Captain's Quarters Blog


« Wave Of Democratization -- And Bush As Icon -- Reaches Azerbaijan | Main | Portrrait Of A Cold, Cruel Man »

June 5, 2005
No Wonder The Exempt Media Loves Amnesty International

The Exempt Media's love affair with Amnesty International suddenly become more understandable when AI's executive director, William Schulz, responded to questions about the use of the "gulag" analogy to Camp X-Ray at Guantanamo. When asked to defend its allegation, Schulz said he didn't know that it was accurate, but he also didn't know that it was:

Despite highly publicized charges of U.S. mistreatment of prisoners at Guantanamo, the head of the Amnesty International USA said on Sunday the group doesn't "know for sure" that the military is running a "gulag."

Executive Director William Schulz said Amnesty, often cited worldwide for documenting human rights abuses, also did not know whether Secretary Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld approved severe torture methods such as beatings and starvation.

Schulz recently dubbed Rumsfeld an "apparent high-level architect of torture" in asserting he approved interrogation methods that violated international law.

"It would be fascinating to find out. I have no idea," Schulz told "Fox News Sunday."

In other words, Amnesty International's reoprt consists of nothing but conjecture and opinikon, not fact. It's a startling admission of the threshold used by the once highly-regarded watchdog group. They've compiled their report and their accusations based on assumptions. In fact, despite their earlier allegations, Schulz admitted that he has no idea whether the International Red Cross has been given access to all prisoners at Guantanamo, let alone other military detention facilities.

No wonder the American media loves Amnesty International -- they use the same editorial thresholds for publication. Just like Newsweek, AI apparently feels that any rumor that matches the preconceived notion of its publisher merits reporting as fact to its readers.

Sphere It Digg! View blog reactions
Posted by Ed Morrissey at June 5, 2005 12:55 PM

Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this entry is

Listed below are links to weblogs that reference No Wonder The Exempt Media Loves Amnesty International:

» More thoughts about Amnesty Irresponsible from rgcombs.blog-city.com
Amnesty International USA Executive Director William Schultz was on Fox News Sunday this morning. Host Chris Wallace pressed him pretty hard. Here's one exchange, as I remember it: Wallace: You said Rumsfeld and Gonzales are the architects of torture [Read More]

Tracked on June 5, 2005 2:15 PM

» "We don't know if it's a gulag but we want to believe it is." from The Anchoress
That's essentially the line from Amnesty International's Executive Director William Schulz. Despite highly publicized charges of U.S. mistreatment of prisoners at Guantanamo, the head of the Amnesty International USA said on Sunday the group doesn't... [Read More]

Tracked on June 5, 2005 3:24 PM

» Amnesia International from Pirates! Man Your Women!
Amnesty International, the watchdog group afrai… ... [Read More]

Tracked on June 5, 2005 7:49 PM

» Sorry, We Thought Gulag Meant Ho-Hos from Hard Starboard
Do you suppose that Amnesty International Executive Director William Schulz might need to take one of those "English as a second language" courses? It seems that etymology isn't the only subject about which his knowledge is woefully deficient. D... [Read More]

Tracked on June 6, 2005 1:04 AM

» Amnesty International admits its claims are basele from Hoodathunk
So, let's get this straight, once and for all. Amnesty International issued a report accusing the Bush Administration, the US Military, and the commanders and troops at Gitmo, specifically, of abusing detainees and engaging in torture. They raised th... [Read More]

Tracked on June 6, 2005 7:55 AM

» Amnesty Internation: What, us do research? from Posse Incitatus
LT Smash and Captain Ed both hammer Amnesty International for failing to do even basic research on Guantanamo Bay and other US detention facilities. The Posse believes that this revelation simply shows that Amnesty isn't even slightly interested in human [Read More]

Tracked on June 6, 2005 12:57 PM

» Gitmo Vs. Gulag from Joust The Facts
More on the Gitmo/gulag comparison by Amnesty International from Executive Director William Schulz, who was interviewed on Fox News Sunday.Despite highly publicized charges of U.S. mistreatment of prisoners at Guantanamo, the head of the Amnesty Intern... [Read More]

Tracked on June 6, 2005 3:07 PM



Design & Skinning by:
m2 web studios





blog advertising



button1.jpg

Proud Ex-Pat Member of the Bear Flag League!