General Accuses WH of War Crimes

[chill_wind]

Source: WAPO Special report- 1 hr ago)

General Accuses WH of War Crimes

By Dan Froomkin
Special to washingtonpost.com
Wednesday, June 18, 2008; 12:44 PM

The two-star general who led an Army investigation into the horrific detainee abuse at Abu Ghraib has accused the Bush administration of war crimes and is calling for accountability.

Now, in a preface to a Physicians for Human Rights report based on medical examinations of former detainees, Taguba adds an epilogue to his own investigation.

The new report, he writes, "tells the largely untold human story of what happened to detainees in our custody when the Commander-in-Chief and those under him authorized a systematic regime of torture. This story is not only written in words: It is scrawled for the rest of these individual's lives on their bodies and minds. Our national honor is stained by the indignity and inhumane treatment these men received from their captors.






Read more: ttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2008/06/18/BL2008061801546.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

[havocmom]

1. .

[OKIsItJustMe]

47. Read the report here

http://brokenlives.info/

Preface to Broken Laws, Broken Lives

By Major General Antonio Taguba, USA (Ret.)

Major General Antonio Taguba, USA (Ret.)Maj. General Taguba led the US Army’s official investigation into the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal and testified before Congress on his findings in May, 2004.

This report tells the largely untold human story of what happened to detainees in our custody when the Commander-in-Chief and those under him authorized a systematic regime of torture. This story is not only written in words: It is scrawled for the rest of these individuals’ lives on their bodies and minds. Our national honor is stained by the indignity and inhumane treatment these men received from their captors.

The profiles of these eleven former detainees, none of whom were ever charged with a crime or told why they were detained, are tragic and brutal rebuttals to those who claim that torture is ever justified. Through the experiences of these men in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo Bay, we can see the full scope of the damage this illegal and unsound policy has inflicted—both on America’s institutions and our nation’s founding values, which the military, intelligence services, and our justice system are duty-bound to defend.

In order for these individuals to suffer the wanton cruelty to which they were subjected, a government policy was promulgated to the field whereby the Geneva Conventions and the Uniform Code of Military Justice were disregarded. The UN Convention Against Torture was indiscriminately ignored. And the healing professions, including physicians and psychologists, became complicit in the willful infliction of harm against those the Hippocratic Oath demands they protect.

After years of disclosures by government investigations, media accounts, and reports from human rights organizations, there is no longer any doubt as to whether the current administration has committed war crimes. The only question that remains to be answered is whether those who ordered the use of torture will be held to account.

...

[saigon68]

56. They shoved Plastic Flashlights up screaming men's Rectums

And they weren't out to "shine a light" on FREEDOM and DEMOCRACY at the time

[defendandprotect]

99. The Nazis were also consumed/obsessed with these sexual assaults ---

recently, I saw a video where a homosexual German man was telling how he was abused --
they used a 2X4 and did great damage to his body.

[saigon68]

130. The CIA Thugs at Abu Ghraib got their "thrills"

With this stuff..

Young boys were molested to get their fathers to talk

[defendandprotect]

135. You know what it causes me to think about Cheney/Bush . . . ???

It's sexual perverts who are interested in seeing this crap carried out ---

[choie]

58. WHY THE HELL

DIDN'T YOU SAY THIS IN 2004, TAGUBA????

[TheDebbieDee]

61. Threat of retribution? Against himself or family members?

Remember, this group of thugs in the White House was (probably) behind sending those Anthrax mailgrams to Dashcle, Leahy and the lead anchors at ABC, CBS and NBC in the weeks after 9/11.

[debunkthelies]

98. Remember.....

Daddy Bush was the head of CIA and they have been spying on the Senate and Congress since before 2000, they know all their 'dirty little secrets', thats why we get nothing from the Dem's they are AFRAID of what the Bush Crime family will do to them.:scared: There is nothing too evil or too low for the Bush's.

[defendandprotect]

100. Bless this man --- Major General Anthony Taguba

He acted truthfully and courageously ---
and he was forced to resign ---

[Acadia Blue]

111. A man of honor, integrity, and moral values. Too good for the

filth and dirt that makes up the bush administration with all their fake Christian values.

[tuckessee]

128. He must've just found those attributes.

Otherwise, why did he wait until now, the waning days of the Bush administration, to finally speak up?

There's a reason behind everything and the timing is no matter of chance.

