David Thomas: “I am pleased we have this resolution before us. I think all of us share the same thoughts about this whole Iraqi…”

“I am pleased we have this resolution before us. I think all of us share the same thoughts about this whole Iraqi prisoner abuse issue. We are all very disappointed and very troubled about the events in the prison. We need to move forward to resolve this issue. We need to do what needs to be done as a followup. We do not need to make it into a political operation for the next week because we have other things to do in Iraq. But we must take care of this issue because we, as Americans, hold ourselves to a higher standard. These are appalling actions of those responsible for the treatment of the detainees in Iraq. It falls far short of any of those standards. Our credibility has been called into question in the eyes of those we are trying to help, as well as the rest of the world. These incidents of cruelty and mistreatment at the hands of American service men and women are inexcusable, and certainly it is a very small group of our service people. Unfortunately, the foolish actions of a few have cast a pall on thousands of our military. All of us know that is not the case, and all of us who have served in the military know these are not the kinds of activities we are ordered to do. There have been mistakes, and we need to determine how those happened and see they do not happen again so our folks can continue at the very hard job they have. These terrible events have dealt a blow to what we are seeking to do.”