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| The
soldiers of the US Imperial army, like the soldiers of Pinochet, torture, humiliate and
murder their prisoners. |
| US terrorism in Iraq and the rest of the world: |
| US terrorism in Iraq: |
A Guide to the Memos on Torture
By THE NEW YORK TIMES
-- 27 June, 2004
The New York Times, Newsweek, The
Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal have disclosed memorandums that show a pattern
in which Bush administration lawyers set about devising arguments to avoid constraints
against mistreatment and torture of detainees. Administration officials responded by
releasing hundreds of pages of previously classified documents related to the development
of a policy on detainees. |
The Washington
Post, 17 and 21 June 2004
Torture Policy
Did senior officials order torture? We know of two
relevant cases so far. One was Mr. Rumsfeld's December 2002 authorization of the use of
techniques including hooding, nudity, stress positions, "fear of dogs" and
physical contact with prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay base. A second was the distribution
in September 2003 by the office of the top U.S. commander in Iraq, Lt. Gen. Ricardo S.
Sanchez, of an interrogation policy that included these techniques as well as others,
among them sleep and dietary manipulation. |
A. Applebaum, 17
June, 2004
So Torture Is
Legal?
To understand the magnitude of what may have gone on
in America's secret prisons, you don't need special security clearance or inside
information. Anyone who wants to connect the dots can do it. To see what I mean, review
the content of a few items now easily found on the Internet. |
M. Ratner, E. Ray,
AlterNet (13 June, 2004)
Guantanamo:
What the World Should Know
Why Guantanamo represents everything that is wrong
with the U.S. war on terrorism. A conversation with the Director of the Center for
Constitutional Rights. |
D. Priest, 13 June,
2004
Justice Dept.
Memo Says Torture 'May Be Justified'
Today washingtonpost.com is posting a copy of the Aug.
1, 2002, memorandum (PDF) "Re: Standards of Conduct for Interrogation under 18 U.S.C.
2340-2340A," from the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel for Alberto R.
Gonzales, counsel to President Bush. |
June 9, 2004, The
Washington Post
Legalizing
torture
..."Theirs is the logic of criminal regimes, of
dictatorships around the world that sanction torture on grounds of "national
security." For decades the U.S. government has waged diplomatic campaigns against
such outlaw governments -- from the military juntas in Argentina and Chile to the current
autocracies in Islamic countries such as Algeria and Uzbekistan -- that claim torture is
justified when used to combat terrorism. The news that serving U.S. officials have
officially endorsed principles once advanced by Augusto Pinochet brings shame on American
democracy -- even if it is true, as the administration maintains, that its theories
have not been put into practice. Even on paper, the administration's reasoning will
provide a ready excuse for dictators, especially those allied with the Bush
administration, to go on torturing and killing detainees." |
June 9, 2004, The
New York Times
The Roots of
Abu Ghraib
In response to the outrages at Abu Ghraib, the Bush
administration has repeatedly assured Americans that the president and his top officials
did not say or do anything that could possibly be seen as approving the abuse or outright
torture of prisoners. But...each new revelation makes it more clear that the inhumanity at
Abu Ghraib grew out of a morally dubious culture of legal expediency and a disregard for
normal behavior fostered at the top of this administration. It is part of the price the
nation must pay for President Bush's decision to take the extraordinary mandate to fight
terrorism that he was granted by a grieving nation after 9/11 and apply it without
justification to Iraq. |
K. Zernike and D.
Rohde, 8 June 2004
Sexual Humiliation
Forced nudity of Iraqi prisoners is seen as a pervasive pattern, not isolated incidents |
D. Priest and R. J.
Smith, 8 June 2004
Memo Offered
Justification for Use of Torture
In August 2002, the Justice Department advised the
White House that torturing al Qaeda terrorists in captivity abroad "may be
justified," and that international laws against torture "may be unconstitutional
if applied to interrogations" conducted in President Bush's war on terrorism,
according to a newly obtained memo. |
N. A. Lewis and E.
Schmitt , June 8 2004
Lawyers Decided
Bans on Torture Didn't Bind Bush
A team of administration lawyers concluded in a
March 2003 legal memorandum that President Bush was not bound by either an international
treaty prohibiting torture or by a federal antitorture law because he had the authority as
commander in chief to approve any technique needed to protect the nation's security. |
R.J. Smith, 26 May
2004
General Is Said
To Have Urged Use of Dogs
A U.S. Army general dispatched by senior Pentagon
officials to bolster the collection of intelligence from prisoners in Iraq last fall
inspired and promoted the use of guard dogs there to frighten the Iraqis, according to
sworn testimony by the top U.S. intelligence officer at the Abu Ghraib prison.
