Chicago Tribune: THE U.S. AND THE UN: "THE U.S. AND THE UN | See no evil | Bassiouni offends the U.S. by telling truth on abuses | By Douglass Cassel | May 29, 2005
Why did the United Nations fire its world-class human-rights inspector for Afghanistan?
Believers in the John Bolton school of international organizations might suspect that the fault lies in internal UN corruption or in political interference by some foreign tyrant.
They would be wrong. The answer lies closer to home.
Then came a one-year delay; evidently it was difficult to find an expert acceptable to the Americans, whose 18,000 troops remain the real power in Afghanistan. Finally, Annan selected DePaul law professor M. Cherif Bassiouni, who holds American and Egyptian citizenship. But Bassiouni's passport was not enough to shield him from Washington's pique.
During his 1-year term, Bassiouni traveled to Afghanistan twice, reviewed voluminous documents, and met with Afghan and international human-rights groups, officials of governments and UN agencies, and alleged victims.
He delivered two extensive reports, one to the UN General Assembly in October and a second to the commission this March. Both were sharply critical of the human-rights situation in Afghanistan--including alleged violations by U.S. forces, such as arbitrary arrests, unlawful detentions, and torture and murder of prisoners.
In April the commission held its annual meeting in Geneva. A consensus statement for the commission embraced, in general terms, most of Bassiouni's findings and recommendations.
But the statement omitted any mention of U.S. violations.
And the commission--reportedly under pressure from the U.S. ambassador in Geneva--decided it no longer needed an independent expert to monitor human rights in Afghanistan. Not only was Bassiouni in effect fired, but no one replaced him.
...
Much of the problem, as documented in Bassiouni's reports, stems from the resumption of widespread drug trafficking. UN data report that Afghanistan's opium crop now accounts for 60 percent of its economy and nearly 90 percent of the world's opium production.
Not only does this fuel "widespread corruption," reports Bassiouni, it "has reached a crucial moment, when well-armed factional commanders, backed by huge drug profits, have increasingly taken on the characteristics of organized crime and present a significant threat to the new State."
...
Reports of serious violations by coalition forces include "forced entry into homes, arrest and detention . . . without legal authority or judicial review . . . forced nudity, hooding and sensory deprivation, sleep and food deprivation, forced squatting and standing for long periods of time in stress positions, sexual abuse, beatings, torture, and use of force resulting in death."
..
These allegations are difficult to confirm, Bassiouni admits, because the U.S. refused his requests to inspect military prisons, holds prisoners in field installations not visited by the Red Cross, and has classified last year's internal Pentagon investigation by Brig. Gen. Charles Jacoby.
Tuesday, May 31, 2005
Monday, May 30, 2005
Depeted Uranium Bill Introduced Into Congress: "We may be endangering the health and lives of U.S. soldiers and Iraqi civilians"
The Lone Star Iconoclast Online: "Depeted Uranium Bill Introduced Into Congress
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congressman Jim McDermott (D-WA), a medical doctor, on May 17 introduced legislation with 21 original co-sponsors in the House of Representatives that calls for medical and scientific studies on the health and environmental impacts from the U.S. Military’s use of depleted uranium (DU) munitions in combat zones, including Iraq. The McDermott bill also calls for cleanup and mitigation of sites in the U.S. contaminated by DU.
“The need is urgent and imperative for full, fair and impartial studies,” McDermott said. “We may be endangering the health and lives of U.S. soldiers and Iraqi civilians. All we’ve gotten so far from the Pentagon are assurances. We need facts backed by science. We don’t have that today.”
Because of its density, the military uses DU as a protective shield around tanks, and in munitions like armor piercing bullets and tank shells. DU tends to spontaneously ignite upon impact, disintegrating into a micro-fine residue that hangs suspended in the air where it can be inhaled and falls to the ground to leach into the soil.
DU is a by-product of the uranium enrichment process; it is chemically toxic. and DU has low-level radioactivity. About 300 metric tons of DU munitions were fired during the first Gulf War, and about half that amount has been used to date in the Iraq War.
“I’ve been concerned about DU since veterans of the first Gulf War began to experience unexplained illnesses, commonly called ‘Gulf War Syndrome’ that remain mysterious,” McDermott said.
McDermott added that there are reports from Iraqi doctors and others today of seemingly unexplained serious illnesses including higher rates of cancer and leukemia, and even birth defects.
“We pretended there was no problem with Agent Orange after Vietnam and later the Pentagon recanted, after untold suffering by veterans. I want to know scientifically if DU poses serious dangers to our soldiers and Iraqi civilians.”
The Depleted Uranium Munitions Study Act of 2005 has 21 original co-sponsors, all Democrats, including: Reps. Charles Rangel, Pete Stark, Sherrod Brown, Peter DeFazio, Maurice Hinchey, Raul Grijalva, Jan Schakowsky, Robert Wexler, Sam Farr, Tammy Baldwin, Robert Andrews, Bob Filner, Jay Inslee, Jose Serrano, Lynn Woolsey, Earl Blumenauer, Bart Stupak, Mike Honda, Tom Udall, Barney Frank and Ed Markey.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congressman Jim McDermott (D-WA), a medical doctor, on May 17 introduced legislation with 21 original co-sponsors in the House of Representatives that calls for medical and scientific studies on the health and environmental impacts from the U.S. Military’s use of depleted uranium (DU) munitions in combat zones, including Iraq. The McDermott bill also calls for cleanup and mitigation of sites in the U.S. contaminated by DU.
“The need is urgent and imperative for full, fair and impartial studies,” McDermott said. “We may be endangering the health and lives of U.S. soldiers and Iraqi civilians. All we’ve gotten so far from the Pentagon are assurances. We need facts backed by science. We don’t have that today.”
Because of its density, the military uses DU as a protective shield around tanks, and in munitions like armor piercing bullets and tank shells. DU tends to spontaneously ignite upon impact, disintegrating into a micro-fine residue that hangs suspended in the air where it can be inhaled and falls to the ground to leach into the soil.
DU is a by-product of the uranium enrichment process; it is chemically toxic. and DU has low-level radioactivity. About 300 metric tons of DU munitions were fired during the first Gulf War, and about half that amount has been used to date in the Iraq War.
“I’ve been concerned about DU since veterans of the first Gulf War began to experience unexplained illnesses, commonly called ‘Gulf War Syndrome’ that remain mysterious,” McDermott said.
McDermott added that there are reports from Iraqi doctors and others today of seemingly unexplained serious illnesses including higher rates of cancer and leukemia, and even birth defects.
“We pretended there was no problem with Agent Orange after Vietnam and later the Pentagon recanted, after untold suffering by veterans. I want to know scientifically if DU poses serious dangers to our soldiers and Iraqi civilians.”
The Depleted Uranium Munitions Study Act of 2005 has 21 original co-sponsors, all Democrats, including: Reps. Charles Rangel, Pete Stark, Sherrod Brown, Peter DeFazio, Maurice Hinchey, Raul Grijalva, Jan Schakowsky, Robert Wexler, Sam Farr, Tammy Baldwin, Robert Andrews, Bob Filner, Jay Inslee, Jose Serrano, Lynn Woolsey, Earl Blumenauer, Bart Stupak, Mike Honda, Tom Udall, Barney Frank and Ed Markey.
LATEST FBI documents detailing allegations of prisoner abuse are highly disturbing: a public, written report should have been published months ago
Further Abuse: "Sunday, May 29, 2005; Page B06
THE LATEST FBI documents detailing allegations of prisoner abuse at Guantanamo Bay are, like previous FBI documents, highly disturbing. They contain prisoners' descriptions of beatings, strippings and abuse of the Koran. Detainees variously claim the Muslim holy book has been thrown on the floor, thrown against a wall and, yes, flushed in a toilet. There are also references to these kinds of events having led to an 'altercation' between detainees and guards.
But the status of these documents is nearly as disturbing as their content. They can be found, again like previous FBI documents, only on the Web site of the American Civil Liberties Union, which obtained them by suing the government under the Freedom of Information Act. They did not, in other words, appear in the context of a government or military investigation. After the ACLU released the documents Wednesday, Pentagon spokesman Lawrence T. Di Rita implied that such an investigation would be unnecessary, since these 'fantastic charges about our guys doing something willfully heinous to a Koran for the purposes of rattling detainees are not credible on their face.' But then, on Thursday, the commander of the Guantanamo facility, Brig. Gen. Jay W. Hood, acknowledged that incidents 'broadly defined as mishandling of a Koran' had in fact taken place. Brig. Gen. Hood made this announcement following an investigation that he said had begun 12 days earlier -- which points to the deeper problem.
For the fact remains that although one has been promised, no independent military, Pentagon or other body has yet published an extensive investigation into the multiple accounts of prisoner abuse at Guantanamo Bay. There have been verbal descriptions of investigations and summaries of investigations, but no documents. One consequence is that much of the world believes the misbehavior has been worse, and more extensive, than what has been documented, and people know little or nothing of the corrective action that has been taken. In the case of the Koran, for example, most or all of the offenses appear to have occurred before January 2003, when the Pentagon responded to prisoner protests by issuing strict guidelines for handling the Koran.
If the administration really wanted to prevent the spread of unfounded rumors, and to convince people in this country and abroad that abuses no longer take place, then a public, written report should have been published months ago."
THE LATEST FBI documents detailing allegations of prisoner abuse at Guantanamo Bay are, like previous FBI documents, highly disturbing. They contain prisoners' descriptions of beatings, strippings and abuse of the Koran. Detainees variously claim the Muslim holy book has been thrown on the floor, thrown against a wall and, yes, flushed in a toilet. There are also references to these kinds of events having led to an 'altercation' between detainees and guards.
But the status of these documents is nearly as disturbing as their content. They can be found, again like previous FBI documents, only on the Web site of the American Civil Liberties Union, which obtained them by suing the government under the Freedom of Information Act. They did not, in other words, appear in the context of a government or military investigation. After the ACLU released the documents Wednesday, Pentagon spokesman Lawrence T. Di Rita implied that such an investigation would be unnecessary, since these 'fantastic charges about our guys doing something willfully heinous to a Koran for the purposes of rattling detainees are not credible on their face.' But then, on Thursday, the commander of the Guantanamo facility, Brig. Gen. Jay W. Hood, acknowledged that incidents 'broadly defined as mishandling of a Koran' had in fact taken place. Brig. Gen. Hood made this announcement following an investigation that he said had begun 12 days earlier -- which points to the deeper problem.
For the fact remains that although one has been promised, no independent military, Pentagon or other body has yet published an extensive investigation into the multiple accounts of prisoner abuse at Guantanamo Bay. There have been verbal descriptions of investigations and summaries of investigations, but no documents. One consequence is that much of the world believes the misbehavior has been worse, and more extensive, than what has been documented, and people know little or nothing of the corrective action that has been taken. In the case of the Koran, for example, most or all of the offenses appear to have occurred before January 2003, when the Pentagon responded to prisoner protests by issuing strict guidelines for handling the Koran.
If the administration really wanted to prevent the spread of unfounded rumors, and to convince people in this country and abroad that abuses no longer take place, then a public, written report should have been published months ago."
Sunday, May 29, 2005
unjust detention of scientists at the Baghdad jail? Many, he said, have spent more than 18 months in solitary confinement.
The Observer | International | UN inspector paints bleak picture of Saddam's jail: "Antony Barnett | Sunday May 22, 2005 | The Observer
...
Barton, who gave an exclusive interview to The Observer, decided to speak out to highlight what he believes is the unjust detention of scientists at the Baghdad jail.
Barton's testimony offers a remarkable insight into the conditions the former dictator and his most loyal lieutenants are being kept in.
He said there were about 100 prisoners kept at the 'bleak' prison, which consists of three rows of single-story buildings with tiny two-metre square cells and no windows. The cells have steel doors with a metal flap a metre from the ground.
He said: 'Sometimes the prisoners would push the flap open to look out into the exercise yard or to get fresh air. The guards could lock the flap as punishment. Exercise was permitted on a rotation basis for half-hour a day though this was increased to an hour after the Red Cross protested in January 2004. Other prisoners shared larger accommodation sleeping on camp stretchers. Many, he said, have spent more than 18 months in solitary confinement. ...
...
