inexcusable
Jun. 3rd, 2004 11:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
novapsycheLott Defends Treatment of Iraqi Prisoners
Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) proved he has not lost his knack for inflammatory rhetoric when he defended "really rough" treatment of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. soldiers, including the use of dogs against a prisoner "unless the dog ate him."
Lott, who lost his job as Senate majority leader in late 2002 after speaking favorably of the late Strom Thurmond's segregationist campaign for the White House in 1948, wandered into the danger zone again when asked about the prisoner-abuse controversy by WAPT-TV in Jackson, Miss.
Lott condemned what he described as "physical perversion" of prisoners but defended tactics such as sleep deprivation and the use of dogs as sometimes necessary to "save some American troops' lives or a unity that could be in danger."
"Hey, nothing wrong with holding a dog up there, unless the dog ate him, scared him with a dog," Lott said. When WAPT news anchorman Brad McMullan noted that a prisoner died at Abu Ghraib, apparently after a beating, Lott responded, "This is not Sunday school; this is interrogation; this is rough stuff."
Some of the prisoners "should not have been prisoners in the first place, probably should have been killed," he added.
The 20-minute interview, which covered a number of subjects, was taped May 24 and aired May 26. Susan Irby, Lott's communications director, said Lott got an "incredibly positive" response to his remarks. McMullan said the station "got a lot of feedback," both positive and negative.
Irby defended Lott's remarks about the dogs, saying there has been no conclusive evidence that they attacked anyone. She said he mainly wanted to convey the message that the "safety of our soldiers is our overriding priority."
Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) proved he has not lost his knack for inflammatory rhetoric when he defended "really rough" treatment of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. soldiers, including the use of dogs against a prisoner "unless the dog ate him."
Lott, who lost his job as Senate majority leader in late 2002 after speaking favorably of the late Strom Thurmond's segregationist campaign for the White House in 1948, wandered into the danger zone again when asked about the prisoner-abuse controversy by WAPT-TV in Jackson, Miss.
Lott condemned what he described as "physical perversion" of prisoners but defended tactics such as sleep deprivation and the use of dogs as sometimes necessary to "save some American troops' lives or a unity that could be in danger."
"Hey, nothing wrong with holding a dog up there, unless the dog ate him, scared him with a dog," Lott said. When WAPT news anchorman Brad McMullan noted that a prisoner died at Abu Ghraib, apparently after a beating, Lott responded, "This is not Sunday school; this is interrogation; this is rough stuff."
Some of the prisoners "should not have been prisoners in the first place, probably should have been killed," he added.
The 20-minute interview, which covered a number of subjects, was taped May 24 and aired May 26. Susan Irby, Lott's communications director, said Lott got an "incredibly positive" response to his remarks. McMullan said the station "got a lot of feedback," both positive and negative.
Irby defended Lott's remarks about the dogs, saying there has been no conclusive evidence that they attacked anyone. She said he mainly wanted to convey the message that the "safety of our soldiers is our overriding priority."