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Post by moabiter on May 16, 2010 10:17:39 GMT -8
George Bush, Dick Cheney 'knew Guantanamo Bay prisoners were innocent': report By Lindsay Goldwert DAILY NEWS WRITER Friday, April 9th 2010, 11:13 AM George W. Bush knew many of the prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay were innocent but did nothing, according to documents filed in a recent lawsuit, The Times of London reports. The President, along with Vice-President Dick Cheney and then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, were allegedly afraid to release the men fearing the move could harm the effort in Iraq and the war on terror at large, a former top aide to former Secretary of State Colin Powell alleges in documents obtained by the Times of London. www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2010/04/09/2010-04-09_george_bush_dick_cheney_knew_guantanamo_bay_prisoners_were_innocent_report.html#ixzz0o7LkrV30
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Post by moabiter on May 16, 2010 10:47:23 GMT -8
Destruction of videotapes documented in CIA e-mail By MATT APUZZO and ADAM GOLDMAN, Associated Press Writers Matt Apuzzo And Adam Goldman, Associated Press Writers – Fri Apr 16, 6:43 am ET WASHINGTON – Internal CIA e-mails show the former agency head, Porter Goss, agreed with a top aide's 2005 decision to destroy videotapes of the harsh interrogation of a terror suspect, a controversial action that remains the focus of an FBI investigation. The documents show that, despite Goss' apparent agreement, CIA officials almost immediately began worrying they'd done something wrong. The e-mails also indicate that President George W. Bush's White House counsel, Harriet Miers, hadn't been informed of the tapes' destruction and was "livid" to find out later. The videos showed CIA interrogators using waterboarding, a simulated drowning technique that's widely considered torture, on terrorism suspect Abu Zubaydah. The videos showed that interrogators did not follow the waterboarding procedures authorized by the Bush administration, the documents indicate. news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100416/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_cia_videotapes
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Post by moabiter on May 16, 2010 10:50:33 GMT -8
May 12, 1:51 PM, 2009 · No Comment · Previous · Next A Convenient Death By Scott Horton On Sunday, the Libyan newspaper Oea reported that Ali Mohamed al-Fakheri, also known as Ibn al-Sheikh al-Libi, had died in a Libyan prison. The report stated that the death was an apparent suicide and that Libyan prosecutors had opened an investigation into it, but it went on to note that friends of al-Libi questioned the circumstances of his death. Ken Silverstein is also skeptical. Al-Libi played a key role in the torture debate. He provided a perfect demonstration of the way torture techniques can produce dangerous misinformation. Here’s Peter Finn’s account of the focal role played by the al-Libi interrogation in efforts to make a case for war against Iraq from today’s Washington Post: Libi was captured fleeing Afghanistan in late 2001, and he vanished into the secret detention system run by the Bush Administration. He became the unnamed source, according to Senate investigators, behind Bush Administration claims in 2002 and 2003 that Iraq had provided training in chemical and biological weapons to al-Qaeda operatives. The claim was most famously delivered by then-Secretary of State Colin L. Powell in his address to the United Nations in February 2003. Powell later called the speech a “blot” on his record, saying he was not given all available intelligence and analysis within the government. The Defense Intelligence Agency and some analysts at the CIA had questioned the veracity of Libi’s testimony, which was obtained after the prisoner was transferred to Egyptian custody for questioning by the CIA, according to Senate investigators.