Barton, who gave an exclusive interview to The Observer, decided to speak out to highlight what he believes is the unjust detention of scientists at the Baghdad jail.
Barton's testimony offers a remarkable insight into the conditions the former dictator and his most loyal lieutenants are being kept in.
He said there were about 100 prisoners kept at the 'bleak' prison, which consists of three rows of single-story buildings with tiny two-metre square cells and no windows. The cells have steel doors with a metal flap a metre from the ground.
He said: 'Sometimes the prisoners would push the flap open to look out into the exercise yard or to get fresh air. The guards could lock the flap as punishment. Exercise was permitted on a rotation basis for half-hour a day though this was increased to an hour after the Red Cross protested in January 2004. Other prisoners shared larger accommodation sleeping on camp stretchers. Many, he said, have spent more than 18 months in solitary confinement. ...
Consultants pocket $20bn [40%] of global aid: "a back-door route by the US and UK to force free-market policies which have demonstrably failed"
The Observer | Business | Consultants pocket $20bn of global aid: "Nick Mathiason | Sunday May 29, 2005 | The Observer
Consultants are creaming off a staggering $20 billion from hard-won global aid budgets. The $20bn total is 40 per cent of the international communities' overseas development pot of $50bn - money that is meant to relieve poverty in developing countries.
The World Bank has confirmed the figure for the first time: this weekend it admitted that money spent on 'technical assistance' and consultants had increased by $2bn on last year's $18bn total. A spokesman conceded that ballooning consultants' fees 'need to be addressed'. "
...
Peter Hardstaff, head of policy at the World Development Movement, said: 'This shocking £20bn figure is not just a waste of aid; it is also a back-door route by the US and UK to force free-market policies which have demonstrably failed in so many poor countries.'
Consultants are creaming off a staggering $20 billion from hard-won global aid budgets. The $20bn total is 40 per cent of the international communities' overseas development pot of $50bn - money that is meant to relieve poverty in developing countries.
The World Bank has confirmed the figure for the first time: this weekend it admitted that money spent on 'technical assistance' and consultants had increased by $2bn on last year's $18bn total. A spokesman conceded that ballooning consultants' fees 'need to be addressed'. "
...
Peter Hardstaff, head of policy at the World Development Movement, said: 'This shocking £20bn figure is not just a waste of aid; it is also a back-door route by the US and UK to force free-market policies which have demonstrably failed in so many poor countries.'
Hastert Directs Millions to Birthplace: $24 million in grants for Aurora-based nonprofit groups
Hastert Directs Millions to Birthplace: "Earmarked Money Skirts Procedures | By Dan Morgan | Washington Post Staff Writer | Sunday, May 29, 2005; Page A01
...
As chief of staff to House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), Palmer runs a congressional office that has been able to do just that for Aurora, the birthplace of his boss and the largest city in his boss's home district.
Hastert has earmarked $24 million in grants for Aurora-based nonprofit groups since becoming speaker in 1999, using an obscure section of the big federal spending bills passed each year.
Nine months after the cap-and-gown ceremony honoring Palmer, Aurora University got $9.8 million to construct a teacher training institute. Aurora's Rush-Copley Medical Center, where Palmer is an unpaid trustee, captured a total of $5.5 million in 2002 and 2003. About $3.4 million has gone to another Aurora hospital where another member of Hastert's staff had worked. ...
...
As chief of staff to House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), Palmer runs a congressional office that has been able to do just that for Aurora, the birthplace of his boss and the largest city in his boss's home district.
Hastert has earmarked $24 million in grants for Aurora-based nonprofit groups since becoming speaker in 1999, using an obscure section of the big federal spending bills passed each year.
Nine months after the cap-and-gown ceremony honoring Palmer, Aurora University got $9.8 million to construct a teacher training institute. Aurora's Rush-Copley Medical Center, where Palmer is an unpaid trustee, captured a total of $5.5 million in 2002 and 2003. About $3.4 million has gone to another Aurora hospital where another member of Hastert's staff had worked. ...
Saturday, May 28, 2005
"blatant disregard for international human rights ... make a mockery of claims that the USA was the global champion of human rights"
Americas - Amnesty International:
"The blatant disregard for international human rights and humanitarian law in the “war on terror” continued to make a mockery of President George Bush’s claims that the USA was the global champion of human rights. Images of detainees in US custody tortured in Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq shocked the world. War crimes in Iraq, and mounting evidence of the torture and ill-treatment of detainees in US custody in other countries, sent an unequivocal message to the world that human rights may be sacrificed ostensibly in the name of security.
President Bush’s refusal to apply the Geneva Conventions to those captured during the international armed conflict in Afghanistan and transferred to the US naval base at Guant�namo Bay, Cuba, was challenged by a judicial decision in November. The ruling resulted in the suspension of trials by military commission in Guant�namo, and the government immediately lodged an appeal. The US administration’s treatment of detainees in the “war on terror” continued to display a marked ambivalence to the opinion of expert bodies such as the International Committee of the Red Cross and even of its own highest judicial body. Six months after the Supreme Court ruled that the federal courts had jurisdiction over the Guant�namo detainees, none had appeared in court. Detainees reportedly considered of high intelligence value remained in secret detention in undisclosed locations. In some cases their situation amounted to “disappearance”. "
"The blatant disregard for international human rights and humanitarian law in the “war on terror” continued to make a mockery of President George Bush’s claims that the USA was the global champion of human rights. Images of detainees in US custody tortured in Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq shocked the world. War crimes in Iraq, and mounting evidence of the torture and ill-treatment of detainees in US custody in other countries, sent an unequivocal message to the world that human rights may be sacrificed ostensibly in the name of security.
President Bush’s refusal to apply the Geneva Conventions to those captured during the international armed conflict in Afghanistan and transferred to the US naval base at Guant�namo Bay, Cuba, was challenged by a judicial decision in November. The ruling resulted in the suspension of trials by military commission in Guant�namo, and the government immediately lodged an appeal. The US administration’s treatment of detainees in the “war on terror” continued to display a marked ambivalence to the opinion of expert bodies such as the International Committee of the Red Cross and even of its own highest judicial body. Six months after the Supreme Court ruled that the federal courts had jurisdiction over the Guant�namo detainees, none had appeared in court. Detainees reportedly considered of high intelligence value remained in secret detention in undisclosed locations. In some cases their situation amounted to “disappearance”. "
Fillibuster: 55 senators who represent only 45% of the country want to remove Senate's "advice and consent" to support democracy [... read this twice]
Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Bush's war comes home: "His dream of dominating every government institution in tatters, the US president is already plotting his revenge | Sidney Blumenthal | Thursday May 26, 2005 | The Guardian
President Bush's drive for absolute power has momentarily stalled. In a single coup, he planned to take over all the institutions of government. By crushing the traditions of the Senate he would pack the courts, especially the supreme court, with lockstep ideologues. Sheer force would prevail. But just as his blitzkrieg reached the outskirts of his objective, he was struck by a mutiny. Within the span of 24 hours he lost control not only of the Senate but temporarily of the House of Representatives, which was supposed to be regimented by unquestioned loyalty. Now he prepares to launch a counterattack - against the dissident elements of his own party.
...
For many senators the fate of the filibuster was only superficially about an arcane rule change. And shameless hypocrisy was the least of the problem. (Frist, like most Republicans in favour of the nuclear option, had enthusiastically filibustered against Clinton's court nominees, 65 of which were blocked from 1995-2000.) If Bush succeeded he would have effectively removed the Senate's "advice and consent" on executive appointments, drastically reducing its power.
...
Unlike the House, the Senate was constructed by the constitutional framers as an unrepresentative body, with each state, regardless of population, allotted two senators. Currently, the Republicans have 55 senators who represent only 45% of the country. The Senate creates its own rules, and the filibuster can only be stopped by a super-majority of 60 votes.
President Bush's drive for absolute power has momentarily stalled. In a single coup, he planned to take over all the institutions of government. By crushing the traditions of the Senate he would pack the courts, especially the supreme court, with lockstep ideologues. Sheer force would prevail. But just as his blitzkrieg reached the outskirts of his objective, he was struck by a mutiny. Within the span of 24 hours he lost control not only of the Senate but temporarily of the House of Representatives, which was supposed to be regimented by unquestioned loyalty. Now he prepares to launch a counterattack - against the dissident elements of his own party.
...
For many senators the fate of the filibuster was only superficially about an arcane rule change. And shameless hypocrisy was the least of the problem. (Frist, like most Republicans in favour of the nuclear option, had enthusiastically filibustered against Clinton's court nominees, 65 of which were blocked from 1995-2000.) If Bush succeeded he would have effectively removed the Senate's "advice and consent" on executive appointments, drastically reducing its power.
...
Unlike the House, the Senate was constructed by the constitutional framers as an unrepresentative body, with each state, regardless of population, allotted two senators. Currently, the Republicans have 55 senators who represent only 45% of the country. The Senate creates its own rules, and the filibuster can only be stopped by a super-majority of 60 votes.
Friday, May 27, 2005
The Japan Times Online: Stop the torture and abuse
The Japan Times Online: "Stop the torture and abuse | Wednesday, May 25, 2005
The steady drip of revelations about the abuse of prisoners in the global war against terror is doing serious damage to the U.S. image and efforts to win that battle. Contrary to official claims, the instances of misbehavior are not episodic or exaggerated; they appear to be serious, widespread and systematic. The United States must move quickly to remedy this ugly and disturbing situation. A credible and public assessment of the abuse must occur and all those responsible -- not just the soldiers at the bottom of the chain of command -- punished. An unequivocal condemnation of the worst techniques should come from the highest levels of the U.S. government. Only then will the United States begin to repair the damage that has been done."
The steady drip of revelations about the abuse of prisoners in the global war against terror is doing serious damage to the U.S. image and efforts to win that battle. Contrary to official claims, the instances of misbehavior are not episodic or exaggerated; they appear to be serious, widespread and systematic. The United States must move quickly to remedy this ugly and disturbing situation. A credible and public assessment of the abuse must occur and all those responsible -- not just the soldiers at the bottom of the chain of command -- punished. An unequivocal condemnation of the worst techniques should come from the highest levels of the U.S. government. Only then will the United States begin to repair the damage that has been done."
Thursday, May 26, 2005
breathtaking audacity for United States officials to complain about opium: US waited almost two and a half years to heed Mr. Karzai's calls
The Poppies of Afghanistan - New York Times: "Published: May 27, 2005
It requires breathtaking audacity for United States officials to complain that efforts to curb opium poppy production in Afghanistan have been lagging because President Hamid Karzai "has been unwilling to assert strong leadership." Washington waited almost two and a half years to heed Mr. Karzai's calls for help on this problem.
It requires breathtaking audacity for United States officials to complain that efforts to curb opium poppy production in Afghanistan have been lagging because President Hamid Karzai "has been unwilling to assert strong leadership." Washington waited almost two and a half years to heed Mr. Karzai's calls for help on this problem.
How is it that over 100 detainees have died in U.S. custody so far? Heart attacks? This is not just deeply immoral, it is strategically dangerous
Just Shut It Down - New York Times: By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN | Published: May 27, 2005 | London
Shut it down. Just shut it down.
I am talking about the war-on-terrorism P.O.W. camp at Guantánamo Bay. Just shut it down and then plow it under. It has become worse than an embarrassment. I am convinced that more Americans are dying and will die if we keep the Gitmo prison open than if we shut it down. So, please, Mr. President, just shut it down.
If you want to appreciate how corrosive Guantánamo has become for America's standing abroad, don't read the Arab press. Don't read the Pakistani press. Don't read the Afghan press. Hop over here to London or go online and just read the British press! See what our closest allies are saying about Gitmo. And when you get done with that, read the Australian press and the Canadian press and the German press.
It is all a variation on the theme of a May 8 article in The Observer of London that begins, "An American soldier has revealed shocking new details of abuse and sexual torture of prisoners at Guantánamo Bay in the first high-profile whistle-blowing account to emerge from inside the top-secret base." Google the words "Guantánamo Bay and Australia" and what comes up is an Australian ABC radio report that begins: "New claims have emerged that prisoners at Guantánamo Bay are being tortured by their American captors, and the claims say that Australians David Hicks and Mamdouh Habib are among the victims."
