Solly Mack
Solly Mack's Journal"Estimates place the number of torture survivors living in the U.S. at 500,000".
http://www.beneaththeblindfold.org/Home.html
Co-directed by Chicago-based filmmakers Kathy Berger and Ines Sommer, Beneath the Blindfold interweaves the personal stories of four torture survivors who now reside in the U.S., but originally hail from different parts of the globe: South and Central America, Africa, and the U.S.
While Beneath the Blindfold addresses torture as a global human rights issue, the film does not shy away from touching on both the historical and the more recent U.S. involvement in torture and the question that this raises: why were we so willing to accept the use of torture in our name?
Despite the media coverage of abuse at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay, the voices of torture survivors have rarely been fully heard in the ensuing public discussion about the use of torture. Without their stories, torture remains abstract, a practice that happens to people we neither know nor care about. They become statistics, their human suffering easily ignored.
http://newssun.suntimes.com/entertainment/9908760-421/film-explores-victims-view-of-torture.html
Q: What is you ultimate goal for this film? What do you hope it will accomplish?
A: My greatest hope for this film is that it will raise awareness. Four years ago there was a Pew research poll that said 43 percent of Americans condone torture. I just hope we can reach people and help them understand that torture is actually not an effective way to get information, that it has been discredited by interrogators, and that it is a terrible violation of human rights. If we can make any sort of a dent in that percentage, that would be wonderful.
http://abcnews.go.com/2020/Law/samantar-monster-door/story?id=9867614
Like citizens of other countries ravaged by brutal regimes, many refugees who survived Barre's rule came to America to start over and live quietly among the population.
But shockingly, along with refugees and victims of war crimes, some alleged war criminals themselves have emigrated to the United States, escaping retribution for the monstrous acts they may have committed at home.
Men accused of human rights abuses from Somalia to Venezuela have laid their own claims to the American dream and now enjoy the same freedoms they're accused of trying to take away from their own people. It may seem impossible, but one of these men -- some allegedly responsible for mass murder, torture and the destruction of entire populations -- might literally be living next door.
In case anyone wants to see the film.
Hundreds protest on 10th anniversary of Guantanamo prison
Hundreds protest on 10th anniversary of Guantanamo prisonhttp://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-guantanamo-protests-20120112,0,400199.story
More than 800 people demonstrated in what they said was solidarity with the 171 inmates who remain in the prison, as well as the unknown numbers detained at the U.S. military prison at Bagram, Afghanistan.
Smaller protests were held elsewhere, including Los Angeles.
Video - Gitmo anniversary draws White House protests (also other locations in the US)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/gitmo-anniversary-draws-white-house-protests-131/2012/01/11/gIQAT4HwrP_video.html
Another Video
Protesters mark Guantanamo prison's 10th anniversary
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/11/us-usa-guantanamo-prison-idUSTRE80A1CN20120111
A spokeswoman for Amnesty International said protests by human rights groups were planned for Miami, Boston, San Francisco and Chicago.
Events also have been scheduled for Paris, Toronto, Madrid, Berlin, London, Brussels and other cities, she said.
French protesters mark 10 years of Guantanamo
Small group in Miami area protests Guantanamo
http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/01/11/2584401/small-group-in-miami-area-protests.html
About five people held signs Wednesday along a busy intersection in the Miami suburb of Doral. It was also the tenth anniversary of the U.S. Navy base. Prisoners there plan to mark the day with sit-ins, banners and a refusal of meals.
Steven Wetstein wore an orange jumpsuit at the protest in Miami. He says the prison is "a stain on America's image and our image abroad."
Some of the Miami protesters also wore black hoods, similar to those prisoners wore when they were first taken to Guantanamo. The protesters held signs that read: "10 Years Of Shame Close Gitmo Now" and "10 Years Is Long Enough."
Human rights activists protest 10 years of Guantanamo (Around Europe)
10 Years
In pictures: Ten years of Guantanamo Bay
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-16503410
Ten years of 'Gitmo' -- and more to come
http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/11/world/analysis-gitmo-ten-years/?hpt=us_t2
The lingering stain of Guantanamo
http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/the-lingering-stain-of-guantanamo-20120110-1ptfy.html
'Tortured' Guantanamo Bay prisoner seeks release of secret videos
http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/10/10081516-tortured-guantanamo-bay-prisoner-seeks-release-of-secret-videos
Faces of Guantanamo: Detainees Who Were Unjustly Imprisoned
http://globalspin.blogs.time.com/2012/01/11/faces-of-guantanamo-detainees-who-were-unjustly-imprisoned/#ixzz1j9SGjKuz
Guantanamo: 10th anniversary of a symbol of shame
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bs-ed-gitmo-20120110,0,1845343.story
Happy 10th Birthday, Guantanamo Bay
http://battleland.blogs.time.com/2012/01/11/happy-10th-birthday-guantanamo-bay/
Ten years later, Guantanamo still harms us all
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/01/10/ED2F1MNA60.DTL
Guantánamo Bay 10-year anniversary: timeline
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/9006682/Guantanamo-Bay-10-year-anniversary-timeline.html
10 years. 120 months. 3,652 days. 87,658 hours.
Actually, Newt served on the Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee under Richard Perle/under Bush.
Perle was chairman of the Defense Policy Board, appointed so by Bush in 2001.
Newt continued to serve on the board well into 2007.
Perle had been for the invasion of Iraq and the overthrown of Saddam Hussein for years.
Rice was part of WHIG. (White House Iraq Group)
Powell helped to facilitate the invasion of Iraq with his little vial. As a former general, it is improbable to believe Powell knew nothing of the Defense Policy Board or its membership.
The papers Rumsfeld released show that Newt was involved in the lead up to the invasion and later.
I think Newt was referring to the lead-up to the Iraq invasion when he said he served with Rice/Powell in an attempt to make a grasp at anything to temper his earlier remarks. Epic fail.
Still, there is a connection between the 3.
So, I'd say that - Newt is a racist and just digging his heels even deeper - but that he did work with Rice and Powell under the Bush administration in a less than public (at the time) role. I'm sure the WHIG group and Perle's group overlapped during the lead-up to the invasion. Making his contact with Rice greater than his contact with Powell. Fact is, evidence suggest Newt's contact with Rice would have been greater since Powell did voice an objection every now and then. (He still shook that vial though) So, yeah...there is a more than "vague connection" - though I would say they worked together more than served together...though they all 3 served Bush/Cheney.
Bashing Newt is just plain fun and he deserves it - but he still was working behind the scenes in the Bush administration on the invasion of Iraq. (and later)
And, if you're someone who never knew about Perle and Newt working together in the Bush administration or that the documents Rumsfeld released also include Newt's involvement with the Bush administration...maybe it's time you learned. (that's the general you/you're - for anyone that didn't know or forgot)
Defense Policy Board
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/12/international/middleeast/12EXPA.html?pagewanted=all
Richard Perle
http://www.aei.org/scholar/richard-perle-1/
Perle/ letter to Clinton
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/iraq/stories/policy020598.htm
http://www.newamericancentury.org/iraqclintonletter.htm
Newt
http://www.newt.org/meet-newt
http://www.defense.gov/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=11419
Newt/Rumsfeld papers
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/03/16/new-rumsfeld-documents-highlight-gingrichs-involvement-with-iraq-war/
Rumsfeld Papers
http://www.rumsfeld.com/
WHIG (White House Iraq Group)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x5077403
I don't give anyone a pass on the Iraq invasion.
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Gender: Do not displayCurrent location: Back of Beyond
Member since: 2001
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