Congress: Conditions at Gitmo Improving; Washington Post: We Don't Care
06/28 11:25 AM
Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX), a member of the “Shut it down” crowd, joined a 16-member congressional delegation last weekend on the first visit to Guantanamo Bay since Amnesty International called it “the gulag of our times.” Each member, including Rep. Jackson-Lee, brought back positive things to say about Gitmo.
According to an Associated Press report, Rep. Robin Hayes (R-NC) said, “The most astounding thing to me was how nice the prisoners are being treated. These folks are getting privileges that a prisoner of war under the terms of the Geneva Convention would not get.” In a separate report, Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-CA) said, “The Guantanamo we saw today is not the Guantanamo we heard about a few years ago.” Jackson-Lee told reporters, “What we’ve seen here is evidence that we’ve made progress.”
The Washington Post decided the appropriate way to cover this story would be a 173-word brief with the following lede:
The Post story does not quote any positive comments from the Senators.Two Democratic senators, just back from Guantanamo Bay, said yesterday that Congress should come up with concrete rules for handling detainees at the U.S. prison there.
Yet David Kirkpatrick of the NY Times interviewed the same two Senators and wrote this story:
"I feel very good" about the detainees' treatment, Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon, said.
That feeling was also expressed by another Democrat, Ben Nelson of Nebraska.
What did the Post focus on today instead? A front-page rehash of the Downing Street Memos! Of course.
UPDATE: Media Blog reader Mike wrote, “You note that the Times published the favorable comments of Ron Wyden, et al upon returning from Gitmo. Yeah, they published them. On page A15.”