[defendandprotect]

133. Taguba is pretty much out there alone saying that Bush is a "criminal" --

including his top advisers ---

See anyone else saying this?

Meanwhile, Taguba's report was newsworthy quite some time ago ---
I think maybe Harper's or the Nation also carried a story on it ---
And -- I believe he made clear that either his investigation was estopped --
or parts of it suppressed?

This is to the best of my memory --- Taguba was whistleblowing ---
and also pretty much was asked to "resign" --

If anyone has better info on the trail of Taguba's report, please jump in here!!

[disndat]

114. Probably the Kerry '04 campaign.

Get some popcorn, the truth may finally be reeling out, crime by crime. What happened to Mussolini and his mistress, after WWII would be too good for Bush & Co.

[liam_laddie]

122. That's a dream of mine, too! n/t

[yardwork]

119. Not to mention all the telecommunications records they have on everybody.

People who would do what the Bush administration has done would not hesitate to blackmail people - generals, congress people, U.S. attorneys, the list goes on.

[libnnc]

2. hello.

:kick:

[AllyCat]

3. How much more evidence does there need to be?

God, indict this vile man already! Why doesn't the rest of the world just come in and take him? Just haul his a$$ to Den Haag and be done with him and all his little dogs too.

[libnnc]

4. one of the best prosecutors in the country has made the case

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/vincent-bugliosi/the-prosecution-of-george_b_102427.html

[asjr]

5. I have wondered the very same thing for

a long long time. The entire world knows what happened. Who will step forward and say Enough! It just keeps going and going. Will it take another American revolution to stop it?

[bdamomma]

20. it is all up to us.

one massive general strike, to stop everything for one day or more, shit, they are taking everything away from us now, and THEY DO NOT CARE. The Articles of Impeachment is longer than 35.

[mnhtnbb]

29. I think it's going to take a French Revolution. Storm the Bastille.

[truedelphi]

104. How will anyone storm the Bastille if they start dropping bombs on Iran?

And even if they don't, there are many new devices taht the Powers that Be have at their command. The "non-lethal" weaponry ready for such an attack can fire "heat waves" that force individuals away from their goal.

[mnhtnbb]

113. It will be ugly. No doubt.

[mopinko]

6. why don't they?

nato?
anybody?
sos

[bdamomma]

19. each day this POS remains in office is one more day of

complicity and utter ignorance and arrogance on all of us. This is enough, how many books are going to be written, how many more officials are going to be in front of committees, these slimy bastards are not above the law.

[freefall]

110. Unfortunately, so far they are above the law. I don't have much

hope that anything will happen to change that.

[Juan_de_la_Dem]

7. This is the type of "Honor" we should really be talking about.. K and R fot the truth

[redqueen]

8. FINALLY!

Thank you, Major General Anthony Taguba.

If only the other generals who have served or are serving there had your integrity and honor on this issue.

[chill_wind]

9. McClatchy Washington Bureau-- "The War Council" of Five under Bush and Cheney.

" ...the work of Five White House , Pentagon and Justice Department lawyers."

Posted on Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Easing of laws that led to detainee abuse hatched in secret


WASHINGTON — The framework under which detainees were imprisoned for years without charges at Guantanamo and in many cases abused in Afghanistan wasn't the product of American military policy or the fault of a few rogue soldiers.

It was largely the work of five White House, Pentagon and Justice Department lawyers who, following the orders of President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, reinterpreted or tossed out the U.S. and international laws that govern the treatment of prisoners in wartime, according to former U.S. defense and Bush administration officials.

(....)

The five lawyers on the War Council met every few weeks behind closed doors in Gonzales' or Haynes' office to plot legal strategy, according to Jack Goldsmith, a former senior Justice Department lawyer.

Several other former U.S. officials confirmed that the group was the driving force for White House policy on detainees.
Fears of future prosecution motivated many officials in the administration, Goldsmith said in his book "The Terror Presidency," published last year. The five lawyers saw legal opinions drafted by Yoo and others in the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel as a shield, Goldsmith wrote, that would make it hard to convict someone of acting on legal advice from the premier legal office in the administration.

"In my two years in the government, I witnessed top officials and bureaucrats in the White House and throughout the administration openly worrying that investigators acting with the benefit of hindsight in a different political environment would impose criminal penalties on heat-of-battle judgment calls," wrote Goldsmith, who declined interview requests.

more........

