Accountability.

As you know, the White House is shocked - shocked - that Newsweek used an anonymous source for its allegations that a Quran had been desecrated at Guantanamo Bay. The White House claims to be VERY concerned about our image abroad, and they are horrified that Moslems don't believe that we have their best interests at heart. And that's all Newsweek's fault. Really. Until this nasty Newsweek thing happened, we were beloved throughout the Middle East by all and sundry. They were throwing flowers, remember?

So the Bushies claim that they want the press to be open, accountable and transparent.

Well, pardon me for mentioning this, but it has been a year since the abuses of Abu Ghraib came to light, and we have yet to see anything resembling accountability.

Prisoners have been abused; they have been humiliated; they have been tortured; they have even been killed.

In fact it is these very real and reprehensible practices that made the Newsweek article so convincing. Flushing a Koran is relatively mild compared to the things that we know actually HAVE happened.

And there has been no accountability - no senior officer, and no actual official has received ANY censure for these heinous practices that have disgraced us in the eyes of the entire world. In fact, those who called for the legalization of torture and the ignoring of the Geneva Convention have been promoted.

So I say let's HAVE some accountability.

The Newsweek article was based on the Southern Command's report on Guantanamo Bay. Let's see that report.

Let's see ALL of the reports about prisoner abuse that the Bush administration has been withholding.

Let's see the report by the CIA where they talk about hiding prisoners from the Red Cross.

Let's have a full and thorough investigation by the Senate Armed Services Committee on how the White House formulates its policy on prisoners. And let's have it WITHOUT interference, and WITHOUT the White House pressuring them to stop.

We are ALL in favor of accountability.

But it STARTS with the White House. And we have yet to see it.