The executive director of Amnesty International U-S-A delivered the commencement address at Grinnell College on Monday. William Shultz discussed the Iraq prison abuse scandal. Shultz wondered “what could possess young Americans to hold someone under water until he almost drown; to sic dogs on naked, cowering prisoners.” Shultz says while we’re told the soldiers accused of the abuse had no training, Shultz says the training we all receive “at our mother’s or father’s knees” should tell us it’s not right. Shultz says “you need not love your enemies, you certainly ought not allow them to harm you, but you risk your own destruction if you deprive them of their most basic dignity.” Shultz says Amnesty International officials told the Bush Administration is had concerned about the treatment of those being detained by American military.Shultz says he “personally” met with top officials at the Pentagon and the National Security Council over a year ago to “beg them to look into reports of torture of Afghan and al Qaeda prisoners.” Shultz says his pleas were ignored, maybe because officials knew too little of the alleged instances of torture, or perhaps because they knew “too much” according to Shultz. Shultz went to the same Pennsylvania high school Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack attended. Shultz says he and Vilsack hardly had any contact because Vilsack was a grade behind him and “of absolutely no consequence.” But now that Vilsack’s on the list of potential running mates for John Kerry, Shultz jokes that the two are “dearest friends.”
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