Senator Hill returns fire

God knows what some people think the military are all about. The Government is under fire because reports by junior officers in the ADF mentioned Abu Ghraib and they, the Government, didn’t do what all good Lefties and anti US journalists demand they do. As in why didn’t you start screamimg ‘abuse’ at the US Military eigth months ago? Why didn’t you fall on your sword? Why didn’t you sack General Cosgrove? Why don’t you acknowledge that we, the press, know far more than you? Why on earth aren’t you doing what we suggest? STEVE LIEBMANN from Channel 9’s Today program tries to make Senator Hill confess up to something or other. Anything to keep the saga on the boil. Steve Liebmann;

it’s now known that Australian military lawyers were reporting concerns about human rights abuses in the prisons back to our officials, military officials, eight months before you knew anything about them. Why was that material not passed up the chain of command, at least to you

Senator Hill

Because it was the Red Cross talking about other parties who were running the prisons, not Australians. The Red Cross report didn’t even make it to Australia as we weren’t an occupying power.

Steve insists

But there were 20 or 25 reports…

Senator Hill tries to explain again.

You’ve got to remember that this was at the end of the major conflict phase, there were large numbers of prisoners, there were inadequate facilities, overcrowding, difficulties in processing, the prisons were being mortared each night – it wasn’t a satisfactory environment for the holding and proper processing of prisoners…We weren’t running the prisons we just had some lawyers advising constructively

Steve is still trying to get Hill to accept that he is wrong and that Steve is very right. Steve, being a journalist, clearly knows more than the Senator. Why doesn’t the Senator admit it?

Yeah but I mean these reports are coming through, the alarm bells aren’t ringing – does that mean we need a general review of your Department’s efficiency?

Senator Hill:

No, because it wasn’t for us to act upon them. The Red Cross didn’t even deliver the reports to Australia. The Red Cross won’t even give us the reports now because they know it wasn’t our responsibility.

For Christ’s sake can’t you understand English? (my words, not Senator Hill’s) There would have been literally thousands of reports from Iraq submitted by Officers on duty there analysing what they had been involved in, witnessed, advised on and otherwise reporting matters within their field of responsibility. Do the press, the journalists, on a jihad to destroy Howard, really believe that everything goes up the chain. How many reports do you expect Hill, or Cosgrove, or even Howard to read eveyday. They rely on summaries from Defence and thus rely on Senior Defence personnel (Generals and civilians) to anticipate problems that may be hidden in a report. I can’t see anyone anticipating that reports that indicated overcrowding and rough treatment in prisons in a war zone on the eve of a cease-fire would turn into such a witch-hunt. To repeat Senator Hill’s words .. at the end of the major conflict phase, … large numbers of prisoners, … inadequate facilities, overcrowding, difficulties in processing, .. prisons mortared each night – it wasn’t a satisfactory environment for the holding and proper processing of prisoners…We weren’t running the prisons we just had some lawyers advising constructively. It’s not meant to be a three star rest camp situation. In the immediate aftermath of battle these camps and prisons are designed to deny the enemy use of the incarcerated troops. At that point in time commanders and logisticians are flat out supplying and reinforcing their own troops and have to balance removing troops from the battle to POW management. It never works perfectly and anyone that demands it does should try and manage it themselves sometime. Interrogators are called in to sort the wheat from the chaff, the ordinary soldier from the man who knows something. The ordinary soldier is bulk stored until it is safe to send him back home and those who may know something are interrogated. Meanwhile the battle still rages with insurgents and western media doing their best to turn the tide of war in the terrorist’s favour. It’s working fairly well too.