...
Tell me, how is it that over 100 detainees have died in U.S. custody so far? Heart attacks? This is not just deeply immoral, it is strategically dangerous.
Shut it down. Just shut it down.
I am talking about the war-on-terrorism P.O.W. camp at Guantánamo Bay. Just shut it down and then plow it under. It has become worse than an embarrassment. I am convinced that more Americans are dying and will die if we keep the Gitmo prison open than if we shut it down. So, please, Mr. President, just shut it down.
If you want to appreciate how corrosive Guantánamo has become for America's standing abroad, don't read the Arab press. Don't read the Pakistani press. Don't read the Afghan press. Hop over here to London or go online and just read the British press! See what our closest allies are saying about Gitmo. And when you get done with that, read the Australian press and the Canadian press and the German press.
It is all a variation on the theme of a May 8 article in The Observer of London that begins, "An American soldier has revealed shocking new details of abuse and sexual torture of prisoners at Guantánamo Bay in the first high-profile whistle-blowing account to emerge from inside the top-secret base." Google the words "Guantánamo Bay and Australia" and what comes up is an Australian ABC radio report that begins: "New claims have emerged that prisoners at Guantánamo Bay are being tortured by their American captors, and the claims say that Australians David Hicks and Mamdouh Habib are among the victims."
...
Tell me, how is it that over 100 detainees have died in U.S. custody so far? Heart attacks? This is not just deeply immoral, it is strategically dangerous.
CIA Operative Testifies He Saw SEAL Beating Iraqi Prisoner
CIA Operative Testifies He Saw SEAL Beating Iraqi Prisoner: "By Tony Perry | Times Staff Writer | May 25, 2005
SAN DIEGO — Testifying behind a curtain to protect his identity, a CIA operative told a court-martial Tuesday that he saw a Navy SEAL 'pummeling' a defenseless prisoner in Iraq.
The operative said he saw the SEAL on the back of a prisoner, hitting him. He reported the October 2003 incident to the CIA's senior officer on the scene, who warned a Navy commander that such conduct was unacceptable, the operative said.
Tuesday was the second day of the trial of Lt. Andrew K. Ledford, who is accused of allowing his SEALs to brutalize prisoners, including one who later died.
The CIA operative testified he and his superiors would never tolerate abuse of prisoners.
His testimony differed markedly from that of a former SEAL, an enlisted man.
Earlier Tuesday, former Petty Officer Dan Cerrillo testified under immunity that he was the SEAL beating the prisoner and pushing his face into the sand. "
SAN DIEGO — Testifying behind a curtain to protect his identity, a CIA operative told a court-martial Tuesday that he saw a Navy SEAL 'pummeling' a defenseless prisoner in Iraq.
The operative said he saw the SEAL on the back of a prisoner, hitting him. He reported the October 2003 incident to the CIA's senior officer on the scene, who warned a Navy commander that such conduct was unacceptable, the operative said.
Tuesday was the second day of the trial of Lt. Andrew K. Ledford, who is accused of allowing his SEALs to brutalize prisoners, including one who later died.
The CIA operative testified he and his superiors would never tolerate abuse of prisoners.
His testimony differed markedly from that of a former SEAL, an enlisted man.
Earlier Tuesday, former Petty Officer Dan Cerrillo testified under immunity that he was the SEAL beating the prisoner and pushing his face into the sand. "
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
Torture Inc. Americas Brutal Prisons
Torture Inc. Americas Brutal Prisons: "Torture Inc. America's Brutal Prisons
Savaged by dogs, Electrocuted With Cattle Prods, Burned By Toxic Chemicals, Does such barbaric abuse inside U.S. jails explain the horrors that were committed in Iraq?
By Deborah Davies
They are just some of the victims of wholesale torture taking place inside the U.S. prison system that we uncovered during a four-month investigation for BBC Channel 4 . It’s terrible to watch some of the videos and realise that you’re not only seeing torture in action but, in the most extreme cases, you are witnessing young men dying.
To View Video: Click here"
Savaged by dogs, Electrocuted With Cattle Prods, Burned By Toxic Chemicals, Does such barbaric abuse inside U.S. jails explain the horrors that were committed in Iraq?
By Deborah Davies
They are just some of the victims of wholesale torture taking place inside the U.S. prison system that we uncovered during a four-month investigation for BBC Channel 4 . It’s terrible to watch some of the videos and realise that you’re not only seeing torture in action but, in the most extreme cases, you are witnessing young men dying.
To View Video: Click here"
new FBI documents one week after Newsweek forced retraction: Guantanamo�Guards Accused of Mistreating Koran
Guantanamo�Guards Accused of Mistreating Koran: "Guantanamo Guards Accused of Mistreating Koran | Newly Released FBI Documents Detail Allegations | By Dan Eggen | Washington Post Staff Writer | Wednesday, May 25, 2005; 4:54 PM
Nearly a dozen detainees at the Guantanamo Bay military prison in Cuba told FBI interrogators that guards had mistreated copies of the Koran, including one who said in 2002 that guards 'flushed a Koran in the toilet,' according to new FBI documents released today.
The summaries of FBI interviews, obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union as part of an ongoing lawsuit, also include allegations that the Koran was kicked, thrown to the floor and withheld as punishment and that guards mocked Muslim prisoners during prayers.
The release of the new FBI documents comes in the wake of an international uproar over a now-retracted story by Newsweek magazine, which reported that an internal military report had confirmed that a Koran was flushed down a toilet. The retracted story has been linked by the Bush administration to deadly riots overseas.
Nearly a dozen detainees at the Guantanamo Bay military prison in Cuba told FBI interrogators that guards had mistreated copies of the Koran, including one who said in 2002 that guards 'flushed a Koran in the toilet,' according to new FBI documents released today.
The summaries of FBI interviews, obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union as part of an ongoing lawsuit, also include allegations that the Koran was kicked, thrown to the floor and withheld as punishment and that guards mocked Muslim prisoners during prayers.
The release of the new FBI documents comes in the wake of an international uproar over a now-retracted story by Newsweek magazine, which reported that an internal military report had confirmed that a Koran was flushed down a toilet. The retracted story has been linked by the Bush administration to deadly riots overseas.
Monday, May 23, 2005
The administration has provided nothing remotely like a full and honest accounting of the extent of the abuses at American prison camps
Patterns of Abuse - New York Times: "Published: May 23, 2005
President Bush said the other day that the world should see his administration's handling of the abuses at Abu Ghraib prison as a model of transparency and accountability. He said those responsible were being systematically punished, regardless of rank. It made for a nice Oval Office photo-op on a Friday morning. Unfortunately, none of it is true.
The administration has provided nothing remotely like a full and honest accounting of the extent of the abuses at American prison camps in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guant�namo Bay, Cuba. It has withheld internal reports and stonewalled external inquiries, while clinging to the fiction that the abuse was confined to isolated acts, like the sadistic behavior of one night crew in one cellblock at Abu Ghraib. The administration has prevented any serious investigation of policy makers at the White House, the Justice Department and the Pentagon by orchestrating official probes so that none could come even close to the central question of how the prison policies were formulated and how they led to the abuses.
But a two-part series in The Times by Tim Golden provides a horrifying new confirmation that what happened at Abu Ghraib was no aberration, but part of a widespread pattern. It showed the tragic impact of the initial decision by Mr. Bush and his top advisers that they were not going to follow the Geneva Conventions, or indeed American law, for prisoners taken in antiterrorist operations.
President Bush said the other day that the world should see his administration's handling of the abuses at Abu Ghraib prison as a model of transparency and accountability. He said those responsible were being systematically punished, regardless of rank. It made for a nice Oval Office photo-op on a Friday morning. Unfortunately, none of it is true.
The administration has provided nothing remotely like a full and honest accounting of the extent of the abuses at American prison camps in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guant�namo Bay, Cuba. It has withheld internal reports and stonewalled external inquiries, while clinging to the fiction that the abuse was confined to isolated acts, like the sadistic behavior of one night crew in one cellblock at Abu Ghraib. The administration has prevented any serious investigation of policy makers at the White House, the Justice Department and the Pentagon by orchestrating official probes so that none could come even close to the central question of how the prison policies were formulated and how they led to the abuses.
But a two-part series in The Times by Tim Golden provides a horrifying new confirmation that what happened at Abu Ghraib was no aberration, but part of a widespread pattern. It showed the tragic impact of the initial decision by Mr. Bush and his top advisers that they were not going to follow the Geneva Conventions, or indeed American law, for prisoners taken in antiterrorist operations.
large numbers of troops ... began behaving as sadists, perverts and criminals. ... The catalog of confirmed atrocities is huge.
The Rumsfeld Stain - New York Times: "The Rumsfeld Stain" | By BOB HERBERT | Published: May 23, 2005
...
Recruiters, desperate and in many cases emotionally distraught after repeatedly missing their monthly goals, began abandoning admission standards and signing up individuals who were physically, mentally or morally unfit for service.
The abuses became so widespread that the Army suspended recruiting on Friday so recruiters could spend the day being retrained in the legal and ethical standards they are supposed to maintain. The Army is going through its toughest year for recruiting since the nation went to an all-volunteer military in 1973.
...
Now the military is in a fix. Many of the troops have served multiple tours in Iraq and are weary. The insurgency remains strong, and the Iraq military has proved to be a disappointing ally.
...
There is no longer any doubt that large numbers of troops responsible for guarding and interrogating detainees somehow loosed their moorings to humanity, and began behaving as sadists, perverts and criminals.
The catalog of confirmed atrocities is huge. Consider just one paragraph from a long and horrifying story on Friday by Tim Golden of The Times about the torture and brutal deaths of two Afghan inmates at the hands of U.S. troops:
"In sworn statements to Army investigators, soldiers describe one female interrogator with a taste for humiliation stepping on the neck of one prostrate detainee and kicking another in the genitals. They tell of a shackled prisoner being forced to roll back and forth on the floor of a cell, kissing the boots of his two interrogators as he went. Yet another prisoner is made to pick plastic bottle caps out of a drum mixed with excrement and water as part of a strategy to soften him up for questioning."
These were among the milder abuses to come to light. The continuum of bad behavior that has been a hallmark of the so-called war on terror extends from this kind of activity to incidents of extreme torture and death.
...
Recruiters, desperate and in many cases emotionally distraught after repeatedly missing their monthly goals, began abandoning admission standards and signing up individuals who were physically, mentally or morally unfit for service.
The abuses became so widespread that the Army suspended recruiting on Friday so recruiters could spend the day being retrained in the legal and ethical standards they are supposed to maintain. The Army is going through its toughest year for recruiting since the nation went to an all-volunteer military in 1973.
...
Now the military is in a fix. Many of the troops have served multiple tours in Iraq and are weary. The insurgency remains strong, and the Iraq military has proved to be a disappointing ally.
...
There is no longer any doubt that large numbers of troops responsible for guarding and interrogating detainees somehow loosed their moorings to humanity, and began behaving as sadists, perverts and criminals.
The catalog of confirmed atrocities is huge. Consider just one paragraph from a long and horrifying story on Friday by Tim Golden of The Times about the torture and brutal deaths of two Afghan inmates at the hands of U.S. troops:
"In sworn statements to Army investigators, soldiers describe one female interrogator with a taste for humiliation stepping on the neck of one prostrate detainee and kicking another in the genitals. They tell of a shackled prisoner being forced to roll back and forth on the floor of a cell, kissing the boots of his two interrogators as he went. Yet another prisoner is made to pick plastic bottle caps out of a drum mixed with excrement and water as part of a strategy to soften him up for questioning."
These were among the milder abuses to come to light. The continuum of bad behavior that has been a hallmark of the so-called war on terror extends from this kind of activity to incidents of extreme torture and death.
Sunday, May 22, 2005
Army's own investigations show systemic abuse and humiliation of Muslim men by U.S. forces in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay
U.S. Soldier Instructed Iraqi Detainee to Dig Own Grave, According to New Army Documents: "Documents Indicate Soldiers Used Religious Icons to Degrade Muslim Detainees, ACLU Says | Posted 05/20/05
Documents Indicating That Religious Icons Were Used to Degrade Detainees (pdf)
• Sworn statement of civilian interrogator stepping on Koran to disorient detainee
• Sworn statement of civilian interrogator on using 'Pride and Ego Down' technique
• Army memo detailing use of 'Star of David' to taunt Iraqi detainee
• Detainee claimed soldiers ordered military dog to pick up the Koran in its mouth
• Detainee claims soldiers threw the Koran on the floor and stepped on it
New documents released by the Department of Defense reveal more cases of abuse including mock executions and use of a religious symbol to taunt detainees, the American Civil Liberties Union said today.
