Text 1462, 93 rader
Skriven 2004-08-27 06:19:54 av Gary Moore (1:396/45.0)
Ärende: Brazoria and Bush
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 "There's no question that the videotape, though, shows that we
   didn't act strong enough, the videotape is clearly an indictment of
   the process," said the governor. "I think in retrospect, had I known
   the videotape existed, and I'm confident had other state officials
   known the videotape existed, we would have pushed for harsher action,
   quicker action."     -  George W. Bush


Sounds like he's talking about the prison abuse in Abu Ghraib, doesn't it?
Well, he isn't.  He's talking about something that happened in a Texas prison
back in 1996 during his term as governor of that state.  But the similarities
don't stop there.


   CNBC

   Eerie reminders of old prison abuse case
   Abu Ghraib bears resemblance
   to Texas incident under then-Gov. Bush
   By Eamon Javers
   CNBC

   WASHINGTON - The Abu Ghraib prison scandal has become a watershed
   event in the Iraq war, but President Bush has experience handling the
   political fallout from prison abuses -- experience gained in a
   situation that occurred while he was governor of Texas.

   The incident occurred in a 1996 raid at the Brazoria County Detention
   Center in Texas. Guards searching the facility were videotaped
   mistreating prisoners. The images have many of the same elements of
   the Abu Ghraib pictures -- prisoners lying on the floor, being dragged
   and menaced by dogs.

   It might now be just a historical footnote, except the lawyer who
   represented two of the prison guards accused of attacking the inmates,
   Guy Womack, is now representing Spc. Charles Graner, the prison guard
   accused of mistreating prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.

   Womack says he'll be taking the lessons of Brazoria County into the
   courtroom with him in Iraq. "There are quite a few parallels between
   the two cases," he said. "Of course, the first one that jumps out at
   me is that in both cases the only people who were identified to be
   prosecuted were the junior-most people." In Texas, he argued that the
   guards acted lawfully -- and he says in Iraq he'll argue that the
   guards thought they were following lawful orders. "Of course, if the
   cases are so parallel, the defense should be somewhat parallel as
   well."

   And there's another similarity between the two cases: Womack says that
   in both cases, the guards were headed toward much lighter sentences or
   inquiries -- until the images became public: "Neither case would have
   been a case but for photographs or videotapes being leaked to the
   press."

   And there's somebody else who has been touched by both cases:
   President Bush. The details of the Brazoria County case came to the
   attention of then-Texas Gov. Bush before the videotapes became public.
   Bush ordered an investigation, which resulted in only one complaint.
   Ultimately, Womack says, no reforms were enacted.

   'A deep disgust'

   Here's what President Bush said this year: "I share a deep disgust
   that those prisoners were treated the way they were treated."

   And here's what Gov. Bush said in a local TV interview back in 1997:
   "I think `appalling' is the right way to describe the treatment of
   those prisoners." And in 1997, Bush emphasized the power of the
   images. "There's no question that the videotape, though, shows that we
   didn't act strong enough, the videotape is clearly an indictment of
   the process," said the governor. "I think in retrospect, had I known
   the videotape existed, and I'm confident had other state officials
   known the videotape existed, we would have pushed for harsher action,
   quicker action."

   The governor's 1997 comments were pointed out to CNBC by people who
   are opposed to the re-election of the president.

   So how did the Texas case turn out? Two guards got jail time. But of
   Womack's clients, one was acquitted, and federal prosecutors dropped
   the case against the other.

   The fact that the two cases have similarities may be a coincidence.
   But the outcome of the Brazoria County case may give some insight to
   the future of the legal wrangling over Abu Ghraib.

   Eamon Javers is an investigative reporter with CNBC's "Capitol
   Report."

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