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| Fifth Column |
| Amnesty International Leaders helped Kerry |
| 2005-06-02 |
| The top leadership of Amnesty International USA, which unleashed a blistering attack last week on the Bush administration's handling of war detainees, contributed the maximum $2,000 to Sen. John Kerry's presidential campaign. Federal Election Commission records show that William F. Schulz, executive director of Amnesty USA, contributed $2,000 to Mr. Kerry's campaign last year. Mr. Schulz also has contributed $1,000 to the 2006 campaign of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, Massachusetts Democrat. Also, Joe W. "Chip" Pitts III, board chairman of Amnesty International USA, gave the maximum $2,000 allowed by federal law to John Kerry for President. Mr. Pitts is a lawyer and entrepreneur who advises the American Civil Liberties Union. Amnesty USA yesterday told The Washington Times that staff members make policy based on laws governing human rights, pointing out that the organization had criticized some of President Clinton's policies. "We strive to do everything humanly possible to see that the personal political perspectives of our leadership have no bearing whatsoever upon the nature of our findings and the conduct of our work," a spokesman said. Amnesty International describes itself as nonpartisan. Disclosure of the leadership's political leanings came yesterday as the Bush administration continued to lash out at the human rights group for remarks last week by Irene Khan, Amnesty's secretary-general. Mrs. Khan compared the U.S. detention center at U.S. Naval Base Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where more than 500 suspected al Qaeda and Taliban members are held, to Soviet dictator Josef Stalin's "gulag" prison system. At the same time, Mr. Schulz issued a statement calling Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and other top administration officials "architects of torture." Mr. Schulz suggested that other countries could file war-crime charges against the top officials and arrest them. Since Sunday, Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Vice President Dick Cheney; and President Bush have accused Amnesty International of irresponsible criticism. Yesterday, it was Mr. Rumsfeld's turn. "No force in the world has done more to liberate people that they have never met than the men and women of the United States military," Mr. Rumsfeld said at the Pentagon press conference. "That's why the recent allegation that the U.S. military is running a gulag at Guantanamo Bay is so reprehensible. Most would define a gulag as where the Soviet Union kept millions in forced labor concentration camps. ... To compare the United States and Guantanamo Bay to such atrocities cannot be excused." Mr. Rumsfeld said "at least a dozen" of the 200 detainees released from Guantanamo "have already been caught back on the battlefield, involved in efforts to kidnap and kill Americans." Mr. Schulz posted a statement yesterday on Amnesty's Web site (www.amnesty.org) that said, in part, "Donald Rumsfeld and the Bush administration ignored or dismissed Amnesty International's reports on the abuse of detainees for years, and senior officials continue to ignore the very real plight of men detained without charge or trial." |
| Posted by:too true |
| #12 I have seen several arguments that Bush made AI a credible source by using AI reports that were critical of Cuba, NK etc. Using AI was probably a mistake, but mostly the users were the State Department which sometimes seems to operate more as a lefty 527 than as an arm of the executive branch of the US Governament. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2005-06-02 21:23 |
| #11 I can't keep My commies straight. Let me say that it is important that you see only the true path. You were joking right. Any kids? |
| Posted by: Yezhov 2005-06-02 19:12 |
| #10 AI is the only 'political' organization I have ever been a member of. That makes 3 of the regulars ex-AI members (I think it was Desert Blondie who said yesterday she was). Interesting that 3 regulars come from a concern for individual human rights background, which is what AI used to stand for. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2005-06-02 17:51 |
| #9 funding. |
| Posted by: 2b 2005-06-02 17:18 |
| #8 frontpagemag.com had some good stuff awhile back about how many of these groups all operate out of the same offices in new york. The list of players between them was so incestuous and outright communist that it was very interesting. Code Pink, Rukas Society, Mothers against guns, Answer, move.on etc. It's time that our government agencies stopped simply monitoring this ad nasuem and actually let the people of this country know about these groups. I don't think that everyone who works for them is a communist or is even aware that they are useful idiots, but it's time we let the people know who is funing the progressive agenda. |
| Posted by: 2b 2005-06-02 17:18 |
| #7 RC: I thought the Workers World Party (aka ANSWER) was Trotskyite, rather than Stalinist. I can't keep My commies straight. Of course, they're all murderous bastards. Probably even worse than the jihadis. They will at least let you live if you convert. |
| Posted by: Jackal 2005-06-02 16:44 |
| #6 Badanov -- all the pro-Saddam "peace" marches were organized by ANSWER, the Stalinist front organization. I wouldn't be surprised if they were funded by China, France, Iran, and some of our other enemies. |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2005-06-02 13:59 |
| #5 Amnesty International Leaders helped Kerry Birds of an American hating feather flock together. Or maybe I'm just not nuanced enough to understand Mssr. Kerry's approach to things. |
| Posted by: Secret Master 2005-06-02 13:04 |
| #4 I forgot: A disclaimer: I used to be a member of AI way back in the day before they became a fifth column "human rights" organization. |
| Posted by: badanov 2005-06-02 12:29 |
| #3 2B: I believe that the anti-war movement in the 60s was funded in part by foreign governments, likely USSR, China or East Germany. We know now that top leadership in anti-war and leftist "movements" in the USA had met with the East German STASI in the 60s, and I believe the STASI may have been active agents for a foreign government. If any of the above is true then the crimes committed then are still being comitted now, that is to say, a conspiracy is ongoing, which means if we can't get them for treason we can at least get them for any number of other laws NOW ON THE BOOKS, for giving aid and comfort to an armed enemy of the United States. There has never been a satisfactory explanation how those people could take off work or whatever was in their lives to take part in the protests and all the other activities including seditious activities without receiving some sort of aid. I seriosuly doubt that individuals in the US who gave to the anti-war movment in large amount were not funded by foreign governments. After 40 years of actively trying to undermine our military efforts I want answers to these and related question because I believe the answers will prove my theory. I need to be proven one way or the other. |
| Posted by: badanov 2005-06-02 12:27 |
| #2 I also saw on LGF that Mrs. Khan is also a muslem. Any chance of bias on her part? Nahhhhh.... |
| Posted by: mmurray821 2005-06-02 11:55 |
| #1 what a shame. A once great institution who helped people in dire need is now reduced to political hacks. I look forward to the day when we get to see if there are connections to Soros, or other anti-us forces who have made a concerted effort to invade institutions like the Ford Foundation, some of our Universities, Amnesty, etc to co-opt the public and charity funds to use against the united states, or if this is all just a sad and sorry state set of a spoiled and over-pampered generation. You look at Kerry, who aided and abetted the North Vietnamese and you wonder just how deep the rot goes. Did outside forces use these ambitious but weak individuals to permeate our institutions, or is it all just a sad sign of our times? |
| Posted by: 2b 2005-06-02 11:08 |