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/detainees/story/38886.html

[chill_wind]

21. CNN story today has a one-line quote

WASHINGTON (CNN) --
Former terrorist suspects detained by the United States were tortured, according to medical examinations detailed in a report released Wednesday by a human rights group.

updated 4 hours, 26 minutes ago

(...)

"There is no longer any doubt that the current administration committed war crimes," Taguba says. "The only question is whether those who ordered torture will be held to account."

full text:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/06/18/gitmo.detainees/?iref=mpstoryview

[chill_wind]

31. Here's his whole statement:

His Preface and link to the report (see near bottom of page)

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2008/6/prweb1033554.htm

downloadable report: "Broken Laws, Broken Lives: http://brokenlives.info/

[trusty elf]

107. "heat-of-battle judgment calls"

Right. Good luck using that as an excuse.

[chill_wind]

136. And the Corporate MSM coverage?

Not so much.

[skooooo]

10. Bush and Cheney in HANDCUFFS!!!

That's what I want to see.

[trusty elf]

106. Don't forget the leg-irons.

I want to see them doing the leg-iron shuffle.

No hoods though, we need to see the looks on their faces as they do the perp walk.

[Ian David]

11. General Taguba = Captain Obvious. n/t

[Pierre.Suave]

13. Wouldn't that be

General Obvious?

...

[Ian David]

14. You're right. I shouldn't be demoting him. n/t

[Hekate]

12. Kick. I heard Taguba speak at UCSB this year. He's the very model of an honorable and upright...

...military officer, the kind you hope to God your government will listen to. When he says "our national honor is stained" you know it is killing him to have to say it, but that he says it because it is the truth.

Thank you, General Taguba.

On another note, I find it remarkable that in these awful times no less than 3 men from the small and faraway state of Hawai'i are trying to save our country from itself -- Barack Obama, and Generals Taguba and Shinseki.

Hekate

[yardwork]

120. That is interesting. Maybe Hawaii is far enough away from D.C. to see the light?

[PassingFair]

15. I used to wonder how Germans had let Hitler carry out his plans...

Now I KNOW.

Too many Senators were complicit.

Too many Americans are jingoistic ASSHOLES.

I hope it's not too late to turn in another
direction.

I hope.

[Doctor_J]

51. At least a few German military brass had thoughts of removing Hitler

from office, permanently. Here there aren't even any speed bumps

[windbreeze]

74. I wouldn't be too sure about that....n/t

[Swagman]

88. yes many plottered and hundreds paid with their lives to remove Hitler

even then under the grip of the Nazis there were German military officers with a sense of honour and knew Hitler was a criminal and believed he had to be gotten rid of before he stained Germany's reputation forever.

Now it's time for the same to happen in the USA.

[coalition_unwilling]

16. Torture is as American as apple pie -n/t

[dixiegrrrrl]

17. We need a "Dirty Laundry" forum

or some other name, where all these "leaking out" stories ( newspaper, hearings, blogs, links to mag. articles, etc) can be in one place for future enjoyment...and research...and history.
Right now they are spread out in various forums.
Included should be the complicit Congress reactions.

What'cha think???????

or maybe there is site I don't know about that has it all?

[Jack Rabbit]

18. Get these bastards on the next plan to The Hague

The Palace of Peace, The Hague
Home of the International Criminal Court
Photo:www.kb.nl/dossiers/nederland/nederland.html|Dossiers Nederland] (Holland)

[Gregorian]

22. And that article doesn't even mention Col. Janis Karpinski.

There are yet even more high level personnel who want to see justice.

[L. Coyote]

23. More comes out daily about BUSH than ever did about Nixon's entire term.

And, we have the Nixon tapes!!!

[bonito]

24. K&R n/t

[marias23]

25. If Nothing is Done the U.S. Will be the New Nazis

Yesterday I read bout the hiding of prisoners from the Red Cross. Just what the Nazis did - built special concentration camps that looked good.

It is time for others to speak out.

[texastoast]

26. Oh, you mean like "JOURNALISTS"??????

Welcome to DU, by the way!

