David Cole’s new book is two things: First, a collection of six of the previously-published “torture memos” written between 2002 and 2006 by lawyers at the Bush-era Office of Legal Counsel. Yes, the ones that used law to justify the “enhanced interrogation techniques” now so well known. And, second, Cole’s commentary on this distortion of the law and its implications for our society
September 24, 2009 | Filed under
Commentary |
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Foreign intelligence agencies have been holding back their liaison activities and their cooperation with the CIA because of the crimes associated with secret prisons, torture and abuse, and extraordinary renditions. It is quite unbelievable that CIA leaders decided to compromise the governments and intelligence services of the European community by locating secret prisons and using logistical facilities within their borders. It is very unlikely that any member of the European Union will cooperate with such CIA activities in the future.
September 23, 2009 | Filed under
Commentary |
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On Aug. 28, in the first indication that European countries are prepared to help the Obama administration fulfill its promise to close Guantánamo by accepting prisoners who have been cleared for release, but who cannot be repatriated because of fears that they will face torture on their return, the Portuguese interior ministry announced that two [...]
September 3, 2009 | Filed under
World |
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Dick Cheney, in a defiant half-hour interview on Fox News Sunday, launched into a blistering attack on the Obama administration, saying the decision by Attorney General Eric Holder to appoint a federal prosecutor to conduct a “preliminary review” of about a dozen cases of torture “offends the hell out of me.”
August 30, 2009 | Filed under
Torture |
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The lead story in today’s Washington Post, headlined “How a Detainee Became An Asset,” provides a one-sided and distorted account of the torture and abuse of Khalid Sheikh Muhammad (KSM) and demonstrates the urgent need for a blue ribbon bipartisan commission to create a comprehensive and authoritative narrative of the eight years of misgovernment of the Bush administration.
August 29, 2009 | Filed under
Commentary |
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As the planned closing of the U.S. military’s detention center at Guantanamo Bay draws nearer, human rights activists are raising questions about the treatment of detainees who will be transferred to the U.S. for trial. But, while the media has focused virtually all its attention on these foreign prisoners held abroad, the government is already [...]
August 28, 2009 | Filed under
Law |
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The Washington Post’s David Ignatius simply cannot get off the wheel he spins for the Central Intelligence Agency. Only two days after the release of the 2004 CIA study of the detention and interrogation program, which provides sordid and sadistic details of an illegal and immoral program, Ignatius still opposes any criminal review of the [...]
August 26, 2009 | Filed under
Commentary |
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CIA Director Leon Panetta has just shown himself to be an apologist of the highest order when it comes to torture-related crimes carried out by agency interrogators and contractors. Panetta issued a statement in advance of the release later Monday of a critical 2004 inspector general’s report on the agency’s torture program. Panetta says the [...]
August 24, 2009 | Filed under
Torture |
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For the past two decades, the Washington Post’s David Ignatius has been the mainstream media’s most active apologist for the transgressions of the Central Intelligence Agency. Ignatius reached a new low last month, when he used two oped columns to trivialize the CIA’s use of torture and abuse against detainees
August 23, 2009 | Filed under
Commentary |
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The man who boasts he is “America’s Toughest Sheriff” — and who is being investigated by the Department of Justice for civil rights violations — this week added another lawsuit to thousands already pending against him. The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Arizona are suing Joe Arpaio, the sheriff of Maricopa County, [...]
August 21, 2009 | Filed under
Nation |
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