[Peace-discuss] Durbin crawls

[C. G. Estabrook]

[Disgusting. Durbin is worse than the Republican ideologues,
because, unlike them, he knows what the truth is: he described
it the other day. --CGE]

  Sen. Durbin Apologizes for Gitmo Remarks
  Jun 21, 7:08 PM (ET)
  By GLEN JOHNSON

WASHINGTON (AP) - Under fire from Republicans and some fellow
Democrats, Sen. Dick Durbin apologized Tuesday for comparing
American interrogators at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp to
Nazis and other historically infamous figures.

"Some may believe that my remarks crossed the line," the
Illinois Democrat said. "To them I extend my heartfelt apologies."

His voice quaking and tears welling in his eyes, the No. 2
Democrat in the Senate also apologized to any soldiers who
felt insulted by his remarks.

"They're the best. I never, ever intended any disrespect for
them," he said.

The apology came a week after Durbin, the Senate minority
whip, quoted from an FBI agent's report describing detainees
at the naval base in a U.S.-controlled portion of Cuba as
being chained to the floor without food or water in extreme
temperatures.

"If I read this to you and did not tell you that it was an FBI
agent describing what Americans had done to prisoners in their
control, you would most certainly believe this must have been
done by Nazis, Soviets in their gulags or some mad regime -
Pol Pot or others - that had no concern for human beings," the
senator said June 14.

The comment created a buzz on the Internet and among
conservative talk radio hosts, but Durbin initially refused to
apologize.

"This administration should apologize to the American people
for abandoning the Geneva Conventions and authorizing torture
techniques that put our troops at risk and make Americans less
secure," he said the day after his initial comments.

By last Friday, Durbin was trying to clarify his comments, yet
the White House and top Republicans, including Senate Majority
Leader Bill Frist, refused to relent. Defense Secretary Donald
Rumsfeld, in an interview scheduled for broadcast Wednesday on
Fox News Radio's "The Tony Snow Show," tried to equate the
comment with actress Jane Fonda calling U.S. soldiers war
criminals during a visit to North Vietnam in 1972.

On Tuesday, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley - a fellow Democrat -
added his voice to the chorus of criticism, saying, "I think
it's a disgrace to say that any man or woman in the military
would act like that."

During his apology, which Durbin delivered while looking
directly into a TV camera broadcasting the proceedings, the
senator said: "I made reference to Nazis, to Soviets, and
other repressive regimes. Mr. President, I've come to
understand that's a very poor choice of words."

He also reached out directly to Holocaust survivors, adding:
"I'm sorry if anything that I said caused any offense or pain
to those who have such bitter memories of the Holocaust, the
greatest moral tragedy of our time. Nothing, nothing should
ever be said to demean or diminish that moral tragedy."

Immediately after the apology, Sen. John McCain, an Arizona
Republican and former prisoner of war, spoke in Durbin's
defense. "All of us, I believe, who have had the opportunity
to serve in public life from time to time have said things
that we deeply regret. I know that I have. I would like to say
that the senator from Illinois, he did the right thing, the
courageous thing, and I believe we can put this issue behind us."

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