June 03, 2004
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD'S MARGO KINGSTON'S REPORT
"Is Australia's complicit in the US war crimes at Abu Ghraib?" asks Margo Kingston. I's dont's know's! Let's find's out's:
To begin, the fact is that The Sydney Morning Herald's Tom Allard's breaking story on Thursday in Army knew months ago has proved accurate in almost every detail, including Australia's involvement in drafting interrogation technique protocols in Abu Ghraib, investigating abuses and drafting replies to the Red Cross. Layer upon layer of denials of his story by Howard, Hill, Cosgrove and Smith have been stripped away in the days since, partly because the Herald later revealed the official reply to the Red Cross last year, the draft of which the government also had in its possession. You'd think Tom would have got such a detailed, accurate story from someone in government who knew what he or she was talking about, which would mean Australia has its Abu Ghraib whistleblower, like the junior US soldier who blew the whistle at Abu Ghraib and the person who leaked General Tagula's devastating report to Seymour Hersh.
Ivan Frederick, whose complaints led to 60 Minutes II's expose, isn't a "junior soldier", whatever that is. He's a Staff Sergeant. And he's 37.
As for "General Tagula", nobody seems to have heard of the man. Perhaps Margo meant this guy, but who knows? One thing is certain, however:
Of course we are complicit in the American's cover-up of the abuses and their extent before April. Of course we are.
It's that solitary American again, the evil unnamed bastard behind every one of the planet's ills! Why hasn't he been tracked down and identified? I blame the sadmore media mainstream.
UPDATE. That "Australia's complicit" headline has been corrected. The rest of Margo's errors seem intact.
UPDATE II. Margo Kingston:
The latest Iraq scandal to engulf the government is bloody difficult to get your head around.
Fellow cranial navigator (and Meg Lees staffer) Gary Sauer-Thompson:
I've been working all day trying to get my head around energy.
Guys? Forget these complicated issues. They’re beyond you. Master basic spelling and punctuation first.
Posted by Tim Blair at June 3, 2004 03:34 AMI don't know who to feel annoyed at the most. Either Margo herself, whoever gave her a job or whoever lectured her in journalism.
Posted by: gaz at June 3, 2004 at 03:55 AMI fail to see how the Australians can get blamed for something they had no involvement in. I don't think anyone beyond those who took part and their superiors in Iraq are to blame.
This is as screwy as those who suggest Bush and Rummy are to blame.
Posted by: Chris Josephson at June 3, 2004 at 03:57 AMdamn, you didnt happen to get a screenshot of the old title did ya tim?
Layer upon layer of denials of his story by Howard, Hill, Cosgrove and Smith have been stripped away...
Is Margo German? Tim, have you ever heard her speak?
I tell you, the continued employment of Margo "I need some time off" Kingston in a position of supposed responsibility will one day inspire some frustrated kid into a jihad against the Fourth Estate. Mark my words. It'll be like when Sayyid Qutb went to that dance in the church basement.
Posted by: Angie Schultz at June 3, 2004 at 06:25 AMTheir heads are too small and uninhabited to "get around" anything.
Posted by: Wallace at June 3, 2004 at 07:20 AMWallace: Small they might be, but Margo has just spent a week "slearing" hers, so there should be room in there somewhere.
Posted by: suberboot at June 3, 2004 at 07:28 AMPoor old Margit,
She has trouble with a lot of things lately.
I think that what really ails her is that fact that while she bangs on about Iraq relentlessly, most people don't give a shit, the only people who seem remotely interested are the softcocks who inhabit the left side of politics.
Posted by: Nuffy at June 3, 2004 at 10:20 AM
I need to rant.
I AM SO FUCKING SICK of Margo and her vindictive, bitter, manipulative, dishonest comrades in the Australian and western media. They spew forth this bullshit, completely misrepresenting what the actual situation is over there, they use incorrect information, dont check their sources properly, cherry-pick which facts they use to support their view while ignoring the rest. And they get away with it, so they keep doing it. Consequently, the vast majority of people who read this stuff and who have neither the time nor inclination to properly check it are manipulated into believing it. As evidenced to me last night by my girlfriend's mother who parroted exactly what the media has been telling people. She is entitled to a different point of view, but her's wasn't a well considered one, it merely reflected the crap everyone is force-fed by the media.
They ignore that 70% of the iraqies are happier now than they were 12 months ago
They ignore that 80% beleive their life is going to get significantly better in the next 5 years
They ignore that this has been one of, if not the most successfull military campaigns in terms of lives lost in recent history
They ignore that the VAST majority of the country is peaceful
They ignore that in the trouble spots, even then most people want the militants to bugger off
They ignore that less innocent civilians are dieing now than during Saddam's time
They ignore that the infrastructure is better now than it was under Saddam
They ignore that the iraqi people now have the chance at having a government that is accountable for its actions
They ignore that the iraqi people are now free to build a better life for themselves, and there is no longer a boot on the back of their neck keeping their face in the mud
Urge to kill, rising...
Thankyou, I feel better now.
Posted by: RhikoR at June 3, 2004 at 01:01 PM...the American's...
Well, I think it's me. I found out about the prison abuse via Centcom's press release back in January, but I didn't tell anybody.
Posted by: David [.net] at June 3, 2004 at 02:35 PMTell me, is Margo's head related to Latham of whom that leftoid, Michelle Grattan , used the image, an unhappy one but satisfying to this RWDB, a slippery elusive thing that slips around objects ?
What a freak.
Does Margo have a drinking problem? Looks like slurred typing to me.
Posted by: Joe Geoghegan at June 3, 2004 at 03:59 PMIf those nitwits can't get their head's around whatever the hell it is they are blathering on about, why don't they pass the pen to somebody who can ?
Who the hell wants to get lectured by somebody talking about something they don't understand ?