:toast:

[stubtoe]

30. Journalists would be good! (fingers crossed)

[chill_wind]

52. Yes. Link:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3357025

[tanyev]

27. Thank you, General Taguba.

:patriot:

[bdamomma]

28. Now we need Admiral Fallon to come out and speak out too.

[Overseas]

36. Yes I thank Taguba and also hope Admiral Fallon will speak out.

[katty]

32. truth about the WH is breaking out all over the place

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

33. Pelosi--is impeachment still off the table? n/t

[dana_b]

42. well, she was at the meeting in this quote

"Joby Warrick writes in The Washington Post: "A senior CIA lawyer advised Pentagon officials about the use of harsh interrogation techniques on detainees at Guantanamo Bay in a meeting in late 2002, defending waterboarding and other methods as permissible despite U.S. and international laws banning torture, according to documents released yesterday by congressional investigators"

So I'm sure impeachment is still off of her table. However it looks like it's gaining more traction with others. Hopefully they put the pressure on her.

[kath]

34. What the hell else do they have to do??? IMPEACH NOW!

Defend our constitution. I don't give a rat's ass about the political calculations involved. It's about the **Constitution**, dammit, not politics.
Such egregious law-breaking cannot be ignored. Not now. Not ever.

[crim son]

35. "Let them eat cake."

With his fake and uninformed empathy for his fellow human being, I imagine I'd greet the trial and execution of GWB the way a Parisian might have embraced the trial of Marie Antoinette.

[bean fidhleir]

63. Poor Marie. As uncaring as she was, the interpretation of that comment is a bum rap

The original The French is Qu'ils mangent de la brioche. It has been suggested that the speaker's intention wasn't as cynical as is generally supposed. French law required bakers to sell loaves at fixed prices and fancy loaves had to be sold at the same price as basic breads. This was aimed at preventing bakers from selling just the more profitable expensive products. The let them eat brioche (a form of cake made of flour, butter and eggs) would have been a sensible suggestion in the face of a flour shortage as it would have allowed the poor to eat what would otherwise have been unaffordable. It's rather a mouthful, so to speak, but if the phrase had been reported as 'let them buy cake at the same price as bread' we might now think better of the French nobility.

Her reputation as an indulgent socialite is difficult to shake, but it appears to be unwarranted and is a reminder that history is written by the victors. She was known to have said "It is quite certain that in seeing the people who treat us so well despite their own misfortune, we are more obliged than ever to work hard for their happiness".

http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/227600.html

[crim son]

69. I agree.

I've read several of her biographies and it wasn't just that comment that was misinterpreted. Hers has always seemed to me a most tragic life. However when her head fell, the people cheered. It's probably too much to hope for, that the shrub's head will fall.

[underpants]

37. Brian and Charlie and Katie will HAVE to lead with this tonight

oh wait, Tim Russert is still dead. Never mind.

[Doctor_J]

50. Between Russert going dirt surfing and the Celtics winning, this

might get 45 seconds before the 2nd commercial break.

[oldskool]

38. No impeachment

ARRESTS. Then we will see if the like Supreme court ruling.

[HockeyMom]

39. yes

Try the whole administration for WAR CRIMES.

[dana_b]

44. won't arrests only happen under another president?

maybe I'm wrong but I thought they were protected from arrest unless another person was president. If that's true, it will only happen inf Obama will do it. If he won't then they get away scott free. There's no way McCain would go near it.

I say impeach now. Do whatever it takes.

[oldskool]

83. Legislative Branch and Judical Branch

can over ride the executive branch. Atleast that's what the
Constitution, The Rule of Law states. It also says if your
government fails you start over.

[chill_wind]

40. Intel dump! Yesterday's hearing and documents at Senator Levin's site

An anaylsis of the documents at WAPO blog....

The Genesis of Torture
Phillip Carter


Yesterday, the Senate Armed Services Committee released a 63-page set of documents that illuminates how the Pentagon developed, selected and approved its list of coercive interrogation techniques for Guantanamo Bay.

As Joby Warrick reports in today's Post, the documents clarify the role that the CIA (and senior government officials such as DoD General Counsel William "Jim" Haynes) played. "If the detainee dies, you're doing it wrong," CIA lawyer Jonathan Friedman proclaimed in a working group meeting that led to the development of this DoD memo on approved interrogation techniques.

Even more significant, the documents show how the military's Joint Personnel Recovery Agency ("JPRA") helped develop interrogation techniques, borrowing extensively from the military's Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape ("SERE") courses. (Mark Benjamin provides a detailed timeline in Salon for precisely how this unfolded.) These techniques -- which include waterboarding, confinement to small boxes, and stress positions, among others -- were developed to mimic the interrogation practices of our worst enemies, such as the North Koreans and the North Vietnamese. It speaks volumes that they were adopted by the U.S. at Gitmo.(...

read more:

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/inteldump/2008/06/the_genesis_of_torture.html

More from the WAPO OP:

(...)

