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Hours before President George W. Bush announced plans to address the Arab world to condemn the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. military personnel at the Abu Ghraib prison, Rush Limbaugh justified the U.S. guards' mistreatment of the Iraqis, stating that they were just "having a good time," and that their actions served as an "emotional release."

As reported by Wonkette.com, Limbaugh's comments can be found on his website. From the May 4 Rush Limbaugh Show, titled "It's Not About Us; This Is War!":

CALLER: It was like a college fraternity prank that stacked up naked men --

LIMBAUGH: Exactly. Exactly my point! This is no different than what happens at the 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? You of heard of need to blow some steam off?

The day before, on his May 3 show, Limbaugh observed that the American troops who mistreated Iraqi prisoners of war were "babes" and that the pictures of the alleged abuse were no worse than "anything you'd see Madonna, or Britney Spears do on stage."

LIMBAUGH: And these American prisoners of war -- have you people noticed who the torturers are? Women! The babes! The babes are meting out the torture.

LIMBAUGH: You know, if you look at -- if you, really, if you look at these pictures, I mean, I don't know if it's just me, but it looks just like anything you'd see Madonna, or Britney Spears do on stage. Maybe I'm -- yeah. And get an NEA grant for something like this. I mean, this is something that you can see on stage at Lincoln Center from an NEA grant, maybe on Sex in the City -- the movie. I mean, I don't -- it's just me.

The official US Army report listed all the abuses committed at the prison. Rush Limbaugh labels the following as 'just having a good time' and 'blowing some steam off'.

a. (U) Breaking chemical lights and pouring the phosphoric liquid on detainees;

b. (U) Threatening detainees with a charged 9mm pistol;

c. (U) Pouring cold water on naked detainees;

d. (U) Beating detainees with a broom handle and a chair;

e. (U) Threatening male detainees with rape;

f. (U) Allowing a military police guard to stitch the wound of a detainee who was injured after being slammed against the wall in his cell;

g. (U) Sodomizing a detainee with a chemical light and perhaps a broom stick.

h. (U) Using military working dogs to frighten and intimidate detainees with threats of attack, and in one instance actually biting a detainee.

.................

a. (S) Punching, slapping, and kicking detainees; jumping on their naked feet;

b. (S) Videotaping and photographing naked male and female detainees;

c. (S) Forcibly arranging detainees in various sexually explicit positions for photographing;

d. (S) Forcing detainees to remove their clothing and keeping them naked for several days at a time;

e. (S) Forcing naked male detainees to wear women’s underwear;

f. (S) Forcing groups of male detainees to masturbate themselves while being photographed and videotaped;

g. (S) Arranging naked male detainees in a pile and then jumping on them;

h. (S) Positioning a naked detainee on a MRE Box, with a sandbag on his head, and attaching wires to his fingers, toes, and penis to simulate electric torture;

i. (S) Writing “I am a Rapest” (sic) on the leg of a detainee alleged to have forcibly raped a 15-year old fellow detainee, and then photographing him naked;

j. (S) Placing a dog chain or strap around a naked detainee’s neck and having a female Soldier pose for a picture;

k. (S) A male MP guard having sex with a female detainee; [FORGET THE DOUBLE SPEAK, THIS IS RAPE]

l. (S) Using military working dogs (without muzzles) to intimidate and frighten detainees, and in at least one case biting and severely injuring a detainee;

m. (S) Taking photographs of dead Iraqi detainees.

ALL OF THE ABOVE ACTIVITIES ARE DESCRIBED BY LIMBAUGH AS 'BLOWING SOME STEAM OFF AND HAVING A GOOD TIME'. SO, ACCORDING TO LIMBAUGH, IF YOU HAVE A BAD DAY AT WORK, JUST GO AND FIND A WOMAN, POUR BATTERY ACID ON HER, RAPE HER AND THEN BEAT HER TO DEATH - YOU'LL JUST BE BLOWING SOME STEAM OFF!

Neo-Con talk show hosts across the country from Limbaugh to Michael Savage are making outbursts on a daily basis that would make Adolph Hitler or Joseph Stalin blush. Savage openly calls for putting anyone who criticizes the government in a forced labor camp.

In an age of increasing regulation of free speech, it's astounding that talk show hosts with tens of millions of listeners can get away with advocating torture, rape and murder. The new definition of 'conservatism' according to Limbaugh is making naked men perform homosexual acts for laughs. The world truely has turned upside down.