In their book “Hubris: The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal, and the Selling of the Iraq War,” Michael Isikoff and David Corn said Libi made up the story about Iraqi training after he was beaten and subjected to a “mock burial” by his Egyptian interrogators, who put him in a cramped box for 17 hours. Libi recanted the story after being returned to CIA custody in 2004. www.harpers.org/archive/2009/05/hbc-90004954
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Post by moabiter on May 16, 2010 10:54:13 GMT -8
How Guantanamo's prisoners were sold Clive Stafford Smith, Published 09 October 2006 "Many members of al-Qaeda fled Afghanistan and crossed the border into Pakistan," he writes. "We have played cat and mouse with them . . . We have captured 689 and handed over 369 to the United States. We have earned bounties totalling millions of dollars. Those who habitually accuse us of 'not doing enough' in the war on terror should simply ask the CIA how much prize money it has paid to the government of Pakistan." As his revelations set people arguing, so more truths came out. Rather than condemning or denying the bounty programme, the US department of justice complained about who had received the loot. "We didn't know about this," said a justice official. "It should not happen. These bounty payments are for private individuals who help to trace terrorists on the FBI's most wanted list, not foreign governments." www.newstatesman.com/200610090029
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Post by moabiter on May 16, 2010 11:02:01 GMT -8
Ibn al-Sheikh al-Libi, had died in a Libyan prison. Limbaugh ignores millions to Libya under Bush, attacks Obama for aid September 25, 2009 2:56 pm ET Bush requested millions in aid to Libya* "Foreign assistance to Libya will initially be targeted to the Peace and Security objective in order to graduate Libya from a Restrictive country to a Developing country. Assistance in this objective will be complemented by a robust International Visitors Leadership Program (IVLP) and other exchanges as well as the inclusion of Libyan citizens in regional initiatives that can build a democratic cadre to advance internal reforms." mediamatters.org/mmtv/200909250024*Overview of the Congressional Budget Justification Foreign Assistance and USAID Operations FY 2008 Budget Request (PDF, 799pp) www.state.gov/documents/organization/84462.pdf#page=516
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Post by ricky chainy on Jun 1, 2010 22:46:20 GMT -8
19 years ? Guantanamo Bay Whistleblower Retaliated Against A former prosecutor who blew the whistle on the abuse of our Constitution in the Guantanamo Bay military commissions is now in danger of losing his 19-year military career. Lieutenant Colonel Darrel Vandeveld was retaliated against for having the courage to follow orders and speak the truth about the mockery of due process afforded to detainees in Guantanamo Bay. *On June 1, a military promotions board will meet, ironically, not to honor or promote Lt. Col. Vandeveld, a highly decorated member of the U.S. Army Reserve Judge Advocate General Corps who served in Bosnia, Africa, Iraq and Afghanistan, as both a solder in combat and a prosecutor. More than likely, they will smear his name, preventing him from an honorable retirement just 4 months away from 20 years of outstanding service to our nation.*Lt. Col. Vandeveld resigned from his position at Guantanamo, because he could not ethically or legally prosecute Mohammed Jawad. The Jawad case brought to light many of the problems occurring at Guantanamo, including abusive interrogations, evidence withheld from the defense, judicial incompetence, and confessions coerced through torture. Lt. Col. Vandeveld gave judge-ordered testimony in the Jawad case, and in return for his honesty under oath and the public outrage that followed, the military issued him his first negative performance evaluation. Lt. Col. Vandeveld was then subpoenaed in 2009 to testify before Congress regarding the Military Commissions Act of 2009, where he again spoke the truth, stating, "the military commission system is broken beyond repair. Even good faith efforts at revision...leave in place provisions that are illegal and unconstitutional." Instead of taking his testimony seriously, the Army chose to retaliate against Lt. Col. Vandeveld for his courageous stand and also to resume the commissions at Guantanamo with minimal revisions. We cannot allow the reputation of a distinguished soldier to be destroyed because he had the courage speak honestly when ordered to do so. We need to defend men and women of conscience who, like Lt. Col. Vandeveld, honor American values of justice, due process and basic human rights above all else. Their courage on the battlefield and in the courtroom to step forward and put an end to abuses of the Constitution they swore to protect and defend should be rewarded, not punished. capwiz.com/whistleblowers/issues/alert/?alertid=15081696www.whistleblowers.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1099&Itemid=71
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Post by moabiter on Jun 3, 2010 1:04:09 GMT -8
hey ricky - how many of those guys quit? (I lost count.) Two Prosecutors at Guantanamo Quit in Protest August 1, 2005 Maj. John Carr, then a captain, and Maj. Robert Preston ... www.globalpolicy.org/component/content/article/157/26991.htmlGuantanamo 'a stain on US military' --- #7 ---- Page last updated at 16:53 GMT, Tuesday, 2 December 2008 The tribunals used for putting suspects on trial at Guantanamo Bay are a "stain on America's military", a former military prosecutor has told the BBC in his first interview since resigning. For Lt Col Darrel Vandeveld... news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7761315.stmHere we go: wiki. There were several resignations from the Guantanamo military commission, including those of Stuart Couch, Morris Davis, Fred Borch, Major Robert Preston, Captain John Carr, USAF Captain Carrie Wolf, and Darrel Vandeveld.