The star witness yesterday was Haynes -- the former Pentagon general counsel, "War Council" member and Addington protege.

Mark Mazzetti and Scott Shane write in the New York Times that Haynes "sparred at length with senators seeking to pin on him some responsibility for the harsh tactics and the worldwide outrage they provoked.

"Documents released Tuesday show that some of Mr. Haynes's aides in July 2002 sought out information about aggressive interrogations.

"Mr. Haynes fended off attacks by Democrats and some Republicans, noting that the Defense Department has 10,000 lawyers and saying he had no time to conduct legal research himself on which methods were permitted.

"Moreover, Mr. Haynes said, 'as the lawyer, I was not the decision maker. I was the adviser.'

NYT piece on the hearing and the memos:

Notes Show Confusion on Interrogation Methods

By MARK MAZZETTI and SCOTT SHANE
Published: June 18, 2008




http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/18/washington/18detain.html?partner=rssuserland&emc=rss





The documents: http://levin.senate.gov/newsroom/supporting/2008/Documents.SASC.061708.pdf

[NC_Nurse]

41. I'm not holding my breath, but it's good to see honorable and credible

people from this country standing up for what's right.
Thank you, General Taguba! :patriot:

I hope that some day Bush, Cheney and the rest of these evil men are tried and convicted.
They have ruined our good name. And for what?

[BayjanDem]

43. I love the troops

But is this...good? What you do comes back to you. This is on Bush. The Pentagon can say what they want, but soldiers follow orders. This is some damning stuff.

[Sunnyshine]

45. September suprise in the making perhaps? Collecting evidence and building a "Slam Dunk" case.

Torture them with reality. Teach the criminals how to actually score a big win for truth and justice. The American way. :kick:

[TroglodyteScholar]

46. The "few bad apples"...

...were all at the top of the tree.

No surprises there.

[Doctor_J]

48. "horrific abuse"

that's somewhere between "harsh interrogation" and "torture", I guess

[Pachamama]

49. This man deserves to be given 2 more stars to be a 4 star General

:patriot:

[crickets]

53. The longer Pelosi waits

--the worse the collusion and complicity charges will be. No mercy for the one who keeps protecting the administration responsible for this, day after day. I guess she thinks she's going to save herself this way, but she is wrong. The sad thing is, after the 2006 elections, she had room to say, "I screwed up. I should have said something earlier and didn't, but I'm saying it now. We have a majority, so let the investigations and hearings start." She didn't have MUCH room because - hey! guilty! - but she could have done it. If she had recused herself and apologized then it would have ruined her career, but at least she might have bargained for lesser charges or something (total immunity for complicity in torture? psssh) and given evidence.

Now? No way. Blood on her hands, just as much as anyone else's, for continuing the lies. The war crimes charge is out there, on CNN and Wapo, not just the blogs. It's happening, slowly but surely. The number of voices calling for an accounting is growing.

[Jefferson23]

57. I agree with you 1 miilion %..just for emphasis. K/R

[PurgedVoter]

54. K&R NT

[Road Scholar]

55. K&R

[Bluenorthwest]

59. It is high fucking time for our nominee

To stand up and demand justice. Or he needs to clearly say that he thinks young black men should be in prison for years on end for petty ass drug offenses, and he also thinks GW Bush is not guilty of anything worth prosecuting.

[bluesmail]

60. David Iglesias said that they start at the bottom and the little

POS's give up the next tier of POS's, etc. K&R

[Martin Eden]

62. This is headline news throughout the MSM, right?

And the impeachment charges by Kucinich have new life in Congress, right?

[Senator]

64. Impeach For Torture -- Full Stop

Force McCain to defend the indefensible.

Force ALL Members/Senators to become heroes or co-conspirators -- with the world, history, and their families watching.

Honor the generations that died to forge these treaties.

Begin the Redemption of Our National Soul.

Finish this thing.

---

[SpiralHawk]

65. JESUS is going to be furious with Commander AWOL & his torturing chickenhawk republicon cronies

[glitch]

85. They aren't working for Jesus.

In fact their boss is well pleased with their performance.

[trusty elf]

109. Commander AWOL sez...

"Jesus, you're either with us, or you're with the terrists."

