From the moment a soldier enlists, we inculcate loyalty, duty, honor, integrity, and selfless service. And yet when we get to the senior-officer level we forget those values. I know that my peers in the Army will be mad at me for speaking out, but the fact is that we violated the laws of land warfare in Abu Ghraib. We violated the tenets of the Geneva Convention. We violated our own principles and we violated the core of our military values. The stress of combat is not an excuse, and I believe, even today, that those civilian and military leaders responsible should be held accountable,”
– General Antonio Taguba, tasked by the military to investigate Abu Ghraib without looking up the chain of command and subsequently fired anyway.
Category: Bush
Interesting Comparison
Frank at pseudorandom has this to say:
Since Bush took office, the Canadian dollar is up 39.76 percent. When you consider that Canada has a comparable (though much smaller) economy, a comparable standard of living, a border that’s essentially open to most trade, and a higher level of government services, this becomes an amazing statistic. It’s what happens when one government runs budget surpluses year after year, while its neighbor, after briefly running a budget surplus under one president, begins running unprecedented budget deficits under his successor.
Never thought of it that way.
Quote of the Day
(via Andrew Sullivan)
“To hear some of my colleagues say that we should dispense with this frivolous debate because the president has threatened to veto, what a waste of our time — well, if you logically follow that through, Mr. President, why do we need a Congress? . . . Mr. President, we tried a monarchy once. It’s not suited to America,” – Senator Chuck Hagel, Wednesday.
Random Musings 