Rewriting the Narrative of Detainee Abuse

The Corner reports:

Republicans on the Senate Armed Service Committee, hitting back at Levin over the supposedly bipartisan Committee report on detainee treatment and the impression it has created.

The impression created by Sen. Carl Levin and the media by the 'Executive Summary of the Senate Armed Services Committee inquiry into the Treatment of Detainees in U.S. Custody' is that the administration's policy intentionally approved of illegal treatment of detainees. This has been the left and the media's narrative all along and it's nice to see Republicans step up to the plate and correct that narrative.

The statement from U.S. Senators Saxby Chambliss, R-GA, James Inhofe, R-OK, Jeff Sessions, R-AL, John Cornyn, R-TX, John Thune, R-SD, and Mel Martinez, R-FL, members of the Senate Armed Services Committee says in part: (emphasis mine)

Throughout our history, even in the gravest of circumstances, the United States has embodied the ideals of individual freedom and liberty. This nation adheres to the principle that all detainees in U.S. custody must be treated humanely and in accordance with applicable law. The fallacious assertion, made in recent newspaper editorials and other media outlets, that illegal treatment of detainees was an intentional or necessary result of administration policy is irresponsible and only serves to aid the propaganda and recruitment efforts of extremists dedicated to the murder of innocents and the destruction of our way of life.

I would hope that at least a few Democrats would also see the harm to America by promoting a false impression that our government intentionally approved of illegal treatment of detainees. But no, it is more important to them to denigrate this Republican President than to care about lies that promote American hate around the world.

This is not to deny that there were isolated incidents of illegal treatment. There were. But those committing those offenses were caught and punished. (emphasis mine)

The latest inquiry into detainee treatment by the Senate Armed Services Committee breaks little new ground – merely reiterating the findings of at least 12 previous independent investigations, which reported that certain isolated and limited incidents of detainee abuse occurred in the handling of detainees in U.S. custody. The implication, however, that this abuse was the direct, necessary, or foreseeable result of policy decisions made by senior administration officials is false and without merit. It is counter-productive and potentially dangerous to our men and women in uniform to insinuate that illegal treatment of detainees resulted from official U.S. government policies.

Read the entire statement here.

As The Wall Street Journal reports:

Not one of the 12 nonpartisan investigations in recent years concluded that the Administration condoned or tolerated detainee abuse, while multiple courts martial have punished real offenders. None of the dozen or so Abu Ghraib trials and investigations have implicated higher ups...

Did you get that? Not one of the investigations concluded that Bush or higher ups approved or tolerated detainee abuse. The left loves to blather on and on about how Pres.Bush has hurt America's reputation in the world, when it is they themselves that promote false narratives that fuel the hate for America and it's President. The ridicule and hate that the left has fosted upon Pres. Bush these last eight years has given those around the world an excuse to hate us. The left has always promoted any movie, news story, or false impression that humilated or denigrated our President, not to mention our military. And when those tatics worked, and many in the world did come to hate us, they think they can just blame Bush and ignore the fact that it was they themselves that brought this hate upon all of America.