[Krashkopf]

121. "I tremble for my nation when I recall that GOD is just." -- Thomas Jefferson

[NewJeffCT]

66. and, the follow-up from Congress will be a sternly worded letter

and a few people blustering, but little else.

[democrank]

67. George W. Bush is a dangerous war criminal.

IMPEACH!!!!

[tblue37]

93. Yes, but Cheney and his henchmen are even worse. I hate to see GWB get all the "credit" when

Cheney deserves as much or more--and so do Cheney's henchmen. Nail them all.

[rndmprsn]

68. K&R because the truth needs to come out...

and this white house needs to be held accountable, or we have all lost our honor.

[madrchsod]

70. "impeachment is off the table"

well that`s ok you coward nancy, maybe the Hague will do your job

[Canuckistanian]

71. Jeff Farias of KPHX is dedicating his show to this report

And to American torture in general.

He seems to be quite motivated by the report and is saying that this is a problem for the whole country, not just it's leaders.

Amen.

[Ahpook]

73. I am listening to him more and more lately:)

He has had a couple intense calls today.

This subject should be intense. I hardly have the words to express the sickness i feel knowing i live in a country that approves of this shit.

He had one caller basically say Americans don't give a crap since the torture isn't happening to them. And more about it's just Muslims, so it doesn't matter.

I am fearful that is the mindset?

[Imagevision]

72. The Dems are going to allow Bush & Cheney just waltz out of DC. laughing their asses off, how

pathetic - Bush is untouchable

[Catherine Vincent]

80. It seems likely that is what will happen.

:(

[bdamomma]

94. no is he not untouchable he may think of himself as untouchable

but he is not.

[defendandprotect]

101. World Criminal Court . . . does anyone here really know . . .

didn't the administration somehow not only refrain from signing but somehow ensure that
none of our soldiers would ever be tried?

Basically, I can only hope that some World Court somewhere will one day put these people
on trial --

Just think how lawyers used their law degrees to do harm to people -- sickening!

[trusty elf]

108. I agree.

Though he seems to have been for seven long years, maybe the tide is turning.

[Peggy Day]

103. Laughing all the way to the bank-then they may move to Paraguay.

Nothing will be done-we'll be lucky to get out with our lives.

[myrna minx]

75. k, r & bookmarked.

[THX1138]

76. Now I understand.

That land purchase in Paraguay(?) by the Bush family is making a lot more sense now. Seemed far-fetched at the time. It's pretty much a given that war crimes were committed, the evidence is there, the prosecution of them is what seems far-fetched.

But when a US General starts talking about war crimes, people tend to notice. It's kinda hard to ignore. This is going to seep into the conversation of the DC cocktail party set. Which means those MSM so-called "reporters" might even start talking about it. Stranger things have happened.

[havocmom]

77. No extradition and LOTS of water

Water is the new oil.

[djp2]

105. Pardon?

CAN GWB pardon everybody below him for "possible" crimes? Then only GWB could be indicted in US...World Court would still have jurisdiction over eveyone, I suppose...

[northernlights]

78. impeachment is too good for them

They should be tried for treason. And then after all the evidence is reviewed, which will probably take a bloody long time considering how very much evidence of how very much treason there is, executed.

What is it going to take to get congress off their sorry asses and doing their jobs?

[chill_wind]

79. Documents and Exhibit Lists for future trials. McClatchy site. Sen Levin site.

Origins of aggressive interrogation techniques released by Sen. Levin's committee, 6/16/08

http://media.mcclatchydc.com/smedia/2008/06/17/11/Levin-Gitmo.source.prod_affiliate.91.pdf

They are also displayed at Senator Levin's website, the original source

http://levin.senate.gov/newsroom/supporting/2008/Documents.SASC.061708.pdf



MANY documents at McClatchy news:

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/detainees/story/40737.html


McClatchy Investigation - Five Part Series

An eight-month McClatchy investigation of the detention system created after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks has found that the U.S. imprisoned innocent men, subjected them to abuse, stripped them of their legal rights and allowed Islamic militants to turn the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba into a school for jihad.



