NYT:US Religious Figures Offer (Abu Ghraib)Abuse Apology on Arab TV

[DeepModem Mom]

BROADCAST
U.S. Religious Figures Offer Abuse Apology on Arab TV
By MARK GLASSMAN

Published: June 11, 2004


WASHINGTON, June 10 — American spiritual leaders from different faiths condemn the prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib in a 30-second advertisement to be broadcast next week on the Arabic television networks Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya.

"The impetus for this ad was from the deep sense of moral regret that we were hearing from people of faith across the country," said Tom Perriello, the co-director of FaithfulAmerica.org — the month-old nonprofit advocacy group that created the ad....

***

In the ad, a Presbyterian, a Muslim, a Catholic and a Jew read a statement as written Arabic translations appear.

"A salaam aleikum," the Rev. Donald Shriver, the president of the Union Theological Seminary in New York, begins. "As Americans of faith, we express our deep sorrow at abuses committed in Iraqi prisons. We stand in solidarity with all those in Iraq and everywhere who demand justice and human dignity. We condemn the sinful and systemic abuses committed in our name, and pledge to work to right these wrongs."...


http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/11/politics/11FAIT.html

[acmavm]

1. Good move, and I hope this helps the Iraqi people understand that this

criminal activity was brought to them by a corrupt administration that is about to find it's way out of power and hopefully into an international court of law for war crimes.

[gratuitous]

2. Gee, they couldn't get Falwell or Robertson?

Might as well get the guys who share some responsibility for these atrocities step up. But then again, I suppose they'd have to actually be sorry for the torture in order to apologize.

[Dover]

3. The U.S. is going to have to do a lot of heartfelt apologizing if we ever

hope to become real citizens of the world.

[gottaB]

4. "Torture in Iraq"

That's the language preferred by the folks at FaithfulAmerica.org

Hey, NYT editors, and I don't mean Okrent because obviously carries no weight with you:

torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture torture

It's called English. Use it or get a job cleaning bird cages or something.

[DeepModem Mom]

5. Kicking from last night because I really applaud these people --

Union Theological Seminary, of which the Rev. Shriver is president, is a major institution. We should hear more from these religious figures, and less from the "Religious Right." (I found the article on a back page in the NYT print edition.)