-
D. Jehl, S. L. Myers and E. Schmitt, 26 May 2004
Abuse of Captives
More Widespread, Says Army Survey
An Army summary of deaths and mistreatment involving
prisoners in American custody in Iraq and Afghanistan shows a widespread pattern of abuse
involving more military units than previously known. |
Global
Research (Canada) : Feature articles on torture and war crimes
Michel Chossudovsky,
Bush appoints a Terrorist as US
Ambassador to Iraq
Felicity Arbuthnot, 14 May 2004:
Crimes in Iraq: ?As American as
Apple Pie?
Marwa Elnaggar, 14 May 2004:
The Merciless Killing of Nicholas
Berg
Orit Shohat:
American army committed war
crimes in Falluja on an unprecedented scale
John Stanton:
Torture: United Kingdom, United
States and Israel Kings of Pain
Michel Chossudovsky:
Did the US Military Target
and kill the Red Cross Delegate on April 8 2003 to undermine the ICRCs activities in Iraq?
William Blum:
God, Country and Torture
Jack Random:
Abu Ghraib: Enough Shame for All
|
| ---------------------- |
"To the people in
the Middle East, and too often today, the symbol of America is not the Statue of Liberty,
it's the prisoner standing on a box wearing a dark cape and a dark hood on his head, wires
attached to his body, afraid that he's going to be electrocuted. These incidents of
torture and abuse resulted in a catastrophic crisis of credibility for our nation."
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) (7 May 2004)
-
J. Pilger (Daily Mirror), 7 May 2004:
Torture is News but it's not New
-
F. Butterfield (The New York Times) May 8 2004:
Mistreatment of
Prisoners Is Called Routine in U.S. |
 width="203"
height="250"> |
 |
(GlobalSecurity.org):
Abu Ghurayb Prison Prisoner Abuse. The Files
-
M. General A. M. Taguba (March 2004):
U.S.
Army Report on Iraqi Prisoner Abuse
-
CBS 60 Minutes (28 April 2004):
Torture of Iraqi POWs in Baghdad's Abu Ghraib Prison |
D. Von Drehle
(Washington Post), 8 May 2004:
Capitol Hill
Sees the Flip Side of a Powerful Warrior
-
S. M. Hersh (The New Yorker), 10 May 2004:
Torture at Abu Ghraib
-
R. J. Smith (Washington Post), 10 May 2004:
Senators Fault Pentagon as New Photos Emerge |
 |
J. Weisman (Washington
Post), 11 May 2004:
Across America,
War Means Jobs
-
R. Chandrasekaran/S. Wilson (11 May 2004):
Mistreatment of
Detainees Went Beyond Guard's Abuse
-
D. Priest/J. Stephens, 9 May 2004:
Pentagon
Approved Tougher Interrogations
-
J. Morley, 3 May 2004:
George Bush as
Saddam Hussein
-
D. Priest/J. Stephens, 11 May 2004:
Secret World of
U.S. Interrogation
-
|
S.M. Hersh (The New
Yorker), 17 May 2004:
Annal
of National Security. Chain of Command
-
J. Morley, 11 May 2004:
In shameful
photos, the specter of failure
-
The Washington Post, 14 May 2004:
Double
Standards
-
P. Byrne (Daily Mirror), 1 May 2004:
Shame of Abuse by Brit Troops
-
D. Nelson, D. Connett, S. Grey (Sunday Times), 9 May
2004:
UK soldiers face Iraqi sex charge
|
February 2004
Report of the International Committee of the
Red Cross (ICRC) on the treatment by the coalition forces of prisoners of war and other
protected persons by the Geneva Conventions in Iraq during arrest, internment and
interrogation |
| US terrorism all over the world: |
The New York Times
- 8 March 2005
EDITORIAL
Torture by
Proxy
One of the biggest nonsecrets in Washington these days
is the Central Intelligence Agency's top-secret program for sending terrorism suspects to
countries where concern for human rights and the rule of law don't pose obstacles to
torturing prisoners. For months, the Bush administration has refused to comment on these
operations, which make the United States the partner of some of the world's most
repressive regimes.
---------------------- |
The New York Times
- 6 March 2005
Rule Change
Lets C.I.A. Freely Send Suspects Abroad to Jails
By D. JEHL and D. JOHNSTON
- The Bush administration's secret program to transfer suspected terrorists to foreign
countries for interrogation has been carried out by the Central Intelligence Agency under
broad authority that has allowed it to act without case-by-case approval from the White
House or the State or Justice Departments, according to current and former government
officials.