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Post by moabiter on Jun 3, 2010 1:16:02 GMT -8
Something is wrong with his eye. And he shouldn't be wearing that lapel pin. His colors are dif. Ok, it's been said before, If you take Mohammed to the water or bring the water to Mohammed, it's still drowning. There is definitely something going on with the anal thingy at Guantanamo, where they practised techniqey-poo for Abu Ghraib.
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Post by moabiter on Jun 3, 2010 1:20:58 GMT -8
Here's a nice one "Families is where our nation finds hope, where wings take dream." — President George Walker Bush, LaCrosse, Wis., Oct. 18, 2000
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Post by moabiter on Jun 3, 2010 1:29:35 GMT -8
Oh, and this famous vomiter is still babbling too. George Bush admits US waterboarded 9/11 mastermindFormer US president says Khalid Sheik Mohammed was waterboarded by US and he would do it again 'to save lives' Thursday 3 June 2010 07.36 BST www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jun/03/george-bush-us-waterboarded-terror-mastermindoopsie. a little problem with the life savers there, bud. maybe read the news... casualty stats... a few people died in New York to start it off bro... What would a call boy ever see in that guy.
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Post by moabiter on Jun 3, 2010 7:56:53 GMT -8
Here's Donald Rumsfeld in drag - Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld & scriptural erracy Public Theology We, whatever that means now, are more like our enemies than we had imagined. This weekend, GQ magazine posted a series of cover sheets used on classified Department of Defense daily intelligence updates, delivered by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to President Bush in March and April 2003.
Collected by journalist Robert Draper, the documents bear an eerie resemblance to the most troubling propaganda of militant Islamists. They mobilize—in fact, manifestly misuse—passages from the Bible alongside images from the invasion of Iraq; and do so at a time “shock and awe” was still a recent enough memory to seem glorious. www.pubtheo.com/page.asp?pid=1104 ________________________________________ UPDATE: The Guantánamo “Suicides”: A Camp Delta sergeant blows the whistle, January 18, 9:00 AM, 2010 "Late on the evening of June 9 that year, three prisoners at Guantánamo died suddenly and violently. "Furthermore, new evidence now emerging may entangle Obama’s young administration with crimes that occurred during the George W. Bush presidency, evidence that suggests the current administration failed to investigate seriously—and may even have continued—a cover-up of the possible homicides of three prisoners at Guantánamo in 2006." www.harpers.org/archive/2010/01/hbc-90006368PRISONERS: How Cheney and Addington destroyed all notions of justice Far from being a prison for “the worst of the worst,” Guantánamo was, in fact, nothing more than a chaotic assemblage of largely random prisoners, mostly bought from the US military’s opportunistic allies in Afghanistan and Pakistan, or from villagers and townspeople desperate for the bounty payments for “al-Qaeda and Taliban suspects,” averaging $5,000 a head, which were advertised on leaflets dropped from planes. These stated, “You can receive millions of dollars for helping the anti-Taliban force catch al-Qaeda and Taliban murderers. This is enough money to take care of your family, your village, your tribe for the rest of your life — pay for livestock and doctors and school books and housing for all your people.” In addition, and contrary to Addington’s claims, none of the prisoners had been through a screening process at all. "Guantánamo And The Many Failures Of US Politicians" Jane Mayer www.andyworthington.co.uk/200...s-politicians/PROSECUTORS: Seventh Guantanamo Prosecutor resigns over ethical issues From Wikinews, the free news source you can write! Friday, September 26, 2008 en.wikinews.org/wiki/Seventh_...ethical_issuesFREQUENT FLYER PROGRAM: Guantanamo guards were instructed to discontinue the use of the technique in 2004. On August 7, 2008 the Washington Post reported that the Guantanamo guards defied their orders to discontinue practice. The report stated that the technique remained in widespread use for at least a year after its use was supposed to have been discontinued. On August 15, 2008, in testimony at Mohammed Jawad's Guantanamo military commission, Army officers confirmed the existence of the frequent flyer program.
