Major newspaper proclaims: Durbin right about 'hellhole'

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill.

A major U.S. newspaper is voicing strong support for Dick Durbin of Illinois, the Senate's No. 2 Democrat, regarding his criticism of U.S. treatment of enemy combatants at Guantanamo Bay, as he likened it to treatment by the Nazi Gestapo, Soviet KGB, and Pol Pot's killers in Cambodia.

"Durbin was spot on in his assessment of Guantanamo," says today's editorial in the Minneapolis Star Tribune. "That's why he was so roundly attacked. He told the truth. And his message is of vital importance; the United States is better than this."

The editorial continues:

The issue of whether Durbin's rhetoric crossed a line is small potatoes compared with the undeniable truth that American treatment of its prisoners has crossed many, many lines -- of morality, of international law, of practical benefit.

But instead of discussing what goes on at Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib and other prison camps, the right would prefer to get into a senseless argument about whether "we" are better than the Nazis or Saddam Hussein or the Soviets or Pol Pot or whomever a critic of Guantanamo might raise as a comparison. It's a tactic the group running Washington now has used again and again: They're quite deliberately changing the subject -- from Guantanamo to words spoken on the Senate floor.

It's not too late, as Durbin said of Bush in his speech: The senator should stop apologizing and keep up the criticism of the hellhole America's military has created at Guantanamo. He has no reason to be defensive; he's telling the truth. It's a truth Americans need to hear, and its tellers must resist intimidation.

On the Senate floor last Tuesday, Durbin read an e-mail message from an FBI agent describing alleged prisoner abuse. The senator said if he didn't identify the source of the information "you would most certainly believe this must have happened by Nazis, Soviets in their gulags or some mad regime – Pol Pot or others – that had no concern for human beings."

[See video of Durbin's remarks here.]

The comments ignited a firestorm of criticism, and by last Friday, Durbin issued a release expressing some regret.

"I have learned from my statement that historical parallels can be misused and misunderstood. I sincerely regret if what I said caused anyone to misunderstand my true feelings: Our soldiers around the world and their families at home deserve our respect, admiration and total support," Durbin said.

In addition to Minneapolis, Durbin is finding some newspaper support in the nation's capital today, where Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen says the senator is a victim of piling on.

"The vitriol being heaped on Durbin would be almost funny if it weren't so mean," Cohen writes. "The man, after all, is the virtually invisible Dick Durbin. And yet he is being tarred and feathered for saying something that has occurred to many of us: Guantanamo makes the United States look bad."

In Pennsylvania, the Daily Times of Delaware County is less sympathetic toward Durbin, noting in its own editorial:

"All Americans should feel free to criticize their government when they think it is going down the wrong path or acting unjustly. But comparing any American administration to the regimes of a Hitler, a Stalin or a Pol Pot is a rhetorical extremism that goes well beyond fair criticism. Certainly a U.S. senator ought to know better. If Dick Durbin doesn't get it, his colleagues ought to explain it to him with appropriate sanctions."

Republicans have called for an apology, and former House speaker Newt Gingrich over the weekend sent a letter to senators urging a censure for Durbin.

"Senator Durbin's statement of 'regret' on Friday has only compounded the need for the Senate to act," wrote Gingrich. "Incredibly, Senator Durbin is sticking to his original assertion that there is indeed, in his own words, an 'historic parallel' between U.S. soldiers at Guantanamo Bay and the killers under Hitler, Stalin and Pol Pot. In other words, his only regret is that Americans don't understand his misreading of history and that he has caused us to misunderstand him. Offering no apology for the original slanderous statement itself, Senator Durbin has chosen instead to actually defend his comparisons. This defense makes his original speech all the more revolting."

Previous stories:

Gingrich: Punish Durbin for Nazi comment

ADL calls on Durbin to apologize

Democrat senator: U.S. troops 'Nazis'