'While the White House blames Newsweek magazine for damaging America's reputation in the Muslim world, the Army's own investigations show systemic abuse and humiliation of Muslim men by U.S. forces in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guant�namo Bay,' said ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero. 'If we are to truly repair America's standing, the Bush Administration must first hold accountable high-ranking officials who allow the continuing abuse and torture of detainees.' "
Documents Indicating That Religious Icons Were Used to Degrade Detainees (pdf)
• Sworn statement of civilian interrogator stepping on Koran to disorient detainee
• Sworn statement of civilian interrogator on using 'Pride and Ego Down' technique
• Army memo detailing use of 'Star of David' to taunt Iraqi detainee
• Detainee claimed soldiers ordered military dog to pick up the Koran in its mouth
• Detainee claims soldiers threw the Koran on the floor and stepped on it
New documents released by the Department of Defense reveal more cases of abuse including mock executions and use of a religious symbol to taunt detainees, the American Civil Liberties Union said today.
'While the White House blames Newsweek magazine for damaging America's reputation in the Muslim world, the Army's own investigations show systemic abuse and humiliation of Muslim men by U.S. forces in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guant�namo Bay,' said ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero. 'If we are to truly repair America's standing, the Bush Administration must first hold accountable high-ranking officials who allow the continuing abuse and torture of detainees.' "
The abuse, including details of the deaths of two inmates at an Afghan detention center, took place in 2002: "inexcusable crimes"
Excite News: "U.N. condemns reported U.S. abuse in Afghanistan | May 22, 4:34 AM (ET) | By Robert Birsel
KABUL (Reuters) - A report of U.S. military abuse of detainees in Afghanistan is deeply disturbing and those involved should be punished, the United Nations said on Sunday.
The abuse, including details of the deaths of two inmates at an Afghan detention center, took place in 2002 and emerged from a nearly 2,000-page file of U.S. Army investigators, The New York Times said on Friday.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai, speaking before leaving on a U.S. trip, said on Saturday he was shocked and was demanding action against the culprits as well as custody of Afghan prisoners and supervision of U.S. military searches."
...
"The gravity of these abuses calls for the punishment of all those involved in such inexcusable crimes, as demanded by President Karzai," Arnault said in a statement.
...
"The file depicts young, poorly trained soldiers in repeated incidents of abuse. The harsh treatment, which has resulted in criminal charges against seven soldiers, went well beyond the two deaths," the newspaper said.
In sworn statements to army investigators, soldiers described mistreatment ranging from a female interrogator stepping on a detainee's neck and kicking another in the genitals to a shackled prisoner being made to kiss the boots of interrogators, according to the newspaper.
U.S. officials have characterized incidents of prisoner abuse at Bagram in 2002 as isolated problems that were thoroughly investigated, the newspaper said.
KABUL (Reuters) - A report of U.S. military abuse of detainees in Afghanistan is deeply disturbing and those involved should be punished, the United Nations said on Sunday.
The abuse, including details of the deaths of two inmates at an Afghan detention center, took place in 2002 and emerged from a nearly 2,000-page file of U.S. Army investigators, The New York Times said on Friday.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai, speaking before leaving on a U.S. trip, said on Saturday he was shocked and was demanding action against the culprits as well as custody of Afghan prisoners and supervision of U.S. military searches."
...
"The gravity of these abuses calls for the punishment of all those involved in such inexcusable crimes, as demanded by President Karzai," Arnault said in a statement.
...
"The file depicts young, poorly trained soldiers in repeated incidents of abuse. The harsh treatment, which has resulted in criminal charges against seven soldiers, went well beyond the two deaths," the newspaper said.
In sworn statements to army investigators, soldiers described mistreatment ranging from a female interrogator stepping on a detainee's neck and kicking another in the genitals to a shackled prisoner being made to kiss the boots of interrogators, according to the newspaper.
U.S. officials have characterized incidents of prisoner abuse at Bagram in 2002 as isolated problems that were thoroughly investigated, the newspaper said.
Saturday, May 21, 2005
Pentagon Knowingly Issued Defective Body Armor To Marines In Combat ... then issued a Corpswide message recalling 5,277 Interceptor vests
GI Special 3B35: How Many Died?: "How Many Died? | Pentagon Knowingly Issued Defective Body Armor To Marines In Combat | May 09, 2005 By Christian Lowe, Army Times staff writer
Faced with the imminent publication of this story, the result of an eight-month investigation by Marine Corps Times, the Marine Corps on May 4 issued a Corpswide message recalling 5,277 Interceptor vests from 11 lots that failed government ballistic performance tests slightly more than half the total vests issued to Marines from questionable lots.
The Marine Corps issued to nearly 10,000 troops body armor that government experts urged the Corps to reject after tests revealed critical, life-threatening flaws in the vests.
In all, the Marine Corps accepted about 19,000 Interceptor outer tactical vests from Point Blank Body Armor Inc. that failed government tests due to multiple complete penetrations of 9mm pistol rounds, failing scores on other ballistic or quality-assurance tests, or a combination of the two.
Faced with the imminent publication of this story, the result of an eight-month investigation by Marine Corps Times, the Marine Corps on May 4 issued a Corpswide message recalling 5,277 Interceptor vests from 11 lots that failed government ballistic performance tests slightly more than half the total vests issued to Marines from questionable lots.
The Marine Corps issued to nearly 10,000 troops body armor that government experts urged the Corps to reject after tests revealed critical, life-threatening flaws in the vests.
In all, the Marine Corps accepted about 19,000 Interceptor outer tactical vests from Point Blank Body Armor Inc. that failed government tests due to multiple complete penetrations of 9mm pistol rounds, failing scores on other ballistic or quality-assurance tests, or a combination of the two.
This latest document supports detainees' accounts that American soldiers routinely used religious symbols to degrade and humiliate them.
www.AndrewSullivan.com - Daily Dish: "
...
... The ACLU document dump on the latest abuses is one I'm spending the weekend poring over. The documents are previously classified appendices to the various military reports I reviewed here. I want to read them all before I comment, but after a mere hour, the picture is in line with much of the previous evidence. This really does go all the way up to the very top. Money quote from the ACLU's summary:
This latest document supports detainees' accounts that American soldiers routinely used religious symbols to degrade and humiliate them. In a lawsuit brought by the ACLU and Human Rights First against Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, one Iraqi detainee charged that soldiers taunted him by having a military dog pick up the Koran in its mouth. Another Iraqi detainee claimed that soldiers threw the Koran on the floor and stepped on it. In addition, in a set of documents released by the FBI in response to the ACLU's FOIA in December, a Guant�namo detainee alleged that a guard told him he beat him because the guard was a Christian and the detainee was a Muslim.
It just gets better, doesn't it? The damage all this has done to our cause among moderate Muslims and democratic allies is incalculable. I'm sorry but throwing Laura at the problem is a pathetic response."
...
... The ACLU document dump on the latest abuses is one I'm spending the weekend poring over. The documents are previously classified appendices to the various military reports I reviewed here. I want to read them all before I comment, but after a mere hour, the picture is in line with much of the previous evidence. This really does go all the way up to the very top. Money quote from the ACLU's summary:
This latest document supports detainees' accounts that American soldiers routinely used religious symbols to degrade and humiliate them. In a lawsuit brought by the ACLU and Human Rights First against Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, one Iraqi detainee charged that soldiers taunted him by having a military dog pick up the Koran in its mouth. Another Iraqi detainee claimed that soldiers threw the Koran on the floor and stepped on it. In addition, in a set of documents released by the FBI in response to the ACLU's FOIA in December, a Guant�namo detainee alleged that a guard told him he beat him because the guard was a Christian and the detainee was a Muslim.
It just gets better, doesn't it? The damage all this has done to our cause among moderate Muslims and democratic allies is incalculable. I'm sorry but throwing Laura at the problem is a pathetic response."
Friday, May 20, 2005
Wal-Mart Shows Who Owns Our Government ... ["Government of the people, by the people, for the people" ?]
Sirotablog: Wal-Mart Shows Who Owns Our Government: "Friday, May 20, 2005
Maryland Gov. Bob Ehrlich (R) yesterday vetoed legislation aimed at forcing Wal-Mart to provide its workers with more adequate benefits. That wasn't a surprise - Ehrlich is the standard "corporate whore in politicians clothing" that now occupies many of our nation's highest public offices.
What is shocking, however, is how open he was about acknowledging that Big Business pulls all of the strings when it comes to public policy. As the Los Angeles Times notes, "Eduardo Castro-Wright, chief operating officer of Wal-Mart stores USA division, stood at the Republican governor's side as he signed the official veto." The photo at right captures it on film - Ehrlich, who has pocketed campaign cash from Wal-Mart, is waving after the veto, as the Wal-Mart executive prowls behind him.
Maryland Gov. Bob Ehrlich (R) yesterday vetoed legislation aimed at forcing Wal-Mart to provide its workers with more adequate benefits. That wasn't a surprise - Ehrlich is the standard "corporate whore in politicians clothing" that now occupies many of our nation's highest public offices.
What is shocking, however, is how open he was about acknowledging that Big Business pulls all of the strings when it comes to public policy. As the Los Angeles Times notes, "Eduardo Castro-Wright, chief operating officer of Wal-Mart stores USA division, stood at the Republican governor's side as he signed the official veto." The photo at right captures it on film - Ehrlich, who has pocketed campaign cash from Wal-Mart, is waving after the veto, as the Wal-Mart executive prowls behind him.
U.S. faces questions over 'kidnappings' in Europe: sending them to nations where they may have been tortured.
HoustonChronicle.com - U.S. faces questions over 'kidnappings' in Europe: "May 20, 2005, 8:44AM | Reuters News Service
BERLIN -- Pressure is growing on the United States to respond to allegations that its agents were involved in spiriting terrorist suspects out of three European countries and sending them to nations where they may have been tortured.
In Italy, a judge said this week that foreign intelligence officials "kidnapped" an Egyptian suspect in Milan two years ago and took him to a U.S. base from where he was flown home.
In Germany, a Munich prosecutor is preparing a batch of questions to U.S. authorities on the case of a Lebanese-born German who says he was arrested in Macedonia on New Year's Eve 2003 and flown by U.S. agents to a jail in Afghanistan.
And in Sweden, a parliamentary ombudsman has criticized the security services over the expulsion of two Egyptian terrorism suspects who were handed over to U.S. agents and flown home aboard a U.S. government-leased plane in 2001.
Campaign group Human Rights Watch said there was credible evidence the pair had been tortured while being held incommunicado for five weeks after their return. One was later convicted in a "patently unfair" trial.
BERLIN -- Pressure is growing on the United States to respond to allegations that its agents were involved in spiriting terrorist suspects out of three European countries and sending them to nations where they may have been tortured.
In Italy, a judge said this week that foreign intelligence officials "kidnapped" an Egyptian suspect in Milan two years ago and took him to a U.S. base from where he was flown home.
In Germany, a Munich prosecutor is preparing a batch of questions to U.S. authorities on the case of a Lebanese-born German who says he was arrested in Macedonia on New Year's Eve 2003 and flown by U.S. agents to a jail in Afghanistan.
And in Sweden, a parliamentary ombudsman has criticized the security services over the expulsion of two Egyptian terrorism suspects who were handed over to U.S. agents and flown home aboard a U.S. government-leased plane in 2001.
Campaign group Human Rights Watch said there was credible evidence the pair had been tortured while being held incommunicado for five weeks after their return. One was later convicted in a "patently unfair" trial.
In U.S. Report, Brutal Details of 2 Afghan Inmates' Deaths: chained by the wrists to the top of his cell for much of the previous four days
In U.S. Report, Brutal Details of 2 Afghan Inmates' Deaths - New York Times: " By TIM GOLDEN | Published: May 20, 2005
Even as the young Afghan man was dying before them, his American jailers continued to torment him.
