By Illinois Family Institute

Howard Dean, move over. Another Democrat Party leader is vying with you in an apparent contest to see who can most alienate Middle America.

In case you haven't heard, Illinois's own Senator Dick Durbin has refused to apologize for comments he made on the Senate floor comparing the actions of American soldiers at Guantanamo Bay to Nazis and Soviet gulags.

Tuesday, on the floor of the United States Senate, Durbin brought up some concerns about the nature and treatment of the prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility. Quoting from an FBI agent's report, Durbin complained that some of the treatment of prisoners verged on torture saying:

If I read this to you and did not tell you that it was an FBI agent describing what Americans had done to prisoners in their control, you would most certainly believe this must have been done by Nazis, Soviets in their gulags, or some mad regime--Pol Pot or others--that had no concern for human beings.

Durbin is out of line to compare American interrogators at Guantanamo Bay to Nazis, Communist gulags or to Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot. (The Communist revolutionary Pol Pot slaughtered any Cambodian with a higher education, executing some merely for the "crime" of wearing glasses.) Durbin's statement is not just unrealistic, but ridiculous.

Maybe we missed something in the FBI report. Did the agent cited by our esteemed senator describe innocent civilians being gassed or lined up and shot in the back of the head? Did he suggest that there were mass graves or killing fields?

During a White House press briefing, press secretary Scott McClellan said:

I think the Senator's remarks are reprehensible. It's a real disservice to our men and women in uniform who adhere to high standards and uphold our values and our laws. To compare the way our military treats detainees with the Soviet gulags, the Nazi concentration camps, and Pol Pot's regime is simply reprehensible. And to suggest that these individuals -- I notice comments were made that -- comparing it to the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. To suggest that these enemy combatants who are detained at Guantanamo Bay should be released just is simply beyond belief to me. These are dangerous individuals who were picked up on the battlefield. They were picked up on the battlefield in the fight against American forces. They were picked up on the battlefield because they are individuals who are involved in plots to do harm to the American people and to innocent civilians.

And so I just think those remarks are reprehensible and they are a real disservice to our men and women in uniform. Our men and women in uniform go out of their way to treat detainees humanely, and they go out of their way to hold the values and the laws that we hold so dear in this country. And when you talk about the gulags and the concentration camps in Pol Pot's regime, millions of people, innocent people, were killed by those regimes.

No apologies
A Durbin spokesman said that the senator did not plan to apologize for the comments, according to the Associated Press. The senator issued a statement saying it's the administration that should apologize "for abandoning the Geneva Conventions and authorizing torture techniques that put our troops at risk and make Americans less secure."

Tony Perkins, a veteran of the Marine Corps and President of Family Research Council released the following statement:

"Senator Durbin seems to be more concerned about the welfare and comfort of terrorists than the well being of our men and women in uniform and the citizens of this country.

"Senator Durbin owes America an apology. His comments do nothing to help the morale of our hard working and dedicated troops. These men and women are doing their best and many work every day in conditions that most Americans, including Senator Durbin would have a hard time understanding.

"My time in the United States Marine Corps has taught me that life is tough and often unfair but Durbin's comments are a harsh and over the top criticism of people he does not know and of a situation he has not personally experienced.

"Senator Durbin may not agree with the efforts our troops are putting forth in Guantanamo Bay but to demean them and their efforts in such a way to liken them to Nazis and Soviet gulags is a grossly unfair and hurtful remark."

Disagree with Senator Durbin? Let him know what you think about his offical opinion of the work our troops are doing to protect our saftey here at home:

Senator Richard Durbin
332 Dirksen Senate Office Bldg.
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-2152
202-228-0400 (fax)
dick@durbin.senate.gov

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Wear Red on Fridays to Support the Troops
There is grass roots movement underway to show solidarity and support for our troops. It is really quite simple. Each Friday and continuing on each and every Friday, every red blooded American who supports our young men and women should wear something red.

By word of mouth and through email, lets see if we can make the United States, on any given Friday, a sea of red much like a home baseball game of the St. Louis Cardinals or Cininnati Reds.

If every one reading this email would share this idea with like-minded American patriots, it would not be long before the USA will be covered in Red much to the disdain of the anti-American ralliers.

Lets get the word out and lead by example, wear RED on Fridays.

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Illinois Family Institute has a working relationship with Focus on the Family, Alliance Defense Fund and the Family Research Council, as well as similar state-based organizations across the United States.