Demolishing Abu Ghrab Prison

DEMOLISHING ABU GHRAIB PRISON

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I listened carefully to this debate by my colleagues. We can join in the debate as to whether the destruction of the building is an appropriate symbol of our shame and outrage at what happened to the Iraqi prisoners. The fact is, after the invasion, this Saddam Hussein torture chamber or prison was extensively remodeled by the U.S. taxpayers. Tearing it down will, as the Senator from Louisiana suggests, result in the need to build another at the expense of the U.S. taxpayers.

If this symbol, though, can move us any closer to expressing our sense of outrage and shame to the people of Iraq and to the Arab and Muslim nations around the world, then that expense, as far as I am concerned, is money well spent. I am open to that suggestion.

I would like to reflect for a moment on the larger issue that has been raised, not just in this Chamber today but around the world over the last several days. As a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, yesterday I spent several hours in a hearing with representatives of our military and civilian agencies involved in Iraq, where we poured over every gruesome, grisly, sickening detail of this abuse of Iraqi prisoners. I cannot disclose what was said in that room. What I am about to say is based exclusively on those public pronouncements and things that have been available in the press. I want to make that clear at the outset.

I will tell you about yesterday. I can't remember a sadder day in my service in Congress than the time I spent in that intelligence room. To think any human being would do that to another person is unthinkable. To think that an American would be involved in that is something I never would have believed. And to imagine that someone wearing the uniform of our country would have been in some way associated with that activity is something I would never, ever have accepted. Yet it is a reality, and the reality is it was not one isolated incident. It was a series of incidents involving the killing of prisoners, the sadistic, wanton, and blatant mistreatment of prisoners, and it is something which, sadly, this United States of America must face up to.

I am glad the President of the United States went on Arab television yesterday to express his personal feelings about how terrible these events were, and to make it clear that America does not accept this conduct. I wish the President had extended an apology to the Iraqi people and all who were offended by this shameful episode. It would have been an easy thing for him to do. It would have expressed a sense of humanity and a sense of justice, which we expect of an American President. He did not. I wish he had.

But now we have to ask ourselves how should we, as a people, react to this? I am going to suggest one way we should not react to this. I have in my hand a transcript from a syndicated radio program of May 4, by Rush Limbaugh. Oh, he is well known around Washington, around the world. I want to read what Mr. Limbaugh said in reaction to this scandalous episode involving the torture and abuse of Iraqi prisoners.

His caller, on May 4, asked as follows:

It was like a college fraternity prank that stack up naked men.

And Mr. Limbaugh replied as follows:

Exactly. Exactly my point! This is no different than what happens at skull and bones initiation and we're going to ruin people's lives over it and we're going to hamper our military effort, and then we are going to really hammer them because they had a good time. You know, these people are being fired at every day. I'm talking about people having a good time, these people, you ever heard of emotional release?

Rush Limbaugh said in describing the sadistic torture of Iraqi prisoners. And then Mr. Limbaugh, in his infinite wisdom, went on to say:

You ever heard of need to blow some steam off?

Rush Limbaugh. I am embarrassed that this man, who supposedly speaks for so many people in America and is listened to faithfully by so many people in America, would be so callous, so insensitive as to make those statements. Trust me, they will be repeated, not just on the floor of the Senate, but around the world by our enemies as an indication that we are not taking this seriously.

President Bush struck the right note yesterday. We are taking this extremely seriously, and we should. The reason is obvious. What happened in those prison cells was a complete breakdown of leadership, a complete breakdown of discipline. It is clear that some are being held accountable for it already, and the investigation continues. Some of my colleagues have come to the floor and said this investigation should go all the way to the top. I will keep an open mind on that issue. I want the Secretary of Defense to have his day in court, his moment to explain when he learned of this and what he did about it; frankly, what action he took to avoid this from occurring.

But there are several things I think we should keep in mind. No. 1, the men and women of this reserve unit who were called on to run this prison represented a military police unit without training in detention and corrections.

There is never an excuse for this inhumane and barbaric conduct but the fact is, time and again since we invaded Iraq, we have given assignments to our men and women in uniform, assignments that they were never trained to do. We have asked them to establish civil order in Iraq when they were trained to invade and defeat an enemy. We asked them to be traffic cops and university security. We have asked them to guard museums. We have asked them to do things that were beyond their skill and beyond their training, and this is another example.

Second, let me tell you this. We cannot ignore the reality that the people we are still holding in detention, because of the war on terrorism, are the next questions to be asked by the world. If this happened in Iraq at the Abu Ghraib prison, what is happening at Guantanamo Bay? We have to be prepared to answer those questions. We have to be transparent and open in our treatment of these prisoners, and we have to accept the obvious. We have held and detained hundreds of people without charge, without benefit of counsel, and without communication, in some cases for more than 2 years. There reaches a point where the United States needs to either charge these people with wrongdoing or release them.

We are going to be asked by the world: If Abu Ghraib was a scandal, how are you treating the other detainees and the other prisoners who are involved as well?

We should accept the reality, too, that what happened in this prison, sadly, is going to make our mission in Iraq that much more difficult and that much more dangerous for the brave men and women in uniform who still serve our country so well as I speak. It has become a recruiting poster, the photos of this abuse and torture, a recruiting poster for those who hate us around the world. Some would say we need to condemn it by resolution; we need to tear down the prison. All of these are important words and important symbols. But we need to do more. We need to try to establish bridges of communication and bridges of understanding with Arab States and Muslim states and the people who live there who, in these images of torture, will believe they see the real United States. That is not who we are. We are a caring people, and we need to demonstrate that.

Beyond tearing down buildings, can we talk about building things up? Can we talk about investing our resources and talents in the United States, to reach out, as the President has asked, in the global AIDS fight, to Muslim nations that are struggling, to reach out to struggling countries, Muslim and otherwise, to provide school feeding programs for children, to once again demonstrate to the world who we really are? Blowing up a building is one thing, but building a life and building a school and building a health clinic is another. It is clear evidence of who we are as an American people.

I look at the situation in Iraq today. It is much more troublesome than it was even a week ago. In April, the bloodiest month in this war for America since our invasion, we lost more troops, we suffered more injuries than in any single period. I make it my responsibility to try-and sometimes I cannot-to call every Illinoisan who has lost a soldier. God bless them, every single one of them, so proud of their son or daughter, husband, wife, killed in this conflict. And they should be proud. They have served our country. They should be proud of the contribution a member of their family has made to this country.

However, this situation is getting perilously complicated and so far from the resolution we hoped for when we made the invasion of this country. Our war on terrorism is going to be complicated as well. We need to develop a sound strategy for the Iraqi situation and for our war on terrorism. We need to concede that many of the things that seemed so obvious and so easy have failed us so far.

We heard predictions early on that the Iraqis would greet us with open arms, move toward democracy, and we would start turning over control of the nation to them. It sounded like a great goal. Clearly, we were wrong. It has not happened. It is not likely to happen soon.

The administration will ask for more money-$25 billion-to support our troops. Although I voted against this war, I will continue to vote for every dollar this administration asks for to keep our troops safe and to bring them home safely. We must continue to ask the hard questions: What is the strategy? What is the plan? Where is the leadership? How can we bring our troops home from Iraq with a mission truly accomplished?

Sadly, today we are further from that goal than we were just a few short days ago. I hope that during the course of the debate on this important resolution on the scandalous activity at the prison we can find Senators of both political parties coming forward, trying to find common ground to reach our goal in the Middle East.

I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.