This swine has hit a new low!!!

when American citizens (military and non) were murdered, mutilated, and dragged through the streets? Hmmm?! I know,I know...the poor Iraqi's, the poor terrorists, the poor Palestinians....whah , whah, whah,...its not their fault, its only because, whah, whah, whah. I'll be careful here though since my anti Muslim posts keep getting pulled while the anti U.S. and anti Jewish posts are allowed almost on a daily basis.

Tom

It should be noted here that Bush did apologise on Arab TV and compensation is being offered to the families. The offenders (and their superiors)are to be tried under the military code of uniform justice which I can assure you is severe.

I can sympathise with your frustration Tommyboy, But what ever the Moslems did to us....does not justify our troops behaving like this.

Frank
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"The luxury of not getting involved departed with the last lifeboat Skipper..."

In fact, the Arabs weren't upset at all by their countrymen's behavior, and even the Americans weren't nearly as upset as they are now.

So, let's see.

Arab murders/mutilations/etc., EQUALS that's fine.

American humiliation EQUALS unacceptible.

Who cares that we didn't torture/kill anyone?

Rodney

The bad news is that the Secretary of Defense; Rumsfeld has reported that there are more pictures and it could get worse (ABC News). I don't think you can safely say there was no torture Rodney. There was definitly rape.

Frank
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"The luxury of not getting involved departed with the last lifeboat Skipper..."

rape.---Accusations and proof are two different things. Whether there was or not, has yet to be seen. I haven't seen any evidence yet, other than the pictures themselves.

There are even a lot of stories that the pics were staged or doctored up a bit. It's pretty easy to do that nowadays with computers, scanners and digital cams. I don't personally believe that is the case (that they are all fake), but it could be true for many of them.

I recall seeing one that looked kind of weird. The soldiers were in sharp focus and in good color balance, while the Iraqis looked to be very poor focus, maybe grainier from different film speed or different number of pixels, and weird color. Looked like the woman with the thumbs up was cut and pasted onto another photo. That particular pic. did look fake to me.

In another one, a rifle is pointed at the head of an Iraqi who's head is covered so he can't even see. Why would you point a rifle at someone's head if they couldn't even see it? If you were trying to scare them, wouldn't you take the blindfold off so they could see you were pointing a gun at them? And why would anyone take pictures of this nonsense? That, in itself, is pretty foolish, and makes it questionable.

Rodney

Rodney It kind of sounds like you are in denial. Bush, Rumsfeld and the top general in Iraq are all admitting that the pictures and abuse are real. I don't think they would if the pictures were doctored-and I can guarrentee that the top photo experts they could get would be on top of those photos before the President would make that kind of admission.

Not to mention that The American Red Cross reported possible abuse last year...and Rumsfeld was aware of the pictures and kept the information from the president.

This is not hearsay from the liberal media. This is from statements (on the air) by those people.

Frank
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"The luxury of not getting involved departed with the last lifeboat Skipper..."

If some of those pictures were doctored as you say they might.....

And Bush apologised for them without checking them out (I'm sure the Whitehouse has photo experts that are at least as observant as you)

That would be a pretty dumb thing for the leader of this country to do.

It's a catch 22 Rodney,

Their real-The USA gets a black eye.

Their phony-The president was dumb to not find that out before he apologised...and the USA gets a black eye.

Frank
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"The luxury of not getting involved departed with the last lifeboat Skipper..."

Well, I kind of agree with that.

If some of the photos were real, then Bush should have apologized for those ones that were real. Even if some were fake, the real ones should be enough to warrant an apology.

I was just saying, that with the investigation still ongoing, we should wait before passing judgment. Right now, it is allegations and accusations, and not yet proven fact. (though, again, I doubt this is the case---Especially, after hearing last night, that there are videos as well!--Its much harder to doctor those.)

Once the investigation is finalized, and we know more about it, I will be happy to admit that it happened. But right now, with as much as I have heard and I know about it, I will not yet claim it as fact. (I don't think that is being in denial at all, just fair to the accused.)

Rodney

The photos are digital rodney - so scanners are not a factor, nor is film. Do you ever speak about anything you have even a tiny clue about?

Was there a different focus really ? Gee I wonder why that would be? Your really a freakin genious rodney. Show us the doctored images goober.

Do you ever argue about anything you know about?

Don't you know that scanners can be used to "scan" an image to make it digital? That is the function of a scanner! To get an analog photo digitized so it can be used in a computer! Guess what, digital cameras do basically the same thing!

Can't you figure out that a camera or a scanner could be used for the same purpose?

I don't know what process or equipment they used, and since you weren't there when they made the CD, neither do you, so I gave you a choice in my previous post of what they could have used.