The prisoner, a slight, 22-year-old taxi driver known only as Dilawar, was hauled from his cell at the detention center in Bagram, Afghanistan, at around 2 a.m. to answer questions about a rocket attack on an American base. When he arrived in the interrogation room, an interpreter who was present said, his legs were bouncing uncontrollably in the plastic chair and his hands were numb. He had been chained by the wrists to the top of his cell for much of the previous four days.
...
... Although incidents of prisoner abuse at Bagram in 2002, including some details of the two men's deaths, have been previously reported, American officials have characterized them as isolated problems that were thoroughly investigated.
Even as the young Afghan man was dying before them, his American jailers continued to torment him.
The prisoner, a slight, 22-year-old taxi driver known only as Dilawar, was hauled from his cell at the detention center in Bagram, Afghanistan, at around 2 a.m. to answer questions about a rocket attack on an American base. When he arrived in the interrogation room, an interpreter who was present said, his legs were bouncing uncontrollably in the plastic chair and his hands were numb. He had been chained by the wrists to the top of his cell for much of the previous four days.
...
... Although incidents of prisoner abuse at Bagram in 2002, including some details of the two men's deaths, have been previously reported, American officials have characterized them as isolated problems that were thoroughly investigated.
Saddam underwear photo: appeared to breach Geneva Convention: must protect prisoners of war in their custody from "public curiosity".
BBC NEWS | Middle East | Saddam underwear photo angers US: "Friday, 20 May, 2005, 14:26 GMT 15:26 UK
The US military says it is investigating "aggressively" after a picture appeared in a British paper showing Saddam Hussein half naked.
The Sun newspaper's front page image showed the former Iraqi president in a pair of white underpants.
Other pictures showed Saddam Hussein washing his trousers, shuffling around and sleeping.
The US said the photos appeared to breach Geneva Convention rules on the humane treatment of prisoners of war.
The conventions say countries must protect prisoners of war in their custody from "public curiosity".
The US military says it is investigating "aggressively" after a picture appeared in a British paper showing Saddam Hussein half naked.
The Sun newspaper's front page image showed the former Iraqi president in a pair of white underpants.
Other pictures showed Saddam Hussein washing his trousers, shuffling around and sleeping.
The US said the photos appeared to breach Geneva Convention rules on the humane treatment of prisoners of war.
The conventions say countries must protect prisoners of war in their custody from "public curiosity".
U.S.: Religious Humiliation of Muslim Detainees Widespread
Reuters AlertNet - U.S.: Religious Humiliation of Muslim Detainees Widespread: "U.S.: Religious Humiliation of Muslim Detainees Widespread
19 May 2005 18:20:19 GMT
Source: Human Rights Watch
(New York, May 19, 2005)-U.S. interrogators have repeatedly sought to offend the religious beliefs of Muslim detainees as part of their interrogation strategy, Human Rights Watch said today.
Human Rights Watch said that the dispute over the retracted allegations in Newsweek that U.S. interrogators had desecrated a Koran at Guant�namo Bay, Cuba, has overshadowed the fact that religious humiliation of detainees at Guant�namo and elsewhere has been widespread.
'In detention centers around the world, the United States has been humiliating Muslim prisoners by offending their religious beliefs,' said Reed Brody, special counsel for Human Rights Watch.
On December 2, 2002, U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld authorized a list of techniques for interrogation of prisoners at Guant�namo, which included "removal of all comfort items (including religious items)," "forced grooming (shaving of facial hair, etc.)," and "removal of clothing." Each of these practices is considered offensive to many Muslims. These techniques were later applied in Afghanistan and Iraq as well.
The purpose of these techniques, Human Rights Watch said, is to inflict humiliation on detainees, which is strictly prohibited by the Geneva Conventions.
Several former detainees have said that U.S. interrogators disrespected the Koran. Three Britons released from Guant�namo have alleged that the Koran was kicked and thrown in the toilet. A former Russian detainee, Aryat Vahitov, has reportedly made the same claim. A former Kuwaiti detainee, Nasser Nijer Naser al-Mutairi, has said that the throwing of a Koran on the floor led to a hunger strike at Guant�namo that ended only after a senior officer expressed regret over the camp's loudspeaker. Human Rights Watch also interviewed detainees who described a protest at a U.S. detention site at Kandahar airbase in Afghanistan in early 2002 that was set off by a guard's alleged desecration of the Koran.
Erik Saar, a former Army translator at Guant�namo, has described a female interrogator wiping a detainee with what the prisoner was made to believe was menstrual blood.
19 May 2005 18:20:19 GMT
Source: Human Rights Watch
(New York, May 19, 2005)-U.S. interrogators have repeatedly sought to offend the religious beliefs of Muslim detainees as part of their interrogation strategy, Human Rights Watch said today.
Human Rights Watch said that the dispute over the retracted allegations in Newsweek that U.S. interrogators had desecrated a Koran at Guant�namo Bay, Cuba, has overshadowed the fact that religious humiliation of detainees at Guant�namo and elsewhere has been widespread.
'In detention centers around the world, the United States has been humiliating Muslim prisoners by offending their religious beliefs,' said Reed Brody, special counsel for Human Rights Watch.
On December 2, 2002, U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld authorized a list of techniques for interrogation of prisoners at Guant�namo, which included "removal of all comfort items (including religious items)," "forced grooming (shaving of facial hair, etc.)," and "removal of clothing." Each of these practices is considered offensive to many Muslims. These techniques were later applied in Afghanistan and Iraq as well.
The purpose of these techniques, Human Rights Watch said, is to inflict humiliation on detainees, which is strictly prohibited by the Geneva Conventions.
Several former detainees have said that U.S. interrogators disrespected the Koran. Three Britons released from Guant�namo have alleged that the Koran was kicked and thrown in the toilet. A former Russian detainee, Aryat Vahitov, has reportedly made the same claim. A former Kuwaiti detainee, Nasser Nijer Naser al-Mutairi, has said that the throwing of a Koran on the floor led to a hunger strike at Guant�namo that ended only after a senior officer expressed regret over the camp's loudspeaker. Human Rights Watch also interviewed detainees who described a protest at a U.S. detention site at Kandahar airbase in Afghanistan in early 2002 that was set off by a guard's alleged desecration of the Koran.
Erik Saar, a former Army translator at Guant�namo, has described a female interrogator wiping a detainee with what the prisoner was made to believe was menstrual blood.
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
Don't blame Newsweek -- Get your minds around it. Our country is guilty of torture.
WorkingForChange-Don't blame Newsweek: "05.17.05 | Don't blame Newsweek | Despite sloppiness, Newsweek didn't fabricate Koran story
Uh, people, I hate to tell you this, but the story about Americans abusing the Koran in order to enrage prisoners has been out there for quite some time. The first mention I found of it is March 17, 2004, when the Independent of London interviewed the first British citizen released from Guantanamo Bay. The prisoner said he had been physically beaten but did not consider that as bad as the psychological torture, which he described extensively. Jamal al-Harith, a computer programmer from Manchester, said 70 percent of the inmates had gone on a hunger strike after a guard kicked a copy of the Koran. The strike was ended by force-feeding.
...
So where does all this leave us? With a story that is not only true, but previously reported numerous times. So let's drop the "Lynch Newsweek" bull. Seventeen people have died in these riots. They didn't die because of anything Newsweek did -- the riots were caused by what our government has done.
Get your minds around it. Our country is guilty of torture. ...
Uh, people, I hate to tell you this, but the story about Americans abusing the Koran in order to enrage prisoners has been out there for quite some time. The first mention I found of it is March 17, 2004, when the Independent of London interviewed the first British citizen released from Guantanamo Bay. The prisoner said he had been physically beaten but did not consider that as bad as the psychological torture, which he described extensively. Jamal al-Harith, a computer programmer from Manchester, said 70 percent of the inmates had gone on a hunger strike after a guard kicked a copy of the Koran. The strike was ended by force-feeding.
...
So where does all this leave us? With a story that is not only true, but previously reported numerous times. So let's drop the "Lynch Newsweek" bull. Seventeen people have died in these riots. They didn't die because of anything Newsweek did -- the riots were caused by what our government has done.
Get your minds around it. Our country is guilty of torture. ...
Does [Bush admin] want stories about forced nakedness, female interrogators using panties and fake menstrual blood, reposts about misuse of Koran?
www.AndrewSullivan.com - Daily Dish: "Tuesday, May 17, 2005 | CALL MacCLELLAN'S BLUFF: Here's the money quote from the president's spokesman:"
[O]ur "military goes out of their way to handle the Koran with care and respect. There are policies and practices that are in place. This report was wrong. Newsweek, itself, stated that it was wrong. ...
Does McLellan really want the press to report more widely on what has been going on at Guantanamo Bay? Does he really want more stories about forced nakedness, female interrogators using panties and fake menstrual blood, and many reports from former inmates about deliberate misuse of the Koran? Well, let it rip, I say. The press's response should not be to whine about the Bush administration pestering them. It should be call McLellan's bluff. Demand far greater access to inmates at Gitmo. Demand that former interrogators be allowed to speak freely to the media. Ask for interviews with CIA interrogators at Gitmo and in Afghanistan. Get military permission to debrief Muslim military chaplain, James Yee. Run long, detailed stories debriefing released Gitmo detainees and try to confirm or debunk their allegations of abuse. Pull together all the reports of abuse of religion in U.S. facilities and explain the full context for readers.
[O]ur "military goes out of their way to handle the Koran with care and respect. There are policies and practices that are in place. This report was wrong. Newsweek, itself, stated that it was wrong. ...
Does McLellan really want the press to report more widely on what has been going on at Guantanamo Bay? Does he really want more stories about forced nakedness, female interrogators using panties and fake menstrual blood, and many reports from former inmates about deliberate misuse of the Koran? Well, let it rip, I say. The press's response should not be to whine about the Bush administration pestering them. It should be call McLellan's bluff. Demand far greater access to inmates at Gitmo. Demand that former interrogators be allowed to speak freely to the media. Ask for interviews with CIA interrogators at Gitmo and in Afghanistan. Get military permission to debrief Muslim military chaplain, James Yee. Run long, detailed stories debriefing released Gitmo detainees and try to confirm or debunk their allegations of abuse. Pull together all the reports of abuse of religion in U.S. facilities and explain the full context for readers.
Monday, May 16, 2005
Newsweek Got Gitmo Right - allegations of religious desecration at Guantanamo are common among ex-prisoners
Newsweek Got Gitmo Right - by News: "May 16, 2005 | by Calgacus*
Contrary to White House spin, the allegations of religious desecration at Guantanamo published by Newsweek on May 9, 2005, are common among ex-prisoners and have been widely reported outside the United States. Several former detainees at the Guantanamo and Bagram prisons have reported instances of their handlers sitting or standing on the Koran, throwing or kicking it in toilets, and urinating on it. Prior to the Newsweek article, the New York Times reported a Guantanamo insider asserting that the commander of the facility was compelled by prisoner protests to address the problem and issue an apology.
One such incident (during which the Koran was allegedly thrown in a pile and stepped on) prompted a hunger strike among Guantanamo detainees in March 2002. Regarding this, the New York Times in a May 1, 2005, article interviewed a former detainee, Nasser Nijer Naser al-Mutairi, who said the protest ended with a senior officer delivering an apology to the entire camp. ...
...
The toilet incident was reported in the Washington Post in a 2003 interview with a former detainee from Afghanistan:
"Ehsannullah, 29, said American soldiers who initially questioned him in Kandahar before shipping him to Guantanamo hit him and taunted him by dumping the Koran in a toilet. ...
...
"The behavior of the guards towards our religious practices as well as the Koran was also, in my view, designed to cause us as much distress as possible. They would kick the Koran, throw it into the toilet, and generally disrespect it." (Center for Constitutional Rights [.pdf], Aug. 4, 2004.)
...
Tarek Derghoul, another of the British detainees, similarly cites instances of Koran desecration in an interview with Cage Prisoners.
Desecration of the Koran was also mentioned by former Guantanamo detainee Abdul Rahim Muslim Dost and reported by the BBC in early May 2005. (Haroon Rashid, "Ex-Inmates Share Guantanamo Ordeal," May 2, 2005.)