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Post by moabiter on Jun 7, 2010 19:40:50 GMT -8
calibrating... these doctors are weirdOs... US medical staff experimented on terror suspects: report by Lucile Malandain Lucile Malandain – Mon Jun 7, 4:23 pm ET WASHINGTON (AFP) – Medical personnel apparently experimented on terror detainees during CIA-led torture after the September 11 attacks, aiming to improve interrogation techniques, a human rights group said Monday. "There is evidence that they were calibrating the harm inflicted by these techniques allegedly and also looking to extend their knowledge about the effects," said Nathaniel Raymond, from Physicians for Human Rights... The experimentation and research "appear to have been performed to provide legal cover for torture," the group said, as it called for an inquiry. "It has been very disappointing over the last few years that the there has been no active investigation of any allegations that has been made," John Bradshaw, the group's chief policy officer, said. news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100607/ts_alt_afp/usattacksrights
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Post by moabiter on Jun 9, 2010 9:11:48 GMT -8
Editorial - Doctors Who Aid Torture Published: June 7, 2010 The Red Cross previously documented, from interviews with “high-value” prisoners, that medical personnel helped facilitate abuses in the C.I.A.’s “enhanced interrogation program” during the Bush administration. Now Physicians for Human Rights has suggested that the medical professionals may also have violated national and international laws setting limits on what research can be performed on humans. www.nytimes.com/2010/06/08/opinion/08tue1.html
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Post by moabiter on Jul 14, 2010 9:10:48 GMT -8
mockingbirds...Study: Newspapers stopped describing waterboarding as 'torture' during Bush years Thu Jul 1, 2:59 pm ET Is waterboarding torture? If you picked up a major U.S. newspaper before 2004, the answer would likely be yes, according to a new Harvard University study. But in the post-9/11 world, when the practice of immobilizing and virtually drowning detainees became a politically charged issue, that straightforward definition grew murky. The study, conducted by the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, examined coverage in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal and USA Today, and found a noticeable shift in language concerning waterboarding. "From the early 1930s until the modern story broke in 2004, the newspapers that covered waterboarding almost uniformly called the practice torture or implied it was torture," the study noted. But the study found that things changed in the years when "war on terror" became part of the American lexicon. The New York Times defined waterboarding as torture, or effectively implied that it was, 81.5 percent of the time in articles until 2004, the study found. But during 2002-2008 — when the George W. Bush White House made a concerted effort to normalize harsh interrogation methods for use on terror detainees — the Times “called waterboarding torture or implied it was torture in just 2 of 143 articles." That’s 1.4 percent of the time. The study also noted a disparity in how newspapers defined waterboarding when the United States employed the practice versus its use by other nations — in the latter instance, newspapers more readily called the practice torture. news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/ynews_ts3004______________________ en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_MockingbirdVideo: 'United States of America: Brainwashed Nation,' and the program 'Edward Bernays Assassin of Democracy' about Sigmund Freud's nephew, the Middle American Information Bureau, the United Fruit Company, CIA and the 'liberation' of a popular government in Guatemala in 1950.
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Post by clone on Sept 29, 2010 9:32:49 GMT -8
Tony Blair 'knew of torture claims eight years ago': His handwritten note was on secret letter Last updated at 1:44 AM on 29th September 2010 It reads: ‘The key is to find out how they are being treated. ‘Though I was initially sceptical about claims of torture, we must make it clear to the U.S. that any such action would be totally unacceptable and very quickly establish it isn’t happening.’ www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1316080/Tony-Blair-knew-torture-claims-8-years-ago.html
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