Sunday: We got the wrong guys
Monday: 'I guess you can call it torture'
Tuesday: A school for Jihad
Today: 'Due process is legal mumbo-jumbo' (I linked upthread)
Thursday: 'You are the king of this prison'

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/detainees/

[goforit]

81. YES!!!.....And may Cheney be the first tried and sentenced.

[rhett o rick]

82. Duh!

[happygoluckytoyou]

84. and yet people still want to vote for JOHN "THE BUSH REPUBLICAN" MCCAIN

[glitch]

86. Well, that's the meme they're trying to sell anyway. nt

[bread_and_roses]

87. Impeach. Indict. Imprison. And off to the Hague. And WHERE are the photos??

Those photos that I read caused Senators to leave their briefing white-faced, stunned, shaken? All I could think when I read this headline is that it all must be worse even than we've already read, maybe than we've already imagined. And impeachment is "off the table????????" What have we become?

[chill_wind]

89. Remember this? (ABC) "Cheney micromanaged" torture from WH basement with Rice, Rumsfeld,

Powell, Tenet, and Ashcroft.

White House Torture Advisers


By Dan Froomkin
Special to washingtonpost.com
Thursday, April 10, 2008; 1:20 PM
Powell, Tenet, Ashcroft.


Top Bush aides, including Vice President Cheney, micromanaged the torture of terrorist suspects from the White House basement, according to an ABC News report aired last night.

Discussions were so detailed, ABC's sources said, that some interrogation sessions were virtually choreographed by a White House advisory group. In addition to Cheney, the group included then-national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, then-defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld, then-secretary of state Colin Powell, then-CIA director George Tenet and then-attorney general John Ashcroft.

At least one member of the club had some qualms. ABC reports that Ashcroft "was troubled by the discussions. He agreed with the general policy decision to allow aggressive tactics and had repeatedly advised that they were legal. But he argued that senior White House advisers should not be involved in the grim details of interrogations, sources said.



(....)

As the national security adviser, Rice chaired the meetings, which took place in the White House Situation Room."

see link-- 5 pages--

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2008/04/10/BL2008041002069.html

[WheelWalker]

90. The sick fucks

[bertman]

91. The only way this gets any traction is via the MSM.

So, as much as it gags me to watch the "Evening News", tonight I did just that. I channel-surfed every major newscast to see if any network carried it.

NOT SO MUCH.

But they did let us know about Burger King's $200 hamburger.

Oh yeah, and Tiger Woods is out for the season. What WILL we do?? Oh my gawd!!

And, in case you didn't know, Tim Russert is still dead and has been named the Patron Saint of Non-partisan, Objective, Investigative, Bare-Knuckle Journalism and Interviewing.


Maybe they'll carry the torture story tomorrow.


P.S. I did not watch Countdown. Maybe Keith brought it up.

[RNdaSilva]

95. MSM?

I would be very surprised if Keith Olbermann was not to make this one of his 'specials' tomorrow night. Timing.

And, like it or not, that was one very impressive Irish Wake today. RIP Tim!

[defendandprotect]

102. If we had a "free press" they would be pounding on this story all day long ---

all week long ---

[libnnc]

137. I guess we have to become the press now

***T O R T U R E***


***W A R C R I M E S***



U.S. abuse of detainees was routine at Afghanistan bases

By Tom Lasseter | McClatchy Newspapers

KABUL, Afghanistan — American soldiers herded the detainees into holding pens of razor-sharp concertina wire, as if they were corralling livestock.

The guards kicked, kneed and punched many of the men until they collapsed in pain. U.S. troops shackled and dragged other detainees to small isolation rooms, then hung them by their wrists from chains dangling from the wire mesh ceiling. <snip>

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/38775.html



Gen. Taguba: Bush Administration Committed War Crimes

The Army general who first investigated the abuse at Abu Ghraib has accused the Bush administration of committing war crimes. Retired Major General Antonio Taguba made the comment in a new report about US torture practices. Taguba wrote, “The commander in chief and those under him authorized a systematic regime of torture.” Taguba went on to say, “The only question that remains to be answered is whether those who ordered the use of torture will be held to account.” <snip>

http://www.democracynow.org/2008/6/19/headlines#1





Thursday, June 19, 2008
The Great Torture Scandal

McClatchy and other reporters are abruptly pulling the curtain away from the Bush team's illegal practices in arresting people arbitrarily, declining to offer proof that they were guilty of anything, detaining them indefinitely without trial or charges, and deliberately torturing them to the extent of leaving long-term scars and disabilities. The torture practices originated not with lower-level officers but with Donald Rumsfeld and others in Bush's inner circle, who then later blamed lower-level officials for developing the ideas that Rumsfeld ordered them to develop. Nothing they have done has survived a court challenge where one has been permitted.<snip>

http://www.juancole.com/2008/06/great-torture-scandal.html





A Senate investigation has concluded that top Pentagon officials began assembling lists of harsh interrogation techniques in the summer of 2002 for use on detainees at Guantanamo Bay and that those officials later cited memos from field commanders to suggest that the proposals originated far down the chain of command, according to congressional sources briefed on the findings.<snip>