*Calgacus has been employed as a researcher in the national security field for 20 years.
Contrary to White House spin, the allegations of religious desecration at Guantanamo published by Newsweek on May 9, 2005, are common among ex-prisoners and have been widely reported outside the United States. Several former detainees at the Guantanamo and Bagram prisons have reported instances of their handlers sitting or standing on the Koran, throwing or kicking it in toilets, and urinating on it. Prior to the Newsweek article, the New York Times reported a Guantanamo insider asserting that the commander of the facility was compelled by prisoner protests to address the problem and issue an apology.
One such incident (during which the Koran was allegedly thrown in a pile and stepped on) prompted a hunger strike among Guantanamo detainees in March 2002. Regarding this, the New York Times in a May 1, 2005, article interviewed a former detainee, Nasser Nijer Naser al-Mutairi, who said the protest ended with a senior officer delivering an apology to the entire camp. ...
...
The toilet incident was reported in the Washington Post in a 2003 interview with a former detainee from Afghanistan:
"Ehsannullah, 29, said American soldiers who initially questioned him in Kandahar before shipping him to Guantanamo hit him and taunted him by dumping the Koran in a toilet. ...
...
"The behavior of the guards towards our religious practices as well as the Koran was also, in my view, designed to cause us as much distress as possible. They would kick the Koran, throw it into the toilet, and generally disrespect it." (Center for Constitutional Rights [.pdf], Aug. 4, 2004.)
...
Tarek Derghoul, another of the British detainees, similarly cites instances of Koran desecration in an interview with Cage Prisoners.
Desecration of the Koran was also mentioned by former Guantanamo detainee Abdul Rahim Muslim Dost and reported by the BBC in early May 2005. (Haroon Rashid, "Ex-Inmates Share Guantanamo Ordeal," May 2, 2005.)
*Calgacus has been employed as a researcher in the national security field for 20 years.
Sunday, May 15, 2005
CEO Pay Still on Steroids: 54 percent pay raise last year
(DV) Sklar: CEO Pay Still on Steroids: "by Holly Sklar | www.dissidentvoice.org | May 12, 2005
How would you like a 54 percent pay raise? That's how much pay jumped last year for the chief executives of the 500 largest U.S. companies, reports Forbes magazine.
Worker pay is shrinking, the economy is stalling, the trade deficit is growing and the stock market is below 1999 levels, but CEO pay is still on steroids.
The highest paid CEO in 2004 was Yahoo's Terry Semel, who hauled in $230.6 million. That's more than $4 million a week.
Yahoo is on the Lou Dobbs Tonight list of companies 'sending American jobs overseas, or choosing to employ cheap overseas labor, instead of American workers.' It would take the pay of 7,075 average American workers to match the pay of Yahoo's CEO."
William McGuire of UnitedHealth Group, the nation's leading insurer, was the third-highest paid CEO on the Forbes list. His pay of $124.8 million could cover the average health insurance premiums of nearly 34,000 people. ...
How would you like a 54 percent pay raise? That's how much pay jumped last year for the chief executives of the 500 largest U.S. companies, reports Forbes magazine.
Worker pay is shrinking, the economy is stalling, the trade deficit is growing and the stock market is below 1999 levels, but CEO pay is still on steroids.
The highest paid CEO in 2004 was Yahoo's Terry Semel, who hauled in $230.6 million. That's more than $4 million a week.
Yahoo is on the Lou Dobbs Tonight list of companies 'sending American jobs overseas, or choosing to employ cheap overseas labor, instead of American workers.' It would take the pay of 7,075 average American workers to match the pay of Yahoo's CEO."
William McGuire of UnitedHealth Group, the nation's leading insurer, was the third-highest paid CEO on the Forbes list. His pay of $124.8 million could cover the average health insurance premiums of nearly 34,000 people. ...
Base Closings" Red states gain 11,863 jobs,while blue states stand to lose 24,979.
TheDay.com, New London, CT: "The Role Politics Played In Base List Up For Debate | Lieberman, Simmons Doubt Deals Were Made | By TED MANN | Day Staff Writer | & RICHARD RAINEY |Published on 5/14/2005
...
While red states like Texas and Georgia would see some vital military bases close, experts said, it is the blue states like Connecticut and California that would lose the most jobs.
...
Ladewig Friday analyzed shifts in military and civilian personnel in response to the list of potential closings. In his study, he discovered the net gain of jobs leaned primarily toward states who voted Republican during the 2004 presidential election.
Those states will gain 11,863 jobs, he said, while blue states stand to lose 24,979.
...
While red states like Texas and Georgia would see some vital military bases close, experts said, it is the blue states like Connecticut and California that would lose the most jobs.
...
Ladewig Friday analyzed shifts in military and civilian personnel in response to the list of potential closings. In his study, he discovered the net gain of jobs leaned primarily toward states who voted Republican during the 2004 presidential election.
Those states will gain 11,863 jobs, he said, while blue states stand to lose 24,979.
Castro last night charged the US government of conniving with terroris[t]: Carriles, who illegally entered US territory some weeks ago
granma.cu - U.S. concealed information on the sabotage of the Cuban passenger plane: "U.S. concealed information on the sabotage of the Cuban passenger plane
PRESIDENT Fidel Castro last night charged the US government of conniving with terrorism, by protecting and concealing information on the sabotage of a Cuban aircraft off the coast of Barbados on October 6, 1976."
The day after that criminal act, the FBI and the CIA were aware of those who masterminded and perpetrated the attack, according to a document that the Cuban leader read out during his special presentation this Thursday.
One of 14 declassified texts circulated two days ago by the George Washington University National Security Archive notes that a FBI source in Caracas quoted the names and circumstances of the planning of the crime.
"The source stated that he was sure that Luis Posada Carriles and Orlando Bosch were the masterminds behind the sabotage of the aircraft," Fidel emphasized, and he also mentioned the names of the mercenaries Hern�n Ricardo and Freddy Lugo, who placed the device in the plane in an act of terrorism that cost 73 lives.
...
Finally, he read out an article by the lawyer Jos�Pertierra published in the Cuban newspaper Juventud Rebelde, in which he demonstrates that the US president has to account for itself in the case of Posada Carriles, who illegally entered US territory some weeks ago.
He stated that the US media and that of other countries have almost unanimously acknowledged that Luis Posada Carriles is a terrorist.
PRESIDENT Fidel Castro last night charged the US government of conniving with terrorism, by protecting and concealing information on the sabotage of a Cuban aircraft off the coast of Barbados on October 6, 1976."
The day after that criminal act, the FBI and the CIA were aware of those who masterminded and perpetrated the attack, according to a document that the Cuban leader read out during his special presentation this Thursday.
One of 14 declassified texts circulated two days ago by the George Washington University National Security Archive notes that a FBI source in Caracas quoted the names and circumstances of the planning of the crime.
"The source stated that he was sure that Luis Posada Carriles and Orlando Bosch were the masterminds behind the sabotage of the aircraft," Fidel emphasized, and he also mentioned the names of the mercenaries Hern�n Ricardo and Freddy Lugo, who placed the device in the plane in an act of terrorism that cost 73 lives.
...
Finally, he read out an article by the lawyer Jos�Pertierra published in the Cuban newspaper Juventud Rebelde, in which he demonstrates that the US president has to account for itself in the case of Posada Carriles, who illegally entered US territory some weeks ago.
He stated that the US media and that of other countries have almost unanimously acknowledged that Luis Posada Carriles is a terrorist.
Eqgytian PM: U.S. has sent up to 70 terror suspects to Egypt: none has been subjected to torture ... as cited by a State Department 2004 report
Print Story: PM: U.S. has sent up to 70 terror suspects to Egypt on Yahoo! News: "By David Morgan 27 minutes ago
The United States has transferred as many as 70 terrorism suspects to Egypt, but none has been subjected to torture during interrogations there, Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif said on Sunday.
In a flat denial of allegations aired by human rights advocates and other critics, Nazif said torture is not a widespread practice in Egypt and suggested the problem was one of police abuse rather than standard policy.
'It happens sometimes, and we've seen police abuses all over the world. But I don't think it should be taken as a standard practice,' Nazif said on NBC's 'Meet the Press.'
...
Human Rights Watch said torture was so widespread in Egypt, especially in national security cases, that each transfer from the United States and other countries constituted a violation of international conventions against torture.
Torture was also among human rights abuses cited by a State Department report on Egypt for 2004.
The United States has transferred as many as 70 terrorism suspects to Egypt, but none has been subjected to torture during interrogations there, Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif said on Sunday.
In a flat denial of allegations aired by human rights advocates and other critics, Nazif said torture is not a widespread practice in Egypt and suggested the problem was one of police abuse rather than standard policy.
'It happens sometimes, and we've seen police abuses all over the world. But I don't think it should be taken as a standard practice,' Nazif said on NBC's 'Meet the Press.'
...
Human Rights Watch said torture was so widespread in Egypt, especially in national security cases, that each transfer from the United States and other countries constituted a violation of international conventions against torture.
Torture was also among human rights abuses cited by a State Department report on Egypt for 2004.
Saturday, May 14, 2005
New class of visa just for Australians: 10,500 Australians to move to the U.S. : rest of the world remains stuck at 65,000: no Iraq quid pro quo [!]
Chicago Tribune | Aussie allies catch a break in war bill with generous visas: "By Cam Simpson | Washington Bureau | Published May 13, 2005
...
But buried on Page 91 of the $82 billion military spending bill passed by Congress this week is an extraordinary provision for Australia, a nation that considers itself America's steadiest comrade in arms and just sent fresh troops into Iraq.
A passage near the end of the bill for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan creates a new class of visa just for Australians.
The provision will allow up to 10,500 Australians to move to the U.S. for professional employment every year. Their spouses and children can live and work in the United States too. And the visas can be renewed indefinitely, provisions more generous than those offered to most other foreign professionals.
The special new visa for Australians comes as the number of similar visas for professionals from the rest of the world remains stuck at 65,000 annually. The backlog for such visas is so vast that the annual cap was reached on the first day they were made available last fall.
Creation of the new Australian visa came as 450 additional Australian troops were arriving in Iraq, but a spokesman for the Australian Embassy in Washington said there was no quid pro quo.
...
But buried on Page 91 of the $82 billion military spending bill passed by Congress this week is an extraordinary provision for Australia, a nation that considers itself America's steadiest comrade in arms and just sent fresh troops into Iraq.
A passage near the end of the bill for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan creates a new class of visa just for Australians.
The provision will allow up to 10,500 Australians to move to the U.S. for professional employment every year. Their spouses and children can live and work in the United States too. And the visas can be renewed indefinitely, provisions more generous than those offered to most other foreign professionals.
The special new visa for Australians comes as the number of similar visas for professionals from the rest of the world remains stuck at 65,000 annually. The backlog for such visas is so vast that the annual cap was reached on the first day they were made available last fall.
Creation of the new Australian visa came as 450 additional Australian troops were arriving in Iraq, but a spokesman for the Australian Embassy in Washington said there was no quid pro quo.
Immediate Action Required on Depleted Uranium
AxisofLogic/ U.S. Military: "Immediate Action Required on Depleted Uranium (a primer for the beginner) | By Doug Rokke, Ph.D. | Apr 20, 2005, 11:11
ABSTRACT: Depleted uranium munitions are used during combat because they are extremely effective. However, in winning these battles through use of uranium munitions we have contaminated air, water, and soil. Consequently, children, women, and men have inhaled, ingested, or got wounds contaminated with uranium. Uranium is a heavy metal and radioactive poison. The toxicity is not debatable as the Director of the U.S. Army Environmental Policy Institute stated in a congressionally mandated report that "No available technology can significantly change the inherent chemical and radiological toxicity of DU. These are intrinsic properties of uranium " (Health and Environmental Consequences of Depleted Uranium Use in the U.S. Army: Technical Report, AEPI, June 1995).
...
Today, health effects have been documented in uranium processing facility employees of and residents living near Puducah, Kentucky, Portsmouth, Ohio; Los Alamos, New Mexico; Oak Ridge, Tennessee; and Hanford, Washington. Employees of and residents living near uranium manufacturing or processing facilities in New York, Tennessee, Iowa, Massachusetts, and the four corners area of southwest Colorado also have
repeatedly reported health effects similar to those reported by Gulf War DU casualties.
