During the arrest, one of the officers can be heard saying to Eslocker, "You're lucky I didn't knock the f..k out of you." [Note, that is actually incorrect English.]
In its taxpayer-financed propaganda campaign, the Pentagon quietly courted about 75 flag officers with an expectation that they'd sell the Iraq war to the public in their on-air comments. These officials met regularly with former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and the Joints Chiefs of Staff, had access to classified intelligence, and were flown on Pentagon-financed trips to Iraq and Guantanamo. Because their vested interests as consultants, board members, lobbyists or employees in the defense industry were never disclosed by NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN and Fox, viewers had no way to fully judge their often up-beat assessments of the war. The statements often contradicted reports from Baghdad-based journalists.
In a stunning admission to ABC news Friday night, President Bush declared that he knew his top national security advisers discussed and approved specific details of the CIA’s use of torture. Bush reportedly told ABC, “I’m aware our national security team met on this issue. And I approved.” Bush also defended the use of waterboarding.
