Somehow I missed this last week.
Lynndie England, the ex-U.S. soldier who became infamous for her role in abusing Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib, mistreatment captured in photos that appalled people across the globe, was scheduled to speak at the Library of Congress today as part of the tour to promote her new book.
But her appearance was canceled after the library’s staff and the organizer of the event received threats.
I regret the threats of violence occurred. Lynndie does not deserve that nor do the Library of Congress staff.
But I am glad that it was cancelled. And I agree with these comments by Moe Davis:
I am a Library of Congress employee and a veteran.* I retired with an honorable discharge after serving for 25 years in the Air Force. I was the chief prosecutor for the military commissions at Guantanamo Bay for more than two years and I resigned in 2007 in large part because I believe waterboarding is torture and my superiors, Tom Hartmann and Jim Haynes, did not. I believe my views on torture have been clearly expressed, so it should come as no surprised that I am more than a little disappointed that the library that belongs to the United States Congress is hosting one of the most infamous torturers in modern time so she can promote her book. I’m even more disappointed that the event is sponsored by a veterans group. Perhaps I should start a rival group within the LOC called Veterans with Values and our motto will be “we don’t honor the dishonorable.”
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