Five years after the Abu Ghraib revelations, we must acknowledge that our government methodically authorized torture and lied about it. But we also must contemplate the possibility that it did so not just out of a sincere, if criminally misguided, desire to “protect” us but also to promote an unnecessary and catastrophic war. Instead of saving us from “another 9/11,” torture was a tool in the campaign to falsify and exploit 9/11 so that fearful Americans would be bamboozled into a mission that had nothing to do with Al Qaeda. The lying about Iraq remains the original sin from which flows much of the Bush White House’s illegality.
What more needs to be said?
But, but, but Rasmussen says Americans overwhelmingly don’t want investigations, so Bush and his lackeys should be forgiven from rule of law by rule of the majority!
Or maybe it just means 58% of Americans don’t want to deal with the fact that we tortured people to justify a war of aggression, and that America is a rogue nation run by war criminals for the last eight years.
Rasmussen polls say what conservatives want them to say. Only their election polls are any good and that is because there is an actual result they have to predict.
Check this out.
Oh Hell, boo, that is yet another fear tactic to be used against this whole environment of do nto do anything to bring sunshine to our wrongs! they are all such saps. They listen too much to their neo-con artits from within their org. to be right on this one. I say if the shoe fits the they must wear it.
The question I ask is, ‘shouldn’t the American Warrior be setting the highest standard?’ Why do we have to cover up their activities? He has no answer for that.
Well, with all due respect, Booman, a warrior is not the question here is the station they hold. Whether they be civilian or military, they need to be held to the higher standard of which we all must demand of our citizens. I am very disappointed by those in the military of which I will defend always but they are not going to get by with doing the things they have done and not only to the foreign nations of the world but to our very own citizens, ie: rape of the women, etc. Having this to occur is such a negligent strain of behavior. I do not care if they are warrior or just a plain old contractor or emissary of our nation, like ngos or the like..they all must be held to the standard of what we all expect out of them.
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See my diary …
The techniques the CIA drew on ultimately go back to an article written for the Air Force about Chinese torture techniques during the Korean War, entitled “Communist Attempts to Elicit False Confessions from Air Force Prisoners of War.” As the title indicates, the Chinese intent was to produce false confessions, not obtain vital intelligence.
The SERE program had been created as a result of concern about false confessions by American prisoners during the Korean War.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."I personally think most American ppl already know what was done in our name and that it gets worse as it is made more transparent.
I think that when they really do find out what went on and that it gets worse, they will all cry of such hurt that was done in our name.
When a government like ours sodomizes children to make their fathers talk is such a crime! To hold children in captivity and women and do what they have done in our name to create such an environment like you said to justify the Iraqi war, it will be such a hurt that the American ppl; will die inside from that knowledge. They can not turn the other cheek or close their eyes to this any longer.
I am so ashamed for our nation! I want an investigation and I want it followed though upon where there will be indictments and punishments there of. I want this known thought out the world that we are trying to amend for what was done in our name and see that it never is done again!!!!!
accountable there is absolutely no limit to what others can do to American soldiers or citizens in their custody.
I am amazed that military people and their families are not rising with one voice calling for the heads of those responsible.
Because the debate has been shifted to “Should Obama punish people for following orders?” which of course chillingly silences the military and their families rather than “Should we investigate the Bush torture regime given the overwhelming evidence we now have?”
I remember way back when, in Iraq, when the transportation of fuel was given to some soldiers and they knew how dangerous it was for a particular reason and they refused…did they get punished for nor following orders?????? the same thing remains true for tortur. If it is wrong, it is wrong…they all knew it was wrong. The military especially know it was wrong….they even said so way back in 2002…but still the administration went ahead in ordering it done…no, I would have refused to do such a thing for my military code says not to do it….that was the final standard, even if it meant my career.
Frank Rich is still on the money. And, he’s right.
What more to say?
Well, the lying about their intentions for Iraq began before 9/11. The investigation of how this came to be must have as prologue the neo-con opinions of Poppy Bush’s agreement ending the First Iraq War.
It must consider the reason that in what would normally be a domestic issue, Dick Cheney’s energy initiative, the collusion with Big Oil got classified and held secret from the public (courtesy of a compromised Supreme Court) as a national security issue.
It must consider, at least for the purpose of putting speculation to rest, the failure of the Bush administration to listen to warnings about al Quaeda and the possibility of attack on US soil.
The timeline of the original sin must not start with 9/11 but must go well back into the 1990s.
True.
Criminal conspiracy to commit international war crimes. Premeditated criminal conspiracy to justify an illegal war based on coerced false confessions, which the conspirators knew at the time were false, obtained by torture methods which they knew at the time were illegal, were torture, were international war crimes.
They wouldn’t have gone to so much trouble to find hack lawyers to write specious legal opinions to cover their guilty asses if they really believed that what they were ordering the intelligence operatives to do was legal.
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“I’m not going to comment on whether it’s good or bad to do things like this, but from what I understand, there was a very high level of concern regarding credible threats of imminent terrorist attacks that justified efforts to seek additional methods of interrogation.”
Ted Olson hired by Bush II and Jane Harman.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."What more needs to be said?
Prosecuting torturers created 20 million jobs.