And that once it is digital, it is then easily manipulated, with software?

Haven't you ever seen the ads. on kingsnake that were of unbelievably poor quality when this was done? (regular film photos that were scanned)

(Again, I am sorry for all the bold type fonts! But, as some people have problems comprehending things, and it might help some people to better understand English, I will continue to use them.)

Here's something for you to check out, since you think everything I post is made up,

Col. David Black, who led the regiment in the 1980s, told British Broadcasting Corp. television that equipment and a truck pictured in the photos had not been used by the regiment in Iraq. He said he did not believe the photos had been taken in the Middle Eastern country.

"The evidence we have seen so far looking at the photographs, there are too many inconsistencies," he said.

AND THIS

The rifle appears to be an SA80 mk 1, which was not issued to soldiers in Iraq. Troops wear berets or hard hats, not the floppy hats as seen in the pictures. The truck in the photo also appears to be a type never used in Iraq.

This should be pretty easy to verify, to see, if in fact, the photo's are even possible to have occurred in Iraq. I don't think these arguments would have even been made, if they weren't true, for this reason.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0503britain-prisoner-abuse03-ON.html

Rodney

Photo #2) Weird lighting on the back of upper prisoner relative to the lighting in the rest of the photo.

Photo #4) Weird shoulders--far to large (both wide and thick) relative to his head and the soldier sitting on him.

Photo #6) Soldier too grainy, relative to the rest of the photo.

Photo #8) Sizing--Soldiers in the back look to small relative to object that photographed.

and last, and probably the best example of possible tampering with the photos,

Photo #9) Pattern is seen in the photo. (lines that look like a matt finish photo that was scanned).-- But those lines aren't seen in the soldier's uniform. Why would that be?

All these problems make these photos very questionable to me.

I also find it odd that the British are also accused of this, at the same time, and some of them are refuting the veracity of the photos due to incorrect equipment, that isn't in Iraq, being photographed.

Here is a link to the photo's I am referring to. Don't they look strange to you too? (Pay particular attention to photos #3 and #9 and my reason for each.) I also find it odd that such a high percentage look odd, and the ones that don't look so odd are ones of just of the prisoners, without the soldiers that may have been digitally added later. These, most likely, are staged instead of doctored.

www.cbsnews.com/elements/2004/05/06/iraq/photoessay615914.shtml

Rodney

www.mensnewsdaily.com/archive/newswire/news2004/0504/050404-abuse.htm

Rodney

rodney, trust me ol boy, you have NO idea what your talking about. I do digital media for a living. I've been doing it since 1993. I've worked in digital media at 3 research universities, a number of private companies and 1 national weapons lab - Los Alamos National Lab. I know what I'm talking about.

Your desperately reraching here - give it up.

You work with digital media for a living, and you don't understand that differences in "graininess" or "resolution" that only occur on certain objects make pictures looked doctored? or how boarders of objects are often wrong due to shadows, etc.

I don't work with digital media (except for marketing animals on the internet and goofing around with photo shop programs) and I understand that!

I also have played around with pictures "doctoring them" to make some amusing images. Some people have even thought they were real. (a bald eagle's head on the body of a macaw for instance). It is so easy to do today, that anyone can do it. My brother even added Pres. Bush to a family picture. And with today's sophisticated programs, you can do this in a matter of minutes.

And you don't understand how pictures can be staged either? When uniforms are wrong, vehicles are wrong, etc.? Ever heard of disinformation?

It doesn't take an expert to see these things!

Even a fool knows he was robbed after his money is gone.

What's really funny is, if the news says something good about America, you brand it as pure propaganda, but if the enemy says something bad about America, you embrace it as absolute truth.

I'll say this again, why not wait for the investigations to end before jumping to conclusions? Is it because those conclusions might not make America, and Bush, look as bad as your assumptions do?

Rodney

Oh so now we talking about the BRITISH photos - how convenient for you Amazing how easy it is to win arguements when you simply change the premis, huh?

We all know the british pictures appeared to be doctored - but note the evidence isn't in the "different film grains" fer cripes sake.

And by the way. Rumsfeld stated in his testimony that the pictures were taken by digital cameras. I think that pretty much shuts all your blather about scanners down, no?

Here's a suggestion. Write here when you actually know what your talking about. I think we'll all enjoy the peace. You don't really need to defend your bizarre notions at every turn do you?

No, I was talking about both.

Isn't it convenient how they both came out at about the same time?

If the British photos are fakes, there is a good chance the American ones are as well.