Iraqi and other humanitarian agency physicians are reporting the same health effects in exposed populations. Scottish scientists have verified that residents of the Balkans were excreting uranium in their urine. Dr. Assaf Durakovic (a retired U.S. Army Colonel) of the Uranium Medical Research Center has also verified extremely high uranium excretion rates in Afghanistan refugees. This demonstrates that depleted uranium (U-238) is mobile and contaminating, air, water, and soil just as specified in the October 1943 letter to General Leslie Groves.
ABSTRACT: Depleted uranium munitions are used during combat because they are extremely effective. However, in winning these battles through use of uranium munitions we have contaminated air, water, and soil. Consequently, children, women, and men have inhaled, ingested, or got wounds contaminated with uranium. Uranium is a heavy metal and radioactive poison. The toxicity is not debatable as the Director of the U.S. Army Environmental Policy Institute stated in a congressionally mandated report that "No available technology can significantly change the inherent chemical and radiological toxicity of DU. These are intrinsic properties of uranium " (Health and Environmental Consequences of Depleted Uranium Use in the U.S. Army: Technical Report, AEPI, June 1995).
...
Today, health effects have been documented in uranium processing facility employees of and residents living near Puducah, Kentucky, Portsmouth, Ohio; Los Alamos, New Mexico; Oak Ridge, Tennessee; and Hanford, Washington. Employees of and residents living near uranium manufacturing or processing facilities in New York, Tennessee, Iowa, Massachusetts, and the four corners area of southwest Colorado also have
repeatedly reported health effects similar to those reported by Gulf War DU casualties.
Iraqi and other humanitarian agency physicians are reporting the same health effects in exposed populations. Scottish scientists have verified that residents of the Balkans were excreting uranium in their urine. Dr. Assaf Durakovic (a retired U.S. Army Colonel) of the Uranium Medical Research Center has also verified extremely high uranium excretion rates in Afghanistan refugees. This demonstrates that depleted uranium (U-238) is mobile and contaminating, air, water, and soil just as specified in the October 1943 letter to General Leslie Groves.
Wednesday, May 11, 2005
Horror of USA's depleted Uranium: birth defects up 2-6 times -- cancer and leukaemia up 3-12 times -- lymphoblastic leukemia quadrupled
Vive le Canada - Horror of USA's depleted Uranium: "Friday, April 29 2005 @ 03:16 PM MDT | Uranium In Iraq Threatens World | By James Denver | 4-29-5
American Use Of DU is "A crime against humanity which may, in the eyes of historians, rank with the worst atrocities of all time." US Iraq Military Vets "are on DU death row, waiting to die."
"I'm horrified. The people out there - the Iraqis, the media and the troops - risk the most appalling ill health. And the radiation from depleted uranium can travel literally anywhere. It's going to destroy the lives of thousands of children, all over the world. We all know how far radiation can travel. Radiation from Chernobyl reached Wales and in Britain you sometimes get red dust from the Sahara on your car."
The speaker is not some alarmist doomsayer. He is Dr. Chris Busby, the British radiation expert, Fellow of the University of Liverpool in the Faculty of Medicine and UK representative on the European Committee on Radiation Risk, talking about the best-kept secret of this war: the fact that by illegally using hundreds of tons of depleted uranium (DU) against Iraq, Britain and America have gravely endangered not only the Iraqis but the whole world.
...
A Terrible Legacy
Doctors in Iraq have estimated that birth defects have increased by 2-6 times, and 3-12 times as many children have developed cancer and leukaemia since 1991. Moreover, a report published in The Lancet in 1998 said that as many as 500 children a day are dying from these sequels to war and sanctions and that the death rate for Iraqi children under 5 years of age increased from 23 per 1000 in 1989 to 166 per thousand in 1993. Overall, cases of lymphoblastic leukemia more than quadrupled with other cancers also increasing 'at an alarming rate.' In men, lung, bladder, bronchus, skin, and stomach cancers showed the highest increase. In women, the highest increases were in breast and bladder cancer, and non-Hodgkin lymphoma.1
American Use Of DU is "A crime against humanity which may, in the eyes of historians, rank with the worst atrocities of all time." US Iraq Military Vets "are on DU death row, waiting to die."
"I'm horrified. The people out there - the Iraqis, the media and the troops - risk the most appalling ill health. And the radiation from depleted uranium can travel literally anywhere. It's going to destroy the lives of thousands of children, all over the world. We all know how far radiation can travel. Radiation from Chernobyl reached Wales and in Britain you sometimes get red dust from the Sahara on your car."
The speaker is not some alarmist doomsayer. He is Dr. Chris Busby, the British radiation expert, Fellow of the University of Liverpool in the Faculty of Medicine and UK representative on the European Committee on Radiation Risk, talking about the best-kept secret of this war: the fact that by illegally using hundreds of tons of depleted uranium (DU) against Iraq, Britain and America have gravely endangered not only the Iraqis but the whole world.
...
A Terrible Legacy
Doctors in Iraq have estimated that birth defects have increased by 2-6 times, and 3-12 times as many children have developed cancer and leukaemia since 1991. Moreover, a report published in The Lancet in 1998 said that as many as 500 children a day are dying from these sequels to war and sanctions and that the death rate for Iraqi children under 5 years of age increased from 23 per 1000 in 1989 to 166 per thousand in 1993. Overall, cases of lymphoblastic leukemia more than quadrupled with other cancers also increasing 'at an alarming rate.' In men, lung, bladder, bronchus, skin, and stomach cancers showed the highest increase. In women, the highest increases were in breast and bladder cancer, and non-Hodgkin lymphoma.1
Tuesday, May 10, 2005
A Single Standard for Terrorists - [don't] set an extremely damaging precedent by making a special exception for an admitted terrorist
A Single Standard for Terrorists - New York Times: "Published: May 10, 2005
In the name of credibility, consistency and justice for the 73 victims, Luis Posada Carriles, the prime suspect in the 1976 bombing of a Cuban airliner, should not be granted political asylum in the United States, which he is thought to have entered illegally six weeks ago. Instead, he should be arrested and extradited for trial, not only for the airliner attack, but also for other terrorist attacks that he has acknowledged planning, including one in 1997 that killed an Italian businessman visiting Havana.
...
Mr. Bush has made a point of his unwavering moral clarity on the issue of harboring terrorists. But doing the morally clear thing in this case risks retribution at the polls from a ferociously anti-Castro Cuban-American community that has helped swing Florida into the Republican column in recent elections. One way out may be to deport Mr. Posada to a European country willing to try him or to send him on to the International Criminal Court.
The one thing the Bush administration cannot do is to shelter Mr. Posada by granting him political asylum. Since 9/11, the United States has become so zealous in its efforts to exclude potential terrorists from American soil that it has made it much harder for genuine refugees fleeing deadly persecution in their home countries to find sanctuary here. Washington would offend American principles and set an extremely damaging precedent by making a special exception for an admitted terrorist.
In the name of credibility, consistency and justice for the 73 victims, Luis Posada Carriles, the prime suspect in the 1976 bombing of a Cuban airliner, should not be granted political asylum in the United States, which he is thought to have entered illegally six weeks ago. Instead, he should be arrested and extradited for trial, not only for the airliner attack, but also for other terrorist attacks that he has acknowledged planning, including one in 1997 that killed an Italian businessman visiting Havana.
...
Mr. Bush has made a point of his unwavering moral clarity on the issue of harboring terrorists. But doing the morally clear thing in this case risks retribution at the polls from a ferociously anti-Castro Cuban-American community that has helped swing Florida into the Republican column in recent elections. One way out may be to deport Mr. Posada to a European country willing to try him or to send him on to the International Criminal Court.
The one thing the Bush administration cannot do is to shelter Mr. Posada by granting him political asylum. Since 9/11, the United States has become so zealous in its efforts to exclude potential terrorists from American soil that it has made it much harder for genuine refugees fleeing deadly persecution in their home countries to find sanctuary here. Washington would offend American principles and set an extremely damaging precedent by making a special exception for an admitted terrorist.
Sunday, May 08, 2005
The Observer | International | Soldier lifts lid on Camp Delta
The Observer | International | Soldier lifts lid on Camp Delta: "Paul Harris in New York | Sunday May 8, 2005 | The Observer
For the first time, an army insider blows the whistle on human rights abuses at Guant�namo
An American soldier has revealed shocking new details of abuse and sexual torture of prisoners at Guant�namo Bay in the first high-profile whistleblowing account to emerge from inside the top-secret base."
...
In an exclusive interview, Saar told The Observer that prisoners were physically assaulted by 'snatch squads' and subjected to sexual interrogation techniques and that the Geneva Conventions were deliberately ignored by the US military.
He also said that soldiers staged fake interrogations to impress visiting administration and military officials. Saar believes that the great majority of prisoners at Guantánamo have no terrorist links and little worthwhile intelligence information has emerged from the base despite its prominent role in America's war on terror.
Saar paints a picture of a base where interrogations of often innocent prisoners have spiralled out of control, doing massive damage to America's image in the Muslim world.
...
Saar also describes the effects prolonged confinement had on many of the prisoners. He details bloody suicide attempts and serious mental illnesses. One detainee slashed his wrists with razors and wrote in blood on a wall: 'I committed suicide because of the brutality of my oppressors.'
For the first time, an army insider blows the whistle on human rights abuses at Guant�namo
An American soldier has revealed shocking new details of abuse and sexual torture of prisoners at Guant�namo Bay in the first high-profile whistleblowing account to emerge from inside the top-secret base."
...
In an exclusive interview, Saar told The Observer that prisoners were physically assaulted by 'snatch squads' and subjected to sexual interrogation techniques and that the Geneva Conventions were deliberately ignored by the US military.
He also said that soldiers staged fake interrogations to impress visiting administration and military officials. Saar believes that the great majority of prisoners at Guantánamo have no terrorist links and little worthwhile intelligence information has emerged from the base despite its prominent role in America's war on terror.
Saar paints a picture of a base where interrogations of often innocent prisoners have spiralled out of control, doing massive damage to America's image in the Muslim world.
...
Saar also describes the effects prolonged confinement had on many of the prisoners. He details bloody suicide attempts and serious mental illnesses. One detainee slashed his wrists with razors and wrote in blood on a wall: 'I committed suicide because of the brutality of my oppressors.'
Silence about U.S. torture tactics is abhorrent : Where is the Moral Majority now? I don't hear you.
Opinion - StatesmanJournal.com: "Silence about U.S. torture tactics is abhorrent | May 7, 2005
My friends and I are wondering why the people of the United States are satisfied with an internal investigation into the torture that occurred at Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay, and in Afghanistan that exonerates just about everyone above the rank of sergeant.
It appears that, during the period since we went to war in Afghanistan, at least 12 humans have been tortured to death by the U.S. military or employees of the U.S. military.
Torture is worse than murder. A murder victim usually dies quickly with his or her dignity intact. Torture takes an individual to the brink of death repeatedly. In addition, it creates an atmosphere of degradation equivalent to rape.
It appears that we feel this is just not worth getting that upset about.
Where is the Moral Majority now? I don't hear you.
-- Gregory T. Gregg, Salem"
My friends and I are wondering why the people of the United States are satisfied with an internal investigation into the torture that occurred at Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay, and in Afghanistan that exonerates just about everyone above the rank of sergeant.
It appears that, during the period since we went to war in Afghanistan, at least 12 humans have been tortured to death by the U.S. military or employees of the U.S. military.
Torture is worse than murder. A murder victim usually dies quickly with his or her dignity intact. Torture takes an individual to the brink of death repeatedly. In addition, it creates an atmosphere of degradation equivalent to rape.
It appears that we feel this is just not worth getting that upset about.
Where is the Moral Majority now? I don't hear you.