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/16/AR2008061602779.html

[defendandprotect]

138. As the Bush family moves us back to medieval times ---

Of course, these officials should be in jail ---

[RNdaSilva]

92. McCain's complicity?

He did support the Iraq war, he still supports Bush...as does Nancy Pelosi.

As Michele Obama might say, it's time to be proud of America again.

Torture, Sinclair, Hannity, O'Reilly, RW, Fox et al...reasons to be ashamed, at least in part.

Sickening!

[scarface2004]

96. yeah...what about the bush/cheney rape rooms?!?!?!

that they kept yammering about?!?! war criminal assholes!!

[NoodleyAppendage]

97. Sadly...NOTHING WILL HAPPEN. Dems in the House & Senate will DO NOTHING.

We all knew these crimes were going on from day one and those in the House and Senate were likewise aware. The difference. We are outraged, while those we elected to represent us couldn't give a shit and only care about their hold on power. Accountability will NEVER happen in our current system of Repukes and the Dems that enable them.

J

[Zorra]

132. Well, Congressmen Kucinich and Wexler are trying their best. But the neo-liberal pussycat

Dems appear to be willing to let the Bu*h administration go unpunished despite the fact that they are now officially bonafide documented war criminals.

Very sad, and shameful.

[Vinca]

112. It makes me sick to my stomach the Bush regime will just walk.

In a few months they'll leave Washington and go on the rubber chicken circuit making millions and living like royalty. Meanwhile, the lives of other - often innocent - human beings has been destroyed by these insane people. CNN is all over Michele's "makeover" this morning. Not a peep about this story. Nothing.

[marias23]

115. The American Fuhrer

I do not like the overuse of the term Nazi as it dilutes the horrors that the Nazis committed. I think however, in light of everything that we have learned, it is time to use this horrific term - George Bush is the American Fuhrer. We can only hope that the law catches up with him and his policies reversed.

If McCain wins - the experiment of American democracy is over.

[Krashkopf]

116. "Impeach. Prosecute. Save America." - Naomi Wolf

Concur. Krashkopf

[catgirl]

117. General who probed Abu Ghraib says Bush officials committed war crimes

McCLATCHY:

WASHINGTON — The Army general who led the investigation into prisoner abuse at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison accused the Bush administration Wednesday of committing "war crimes" and called for those responsible to be held to account.

The remarks by Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba, who's now retired, came in a new report that found that U.S. personnel tortured and abused detainees in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, using beatings, electrical shocks, sexual humiliation and other cruel practices.

"After years of disclosures by government investigations, media accounts and reports from human rights organizations, there is no longer any doubt as to whether the current administration has committed war crimes," Taguba wrote. "The only question that remains to be answered is whether those who ordered the use of torture will be held to account."

Taguba, whose 2004 investigation documented chilling abuses at Abu Ghraib, is thought to be the most senior official to have accused the administration of war crimes. "The commander in chief and those under him authorized a systematic regime of torture," he wrote.

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/251/story/41514.html

[NewJeffCT]

118. This story made my local newspaper - please rate

and, comment if possible.

Thanks!



http://www.courant.com/news/politics/hc-detainees0619.artjun19,0,6633218.story

[REACTIVATED IN CT]

123. Done !

You might want to start a new post on this to get more notice. Thanks.

[NewJeffCT]

124. I did do that as well - thanks

Link is here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=3482759&mesg_id=3482759

[jcla]

125. Perhaps Nancy Pelosi is listening...

Impeachment or war crimes trials must begin!

[NewJeffCT]

129. or maybe a strongly worded letter

that'll set 'em straight.

[happygoluckytoyou]

126. awww comeon.... we ALL accuse WH of war crimes....

[libnnc]

127. kick

[lovuian]

131. The Military is rebelling just like Vietnam

its getting ugly

[defendandprotect]

134. Usually very young men; but I think they've figured out that either they're going

to rebel or Bush is going to destroy their lives either on the battlefield or when they get home!

[Name removed]

139. Deleted message

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