A.I. TAKES ON THE SPIN DOCTOR

Rove has the spin control working overtime in defense against the report Amnesty International released last week which says prisoners at the U.S. Navy base (Guantanamo Bay) in Cuba had been mistreated and called for the prison to be shut down. Cheney appeared on Larry King to declare he was "offended" by the report. (What? Cheney made a public appearance?) And Bush has claimed the report is "absurd". (What? Bush actually read a report?)

In response, Dr. William F. Schulz, Executive Director of Amnesty International USA released this statement:
"What is 'absurd' is President Bush's attempt to deny the deliberate policies of his Administration, which has detained individuals without charge or trial in prisons at Guantanamo Bay, Bagram Air Base and other locations. What is 'absurd' and indeed outrageous is the Bush Administration's failure to undertake a full independent investigation, and that completed reports into human rights violations in these prisons remain classified and unseen.The network of secret detention centers operated by the US around the world must be opened to scrutiny by independent human rights groups and those responsible for torture, no matter how senior, must be held accountable. It is also worth noting that this administration never finds it 'absurd' when we criticize Cuba, China, or when we condemned the violations in Iraq under Saddam Hussein."