Tuesday, March 08, 2005

Former Military Lawyers Join Lawsuit Against Rumsfeld

The ACLU and Human Rights First, along with two retired military lawyers, have a filed a lawsuit against Defense Secretary Rumsfeld for his role in the use of torture against prisoners held by the U.S. armed forces in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Mr. Rumsfeld's policies have stained our military.... We want to remove that stain," said retired Army General James Cullen, one of two retired military lawyers who are part of the legal team in a newly filed lawsuit against Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld (more of Cullen's statement). The action was filed on March 1 by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Human Rights First, on behalf of eight former prisoners, four Afghan and four Iraqi citizens, who were tortured and abused at the hands of U.S. military personnel acting under Rumsfeld's direction.

Retired Rear Admiral John Hutson, who is also part of the legal team, acknowledged to a packed press conference in Washington on March 1 that, after 28 years in the United States Navy, "this is not an easy thing for me to do." But, Hutson explained, this lawsuit "is about our national defense, now and in the future; it's about the role that the United States has traditionally played on the world stage; it's about our self-respect and self-image; and it's largely about protecting our own soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines who are already in harm's way, and who will continue to be so in the future."
I'm not sure what the suite hopes to accomplish, since it's getting completely ignored by the MSM. It certainly won't get Rumsfeld, or his boss, fired.