Sen. Lieberman, JINSA Award Recipient, Provides Perspective on the Prison Abuse Scandal and a Free Iraq

Ed Note I: We were pleased to honor Sen. Lieberman with our Jackson Award in 1997 in recognition of his strong support of American national security and a close U.S.-Israel security relationship. We are very pleased to bring you his words today from the Wall Street Journal:

Ed Note I: We were pleased to honor Sen. Lieberman with our Jackson Award in 1997 in recognition of his strong support of American national security and a close U.S.-Israel security relationship. We are very pleased to bring you his words today from the Wall Street Journal:

“This investigation, and the justice it produces, should make clear to us and the world that we Americans will not tolerate such inhumanity, even in the treatment of those who are themselves wantonly inhumane to us. The beheading of Nick Berg just because he was an American made painfully clear how little our enemies value life. Prison abuse must not blur the enormous moral differences between us and those we fight in Iraq, and in the worldwide war on terrorism.

“And that leads to my second conclusion. We cannot allow the prison scandal in Iraq to diminish our own American sense of national honor and purpose, or further erode support for our just and necessary cause in Iraq. American opponents of the war may try to do the latter, while foreign critics and enemies of the United States will try to do the former. The misdeeds of a few do not alter the character of our nation or the honor of the many who serve in our defense – and the world’s – every day. Winning the war we are now fighting in Iraq against Saddam loyalists and jihadist terrorists remains critical to the security of the American people, the freedom of the Iraqi people, and the hopes of all the Middle East for stability and peace.

“Most Democrats and Republicans, including President Bush and Sen. Kerry, agree that we must successfully finish what we have started in Iraq. Now is the time for all who share that goal to make our agreement publicly clear, to stress what unites us. Many argue that we can only rectify the wrongs done in the Iraqi prisons if Donald Rumsfeld resigns. I disagree. Unless there is clear evidence connecting him to the wrongdoing, it is neither sensible nor fair to force the resignation of the secretary of defense, who clearly retains the confidence of the commander in chief, in the midst of a war. I have yet to see such evidence. Secretary Rumsfeld’s removal would delight foreign and domestic opponents of America’s presence in Iraq. But, as we are showing in our response to Abu Ghraib, we are a nation of laws, and therefore must punish only those who are proven guilty. The Iraqi prison scandal has been a nightmare at an already difficult moment in the war in Iraq. But our cause remains as critical as ever to our security and our values. We must therefore persist in it. With determination and confidence, we should recall President Lincoln’s words at another difficult moment in American history in pursuit of another just cause: ‘Let us have faith that right makes might; and in that faith let us do our duty as we understand it.'”

Ed. Note II: JINSA Reports will be on hiatus for two weeks for the 22nd annual JINSA Flag & General Officers Trip to Israel. We will report on the trip in future missives.