6974974)
Thursday, 08 Apr 2010, 8:11 PM EDT
By Tim Reid
(NewsCore) - George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld allegedly covered up that hundreds of innocent men were sent to the Guantanamo Bay prison camp, The Times of London reports in its Friday edition.
They did so because they feared that releasing them would harm the push for war in Iraq and the broader War on Terror, according to a new document obtained by the newspaper.
The accusations were made by Lawrence Wilkerson, a top aide to Colin Powell, the former Republican Secretary of State, in a signed declaration to support a lawsuit filed by a Guantanamo detainee.
Colonel Wilkerson, who was General Powell’s chief of staff when he ran the State Department, was most critical of Cheney and Rumsfeld.
He claimed that the former Vice President and Defense Secretary knew that the majority of the initial 742 detainees sent to Guantanamo in 2002 were innocent but believed that it was “politically impossible to release them.”
General Powell, who left the Bush administration in 2005, angry about the misinformation that he unwittingly gave the world when he made the case for the invasion of Iraq at the U.N., is understood to have backed Colonel Wilkerson’s declaration.
Referring to Cheney, Colonel Wilkerson, who served 31 years in the US Army, asserted: “He had absolutely no concern that the vast majority of Guantanamo detainees were innocent ... If hundreds of innocent individuals had to suffer in order to detain a handful of hardcore terrorists, so be it.”
He alleged that for Cheney and Rumsfeld “innocent people languishing in Guantanamo for years was justified by the broader War on Terror and the small number of terrorists who were responsible for the September 11 attacks.”
Colonel Wilkerson signed the declaration in support of Adel Hassan Hamad, a Sudanese man who was held at Guantanamo Bay from March 2003 until December 2007.
He claims he was tortured by US agents while in custody and has filed for damages.
A spokesman for Bush refused to comment on Colonel Wilkerson’s allegations but a former associate to Rumsfeld said the assertions were completely untrue.
Thursday, 08 Apr 2010, 8:11 PM EDT
By Tim Reid
(NewsCore) - George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld allegedly covered up that hundreds of innocent men were sent to the Guantanamo Bay prison camp, The Times of London reports in its Friday edition.
They did so because they feared that releasing them would harm the push for war in Iraq and the broader War on Terror, according to a new document obtained by the newspaper.
The accusations were made by Lawrence Wilkerson, a top aide to Colin Powell, the former Republican Secretary of State, in a signed declaration to support a lawsuit filed by a Guantanamo detainee.
Colonel Wilkerson, who was General Powell’s chief of staff when he ran the State Department, was most critical of Cheney and Rumsfeld.
He claimed that the former Vice President and Defense Secretary knew that the majority of the initial 742 detainees sent to Guantanamo in 2002 were innocent but believed that it was “politically impossible to release them.”
General Powell, who left the Bush administration in 2005, angry about the misinformation that he unwittingly gave the world when he made the case for the invasion of Iraq at the U.N., is understood to have backed Colonel Wilkerson’s declaration.
Referring to Cheney, Colonel Wilkerson, who served 31 years in the US Army, asserted: “He had absolutely no concern that the vast majority of Guantanamo detainees were innocent ... If hundreds of innocent individuals had to suffer in order to detain a handful of hardcore terrorists, so be it.”
He alleged that for Cheney and Rumsfeld “innocent people languishing in Guantanamo for years was justified by the broader War on Terror and the small number of terrorists who were responsible for the September 11 attacks.”
Colonel Wilkerson signed the declaration in support of Adel Hassan Hamad, a Sudanese man who was held at Guantanamo Bay from March 2003 until December 2007.
He claims he was tortured by US agents while in custody and has filed for damages.
A spokesman for Bush refused to comment on Colonel Wilkerson’s allegations but a former associate to Rumsfeld said the assertions were completely untrue.