Myers Blasts Amnesty International
In a world where millions of people rage over the nonexistent “abuse” of a book, and where Amnesty International compares Guantanamo Bay to the Soviet gulag, Gen. Richard Myers tries to bring some sanity back into the discussion: Top General Defends Treatment of Detainees.
WASHINGTON (AP) - Terrorism suspects held in the U.S. Navy prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, are being dealt with “humanely” and with “dignity,” the nation’s top military officer says in disputing reported abuses. In television appearances Sunday, Air Force Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff also said U.S. officials believe al-Qaida leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is wounded, but it’s not known how badly.
Muslims in several countries have demonstrated in recent weeks over allegations that a Quran, their faith’s holy book, was flushed down a toilet by guards at Guantanamo. Myers denied that.
The human rights group Amnesty International also released a report last week calling the prison camp “the gulag of our time.”
Myers said the report was “absolutely irresponsible.” He said the United States was doing its best to detain fighters who, if released, “would turn right around and try to slit our throats, slit our children’s throats.”
“This is a different kind of struggle, a different kind of war,” Myers said on “Fox News Sunday.”
“We struggle with how to handle them (the prisoners), but we’ve always handled them humanely and with the dignity that they should be accorded.”