May 25, 2004

Some good news

Posted by John Quiggin

Abu Ghraib prison is to be demolished. Obviously, I welcome this news and hope that this symbolic measure will be accompanied by the substantive changes it should represent, including the abandonment of the policy of detention without trial.

Posted on May 25, 2004 01:31 AM UTC
Comments

In 37 days? Or are they just going to suggest it to the new souvereign government of Iraq?

Even something positive from them lot I don’t trust anymore.

Posted by Cynic · May 25, 2004 02:08 AM

“We will begin, with the filing cabinets.”

Posted by jdw · May 25, 2004 02:09 AM

Oops, the speechwriter actually thought of that…


Then, with the approval of the Iraqi government, we will demolish the Abu Ghraib prison, as a fitting symbol of Iraq’s new beginning.

Haven’t seen the full text, but if “we” refers to Iraq and the US I might even ditch the cynicism.

Posted by Stupid cynic · May 25, 2004 02:21 AM

From the president’s speech:
America will fund the construction of a modern, maximum security prison. When that prison is completed, detainees at Abu Ghraib will be relocated.

Why is the fact that the US will be building a new “modern” prison to replace Abu Ghraib not giving me the warm, fuzzy feeling I might expect on hearing that the prison will be demolished? Does anyone else think that an American-built prison in the middle of Iraq — built to hold our “detainees” as we like to call them — might become an even more tangible symbol of imperial occupation than the demolished Abu Ghraib?

What we should do is simply release the 70% - 90% of the prisoners that are neither criminals nor highly dangerous insurgents, and build a temporary facility to hold any remaining prisoners that we can not easily move to other existing facilities, and demolish that temporary facility when our soldiers finally leave the country.

Posted by Alex R · May 25, 2004 02:46 AM

This is not news. A bipartisan bill to destroy Abu Ghraib passed the House last week 308-114. It was sponsored by Weldon (R-PA) and Murtha (D-PA). Once again Bush is taking credit for other people’s work.

Posted by Poppy McCool · May 25, 2004 03:01 AM

This seems in keeping with two tendencies of the Bush adm: 1) doing the right thing (demolishing the prison) only after doing the wrong thing (keeping it/torture) and 2) attempting to revise history in such a way that renders criticism of Bush more difficult. Goodbye prisoners on leashes, hello panopticon.

Posted by MC · May 25, 2004 05:28 AM

Well, when you can’t destroy the evidence, destroy the scene of the crime right?

Whoops, there goes my cynicism again. Dreadfully sorry, I hope it washes out.

Posted by ccm · May 25, 2004 06:56 AM

I think we should stop detaining suspected terrorists without trial. We should kill instead of capture.

Posted by Thomas · May 25, 2004 08:41 PM

That’s right. Blame the building!

Posted by dev · May 26, 2004 11:01 PM
Followups

→ Presidential Address Blogging.
Excerpt: Overall, I thought it was a solid performance. His choice of venue was smart, not only from a symbolic standpoint but also because he is...Read more at Outside the Beltway
→ Presidential Address Blogging.
Excerpt: Overall, I thought it was a solid performance. His choice of venue was smart, not only from a symbolic standpoint but also because he is...Read more at Outside the Beltway

This discussion has been closed. Thanks to everyone who contributed.