The photos I had problems with were the ones on 60 minutes.(I assume those are the American ones?) The ones with the prisoners and soldiers in them looked weird. Why didn't the ones with only the prisoners in them look weird also? I think it was the coloring and resolution (the soldiers coloring and resolution compared to the resolution and coloring of the rest of the photo).

Rodney

That really hits on the point I made up above...about checking before speaking.

The thing is that if every British photo is doctored it is irrelevant. One REAL photo is one too many.

Frank
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"The luxury of not getting involved departed with the last lifeboat Skipper..."

That hits my point too. Bush should have appologized if even one is real. And, even if they are all fake, his appologizing may save american lives, so he still should have, in order to save these lives. His appology doesn't necessarily indicate that this is true.

Rodney

Sadly at this point the reality of the photos no longer what matters....to the rest of the world his apology is evidence enough.

Frank
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"The luxury of not getting involved departed with the last lifeboat Skipper..."

... I can only repeat for the umpteenth time:

You were (are) the aggressor. You set food on Iraqi soil unasked and unwanted and not granted by the United Nations.

You invaded a country where savages live as you have seen when they abused the dead bodies.

With the happenings in the prison the #1 military power of the world who claimes to be also the #1 moral authority stooped to the level of savages.

Such a behaviour I expect only from Hutus and Tutsis in Central Africa.

"Acting like a broken record". Your mastery of the language continues to astound me as does your hatred of the U.S and its allies.(I mean Israel but I have to be careful not to get deleted) I guess we'll have to see how you feel when downtown Berlin is blown off the map for whatever petty reason the Muslims use at that time in the name of Al....well you know who. Maybe the same courageous fighters who like to mutilate dead bodies and the superheros who blow up pizzerias full of children will have their turn in the jails sometime soon. Maybe Germany can educate us to the ethical treatment of prisoners in the future. Of course you're welcolme to respond but since your opinion has completely lost value to me due to your underlying hatred of "certain" people, your time would probably be better spent trying to convince some other weak minded soul that we are the boogy man and the the poor Iraqis are just an innocent victim as were the Taliban.

Shalu Shalom Jerusalem

Tom

The risk of becoming another theater of major terrorist attacks has increased for Germany.

We have legions of muslims here (mostly Turkish citizens). Berlin is the city with the third most Turkish citizens, only outnumbered by Ankara and Istambul.

Most of these foreign workers are good people, but there is also a significant number of radical islamists. I think Germany along with France are most affected by this problem in Europe.

I believe that the 21th century will become the age of the new war between christians and muslims.

And the reason for that is Israel who ignores one UN resolution after the other AND the stupid war on Iraq.

With this war the US created 100 new terrorists for every alleged terrorist who was killed in this war.

Do you agree?

And if half of Berlin will blow up thanks to a terrorist attack we can send a letter of gratitude to George W.

I think he is the most unwise (to remain polite) President the U.S. ever had.

So you're justifying the torture and humiliation of Iraqi's because you think that they are all terrorists? That they’re all on a par with the Taliban? I thought we were supposed to be better than that. I thought what set us apart from the terrorists and dictators was that we treated everyone fairly and justly regardless of what they’ve done. But if you want to jump into the cesspool with the rest of the animals and bring us down to their level, well I have to think that you don’t really understand what America is supposed to stand for.
I say prosecute the people responsible to the fullest extent of the law and show the rest of the world that America isn’t just a bunch of thugs.

Actually I do understand America. Its a country who has put all its stock in political correctness. Its not about right or wrong, only about what looks good in the press. Our politicians only do what will get them re-elected. I do not agree with the abuse of anyone be they military or civilian. I have been accused on this very forum of being un American because I believe in Socialism. Now I am un American because it sickens me to see these men and women portrayed as abusers because of a dozen or so individuals actions, and because the world inaction at the sight of civilian and military people being mutilated, drug, and hung from bridges. These people are a cancer. They are not religious people. They only use religion to give their murderous actions a "legitimate" platform. My point is that this is a war. Turn off the cameras and play to win. It wont be pretty and it wont be politically correct. You cannot negotiate with them. You cannot win them over. But you can take care of the problem before its too late. Thats the ugly truth. This is a world problem and its time for the world to act. Tom

I'm sorry but that is just ridiculous. Turn off the cameras and do what it takes to win??? Well I guess that's pretty much what Nazi Germany did. And Japan as well during WWII. And Iraq when they were dealing with the Kurds. You sure you want to be lumped in to that kind of company.

What is ridiculous is your understanding of world history. Take a 100 level course and get back to me. I do not follow political correctness and therefore see the world and its cancers very clearly. What I say may not sound like a Sunday sermon in the bible belt but it holds much merit I assure you. Here are a few simple truths you may be able to understand...

