"Ghosts" in the machine

I guess I should not be surprised that this doesn't generate more news coverage. Were Iraq an actual soverign state, then perhaps they would raise more outrage at the fact that up to 100 of their detainees are missing.

The CIA hid dozens of Iraqi detainees at U.S. Army detention facilities without registering them or letting international inspectors know of their existence, generals who have investigated the Iraq prison scandal said Thursday.

"This is, perhaps, one of the more troubling pieces of our investigation," testified Gen. Paul Kern as he and other generals joined former defense secretaries in shuttling between hearings of the Armed Services committees of the Senate and House.

(snip)

The Army refused to disclose to the International Committee of the Red Cross the existence of the CIA's prisoners in its facilities. Rep. Heather Wilson (R-N.M.) asked the former defense secretaries whether that refusal violated, or was in keeping with, U.S. policy.

"I can't answer that question," Brown said. Schlesinger chimed in, "I think there may be some directives in conflict, and you should ask the intelligence committee to take this up."

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has acknowledged hiding one detainee in Iraq at the request of CIA Director George Tenet.

And that means that Rumsfeld admits to violating the Geneva Conventions.

The Geneva Conventions, which govern conduct during war, require countries to notify the International Committee of the Red Cross about detainees and allow its inspectors to visit them.

And if we don't uphold them, why should anyone else?