-- Gregory T. Gregg, Salem"
Wednesday, May 04, 2005
Restrictions Imposed On Aid to Palestinians --- and gives $50M of it to the Israelis
Restrictions Imposed On Aid to Palestinians: "Bill Avoids Directing Funds to Authority | By Glenn Kessler | Washington Post Staff Writer | Thursday, May 5, 2005; Page A16
Congress imposed the tight restrictions on aid to the Palestinians that President Bush had announced with fanfare in his State of the Union address, possibly dealing a blow to U.S. efforts to support new Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
... But the fine print of the document gives $50 million of that money directly to Israel to build terminals for people and goods at checkpoints surrounding Palestinian areas. Another $2 million for Palestinian health care will be provided to Hadassah, the Women's Zionist Organization of America, while the allocation of the rest of the money is tightly prescribed. ...
Congress imposed the tight restrictions on aid to the Palestinians that President Bush had announced with fanfare in his State of the Union address, possibly dealing a blow to U.S. efforts to support new Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
... But the fine print of the document gives $50 million of that money directly to Israel to build terminals for people and goods at checkpoints surrounding Palestinian areas. Another $2 million for Palestinian health care will be provided to Hadassah, the Women's Zionist Organization of America, while the allocation of the rest of the money is tightly prescribed. ...
Monday, May 02, 2005
Believes the use of Agent Orange was a "war crime".
BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | The legacy of Agent Orange: " Friday, 29 April, 2005
Thirty years after hostilities ended between the US and Vietnam, relations remain strained by one of America's most notorious weapons during the war, the chemical Agent Orange.
The Vietnamese believe that the powerful weed killer - the use of which was intended to destroy crops and jungle providing cover for the Vietcong - is responsible for massively high instances of genetic defects in areas that were sprayed.
Nguyen Trong Nhan, from the Vietnam Association Of Victims Of Agent Orange and a former president of Vietnamese Red Cross, believes the use of Agent Orange was a "war crime".
...
But last month an American Federal District Judge dismissed the case on the grounds that use of the defoliant did not violate international law at the time. An appeal has been lodged against this decision.
...
In the late 1990s, a Canadian study tested soil, pond water, fish and duck tissue, as well as human blood samples, and found dangerously high levels of dioxin travelling up the food chain to humans.
Dioxin concentrations have been found to be 13 times higher than average in the soil of affected areas, and, in human fat tissue, 20 times as high.
A Japanese study, comparing areas sprayed with those that were not, found children were three times more likely to be born with cleft palates, or extra fingers and toes.
There are eight times as many hernias in such children, and three times as many born with mental disabilities.
In 2001, scientists found that people living in an Agent Orange "hotspot" at Binh-Hoa near Ho Chi Minh City have 200 times the background amount of dioxin in their bloodstreams.
Thirty years after hostilities ended between the US and Vietnam, relations remain strained by one of America's most notorious weapons during the war, the chemical Agent Orange.
The Vietnamese believe that the powerful weed killer - the use of which was intended to destroy crops and jungle providing cover for the Vietcong - is responsible for massively high instances of genetic defects in areas that were sprayed.
Nguyen Trong Nhan, from the Vietnam Association Of Victims Of Agent Orange and a former president of Vietnamese Red Cross, believes the use of Agent Orange was a "war crime".
...
But last month an American Federal District Judge dismissed the case on the grounds that use of the defoliant did not violate international law at the time. An appeal has been lodged against this decision.
...
In the late 1990s, a Canadian study tested soil, pond water, fish and duck tissue, as well as human blood samples, and found dangerously high levels of dioxin travelling up the food chain to humans.
Dioxin concentrations have been found to be 13 times higher than average in the soil of affected areas, and, in human fat tissue, 20 times as high.
A Japanese study, comparing areas sprayed with those that were not, found children were three times more likely to be born with cleft palates, or extra fingers and toes.
There are eight times as many hernias in such children, and three times as many born with mental disabilities.
In 2001, scientists found that people living in an Agent Orange "hotspot" at Binh-Hoa near Ho Chi Minh City have 200 times the background amount of dioxin in their bloodstreams.
Sunday, May 01, 2005
Italy Backs Criminal Probe Into Agent's Killing
Italy Backs Criminal Probe Into Agent's Killing - Yahoo! News: "By Keith Weir Sat Apr 30,10:05 AM ET
ROME (Reuters) - Italy asked its state prosecutors on Saturday to step up their probe into the killing of an Italian agent by U.S. troops in
Iraq after the two allies failed to reach agreement in a joint investigation.
...
CBS news has reported that a U.S. satellite had filmed the shooting and that it had been established the car carrying Calipari was traveling at more than 60 miles per hour as it approached the U.S. checkpoint in Baghdad.
The Italians say they are unaware of any recording of the incident.
ROME (Reuters) - Italy asked its state prosecutors on Saturday to step up their probe into the killing of an Italian agent by U.S. troops in
Iraq after the two allies failed to reach agreement in a joint investigation.
...
CBS news has reported that a U.S. satellite had filmed the shooting and that it had been established the car carrying Calipari was traveling at more than 60 miles per hour as it approached the U.S. checkpoint in Baghdad.
The Italians say they are unaware of any recording of the incident.
Growing evidence U.S. sending prisoners to torture capital / Despite bad record on human rights, Uzbekistan is ally
Growing evidence U.S. sending prisoners to torture capital / Despite bad record on human rights, Uzbekistan is ally: "- Don Van Natta Jr., New York Times | Sunday, May 1, 2005
Seven months before Sept. 11, 2001, the State Department issued a human rights report on Uzbekistan. It was a litany of horrors.
The police repeatedly tortured prisoners, State Department officials wrote, noting that the most common techniques were "beating, often with blunt weapons, and asphyxiation with a gas mask." Separately, international human rights groups had reported that torture in Uzbek jails included boiling of body parts, using electroshock on genitals and plucking off fingernails and toenails with pliers. Two prisoners were boiled to death, the groups reported. The February 2001 State Department report stated bluntly: "Uzbekistan is an authoritarian state with limited civil rights."
...
Now there is increasing evidence that the United States has sent terror suspects to Uzbekistan for detention and interrogation, even as Uzbekistan's treatment of its own prisoners continues to earn it admonishments from around the world, including from the State Department.
The so-called rendition program, under which the CIA transfers terror suspects to foreign countries to be held and interrogated, has linked the United States to other countries with poor human rights records. But the turnabout in relations with Uzbekistan is particularly sharp. Before the Sept. 11 attacks, there was little high-level contact between Washington and Tashkent, the Uzbek capital, beyond the United States' criticism of Uzbekistan.
Uzbekistan's role as a surrogate jailer for the United States has been confirmed by a half-dozen current and former intelligence officials working in Europe, the Middle East and the United States. The CIA declined to comment on the prisoner transfer program, but an intelligence official estimated that the number of terrorism suspects sent by the United States to Tashkent is in the dozens.
There is other evidence of the United States' reliance on Uzbekistan in the program. On Sept. 21, 2003, two American-registered airplanes -- a Gulfstream jet and a Boeing 737 -- landed at the international airport in Tashkent, according to flight logs obtained by the New York Times.
...
"If you talk to anyone there, Uzbeks know that torture is used -- it's common even in run-of-the-mill criminal cases," said Allison Gill, a researcher for Human Rights Watch who is currently working inside Uzbekistan. "Anyone in the United States or Europe who does not know the extent of the torture problem in Uzbekistan is being willfully ignorant."
The relationship between Washington and Tashkent was formalized at a March 2002 Oval Office meeting between Bush and Karimov. Muhammad Salih, the leader of Uzbekistan's pro-democracy Erk Democratic Party, who is living in exile in Germany, said the relationship had strengthened Karimov's hand.
"It's been a great opportunity for Karimov," Salih said. "But President Bush has to also think about human rights, and democracy. If he wants to have a collaboration on anti-terror matters, he should not close his eyes on other things that Uzbekistan is doing, like torture."
At a news conference last month, Bush was asked what Uzbekistan could do in interrogating a suspect that the United States could not.
"We seek assurances that nobody will be tortured when we render a person back to their home country," Bush said. ...
Seven months before Sept. 11, 2001, the State Department issued a human rights report on Uzbekistan. It was a litany of horrors.
The police repeatedly tortured prisoners, State Department officials wrote, noting that the most common techniques were "beating, often with blunt weapons, and asphyxiation with a gas mask." Separately, international human rights groups had reported that torture in Uzbek jails included boiling of body parts, using electroshock on genitals and plucking off fingernails and toenails with pliers. Two prisoners were boiled to death, the groups reported. The February 2001 State Department report stated bluntly: "Uzbekistan is an authoritarian state with limited civil rights."
...
Now there is increasing evidence that the United States has sent terror suspects to Uzbekistan for detention and interrogation, even as Uzbekistan's treatment of its own prisoners continues to earn it admonishments from around the world, including from the State Department.
The so-called rendition program, under which the CIA transfers terror suspects to foreign countries to be held and interrogated, has linked the United States to other countries with poor human rights records. But the turnabout in relations with Uzbekistan is particularly sharp. Before the Sept. 11 attacks, there was little high-level contact between Washington and Tashkent, the Uzbek capital, beyond the United States' criticism of Uzbekistan.
Uzbekistan's role as a surrogate jailer for the United States has been confirmed by a half-dozen current and former intelligence officials working in Europe, the Middle East and the United States. The CIA declined to comment on the prisoner transfer program, but an intelligence official estimated that the number of terrorism suspects sent by the United States to Tashkent is in the dozens.
There is other evidence of the United States' reliance on Uzbekistan in the program. On Sept. 21, 2003, two American-registered airplanes -- a Gulfstream jet and a Boeing 737 -- landed at the international airport in Tashkent, according to flight logs obtained by the New York Times.
...
"If you talk to anyone there, Uzbeks know that torture is used -- it's common even in run-of-the-mill criminal cases," said Allison Gill, a researcher for Human Rights Watch who is currently working inside Uzbekistan. "Anyone in the United States or Europe who does not know the extent of the torture problem in Uzbekistan is being willfully ignorant."
The relationship between Washington and Tashkent was formalized at a March 2002 Oval Office meeting between Bush and Karimov. Muhammad Salih, the leader of Uzbekistan's pro-democracy Erk Democratic Party, who is living in exile in Germany, said the relationship had strengthened Karimov's hand.
"It's been a great opportunity for Karimov," Salih said. "But President Bush has to also think about human rights, and democracy. If he wants to have a collaboration on anti-terror matters, he should not close his eyes on other things that Uzbekistan is doing, like torture."
At a news conference last month, Bush was asked what Uzbekistan could do in interrogating a suspect that the United States could not.
"We seek assurances that nobody will be tortured when we render a person back to their home country," Bush said. ...
Pentagon Report On Abuse Has To Be Joke
TheBostonChannel.com - Helen Thomas - Pentagon Report On Abuse Has To Be Joke:Top Brass Exonerated; GIs Blamed | Helen Thomas, Hearst White House columnist | POSTED: 10:14 am EDT April 28, 2005
The Pentagon has got to be kidding.
It turns out that only those rogue enlisted men and women, and one woman general, are to blame for the horrifying treatment of prisoners and detainees of the Iraqi war, according to Lt. Gen. Stanley Green, the Army Inspector General.
He cleared four senior Army officers of any responsibility for the abuse of prisoners at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison after reviewing the results of 10 separate inquiries into the prison abuse, some of which the world was able to view though photos.
In effect, his report is the final word unless there are some brave members of Congress who are willing to investigate the role of the military higher-ups who gave the green light for the severe interrogation of prisoners in U.S. custody.
...
Bush has piously stated that he was opposed to torture. Fine. But the proof of the pudding is for him to issue an executive order against torture and to announce that the U.S. will once again abide by the Geneva Conventions.
The Pentagon has got to be kidding.
It turns out that only those rogue enlisted men and women, and one woman general, are to blame for the horrifying treatment of prisoners and detainees of the Iraqi war, according to Lt. Gen. Stanley Green, the Army Inspector General.
He cleared four senior Army officers of any responsibility for the abuse of prisoners at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison after reviewing the results of 10 separate inquiries into the prison abuse, some of which the world was able to view though photos.
In effect, his report is the final word unless there are some brave members of Congress who are willing to investigate the role of the military higher-ups who gave the green light for the severe interrogation of prisoners in U.S. custody.
...
Bush has piously stated that he was opposed to torture. Fine. But the proof of the pudding is for him to issue an executive order against torture and to announce that the U.S. will once again abide by the Geneva Conventions.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)