A) Muslim terrorists are our enemy and the enemy of the world! Not Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, Toaists, Shintoists, or whatever other religions. Just terroroists from the all loving and forgiving religion of peace which is Isl..(you'll have to finish that word for yourself so I dont get deleted. If you cant figure it out then ask a friend) Ugly but true.

B) We have tried diplomacy for many years. Its a waste of time with these people. All they want to do is kill until they force their ways on everyone else. Ugly but true.

C) Sometimes it is better to fight fire with fire. Ugly but true.

D) If you have the means by which to eradicate your enemy which has shown no real attempt at peace then do so before it is tooo late. Ugly but true.

Now take some time and think about these things. Dont adhere to political correctness and dont blindly follow what you hear on CNN. You see, its you and others like you that are the problem in America. You cant think for yourselves so you vote for self serving politicians to do it for you. If we would have taken care of these "problems" when we first encountered them then the attacks of September 11th would never have happened. But I guess we were to busy with politics and filling up our SUV's.

Tom

How many of the last 100 wars were started by Islamic Fundamentalists tring to eradicate anyone who didn't belive exactly like they do? (even non-fundamentalist Islamics)

Rodney

Oh man, talk about ignoring reality. What does any of that crap have to do with the issue at hand. It's about a group of American soldiers going off the deep end at an American prison camp and torturing and humiliating Iraqi prisoners. And dont give me any crap about this was juast an interrogation technique. You don't interrogate prisoners that way. It was a bunch of thugs that went off the deep end and decided to play some sadistic little games with the prisoners. Prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law.

are you of Jewish ancestry?

Why do you finish your posts with "Shalu Shalom Jerusalem"?

I am not of Jewish ancestry if thats any of your business or bares any relevance. The closing means pray for the peace of Jerusalem. An important command for Jews, Hassidic gentiles(which I am since you are so curious), and Christians. You might give it a try Hermann.

Tom

oh btw....why do you close some of your posts with beware of commies and mutts? Thats not really a question but rather just blatant sarcasm.

Rush is an idiot. Unfortunately many Americans actually listen to him and sympathize with his positions. these Americans also vote. And HAD he last election been truly fair and balanced it would have been THESE people that elected Bush Jr.

This war is UNJUST. The entire ARAB and Moslem world looks upon this country with disdain for its actions in invading and occupying IRAQ. And even moreso now that these ATROCITIEs have been unearthed. The entire world looks at the U.S. in a diffrent light than before,and not a favorable one.Even in ENGLAND, whose citzens, tens of thouands of them, marched into the streets repeatedly to protest their government and tax dollars being used to wage this UNJUST war. Even while their Leader Tony Blair plunged them deeper into it.

Rush Limbaugh?
Is this the same Rush Limbaugh who:

Openly spoke of stiffer prison sentences for drug offenders and users, whilst absueing rpescriptions drugs himselffrom theprivy of his own bedroom? Only to beg and plead with the american public to forgive him and take pity on his WRETCHED state(Is his wretched state somehow more important than others that dont have his money or position?)

Is this the same Rush Limbaugh who was given a premier job as a SPORTCASTER for the superbowl, and used this position to further his own racist sterotyping of BLACK quarterbacks? and then got fired for it as a P.R. nightmare?

Yup...and he is at it again, only thing that IS scary isnt that this blowhard isdoing what he does best...Its that there are people that actually thik like he does..right here. VOTEING mind you.

Disgusted but not surprised,

Fred Albury

often do you listen to Limbaugh?

I haven't heard him in many years, but I always get accused of being one of his supporters when I post something the far left doesn't like.

Sounds like you listen to him a lot! LOL

Are you one of his supporters? If you don't like him, or respect him, why do you care so much what he says?

Rodney

I can answer that one....Because there are enough people in this country that are dumb enough to believe this idiot...and they vote.

College Prank? He's been missing his meds again....

Frank
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"The luxury of not getting involved departed with the last lifeboat Skipper..."

No I personally could not stomach the rantings of that double standard spouting, right-wing nutt case. He is a MOUTHPIECE for all you "My poo don't stink" people out there. When he says something as low as that, it gets into the mainstream, and thats where I picked it up. And its very telling about him as a person, his listeners, and the right in general.....

who in the mainstream quotes him?

The far left will quote him, but the mainstream? I don't think so. I don't even see the slightly left wing broadcast news media ever quote him. The far left radio shows do so all the time, however.

Rodney