------------ |
Torture, American Style
By BOB HERBERT
February 11, 2005 in The New York Times
--------------------- |
Following
a Paper Trail to the Roots of Torture
(February 8, 2005) |
April 6, 2004:
Toledo Blade wins Pulitzer: Series exposing Vietnam
atrocities earns top honor
Three Blade reporters won the Pulitzer Prize -
journalism's highest honor - yesterday for uncovering the atrocities of an elite U.S. Army
fighting unit in the Vietnam War that killed unarmed civilians and children... |
Murder in the name of war
The My Lai massacre, which took place on the morning
of March 16, 1968, was a watershed in the history of modern American combat, and a turning
point in the public perception of the Vietnam War. In the course of three hours more than
500 Vietnamese civilians were killed in cold blood at the hands of US troops. |
Did Americans mass-murder Korean women and
kids during the Korean War? The answer is: yes
"The Army has requested that we strafe all
civilian refugee parties. . . approaching our positions... To date, we have
complied." USAF Col. Turner Rogers' memo
"Shoot any civilian suspected of being a communist before they become
prisoners.", "The Chinese and Koreans are in appearance but a shade above the
human beast." - US Army Gen. M. Ridgway, United Nations Commander-in-chief in Korea |
P. Kornbluh/T.
Blanton (12 May 2004)
Prisoner Abuse: Patterns from the Past
National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No.
122
Cold War U.S. Interrogation Manuals Counseled "Coercive Techniques"
Cheney Informed of "Objectionable" Interrogation Guides in 1992
"Inconsistent with U.S. Government Policy"
National Security Archive Posts CIA Training Manuals from 60s, 80s, and Investigative
memos on earlier controversy on human rights abuses |
A. Nairn articles:
Reagan's Link to Guatemalan Death Squads
C.I.A. Death Squads
Out of East Timor
Our Payroll, Haitian Hit
Haiti Under the Gun
Haiti Under Cloak
Indonesia's Killers |
Lost History Series
consortiumnews.com
How the American historical record has been tainted
by lies and cover-ups
A
CIA Officer's Calamitous Choices
Secret intelligence operatives sometimes make decisions that resonate through time.
One such CIA officer was James Critchfield, whose choices influenced U.S. attitudes in the
Cold War and shaped the Saddam era in Iraq. By Jerry Meldon. May 15, 2003.
Toward the Brink
The terrorist
attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon have suddenly made relevant the shadowy
history of the past two decades. September 17, 2001
CIA's
Worst-Kept Secret
Newly released documents confirm that U.S. intelligence recruited and protected
hundreds of Nazi war criminals after World War II. By Martin A. Lee. May 16, 2001
Three Reasons -- What Went Wrong
Three recent news
events shed light on what went wrong with American democracy over the past half century,
as the nation compromised its principles -- and implicated young men like Bob Kerrey in
atrocities -- all for the Cold War. May 1, 2001
CIA's Anti-Drug Message for Kids
The CIA wants American families to know
that it's fighting the war on drugs, but the real story isn't quite so simple or so
pretty. By Martin A. Lee. March 4, 2001
Reagan-Bush Security Breaches
Ronald Reagan's tough rhetoric of the
1980s obscured a very different reality. As the arrest of an alleged FBI "double
agent" underscores, the Reagan-Bush era was a time when American national security
was compromised, possibly worse than at any time in U.S. history. February 23, 2001
Iran-Contra &
the Case of Wen Ho Lee
Little-noticed Iran-contra files shed light
on how the Reagan-Bush administration built the clandestine ties to communist China that
were the backdrop of the Wen Ho Lee nuclear secrets case. By Robert Parry. September 18,
2000
Ronald
Reagan's Last Secret
A search for an inner self ends on the surface. By Robert Parry. November 25, 1999
Reagan
& Guatemala's Death Files.
New records prove genocide and the U.S. hand. By Robert Parry. May 26, 1999
The
US-Guatemala File.
Training state terrorists. By Robert Parry. May 26, 1999
'Like I Wasn't President at All.'
Reagan and Iran. By Robert Parry. May 26, 1999
Secret Service Privilege: The
Bush File
Kenneth Starr has obliterated the
Secret Service's claim of a special 'protective privilege.' But Starr's old boss, George
Bush, benefitted from that privilege when his bodyguards concealed records from October
Surprise investigators in 1992. July 23, 1998
Uncle Sam's Favorite Terrorists
New evidence suggests that in the past
year, U.S. soil again has served as a base for anti-Castro terrorism. The attacks confront
President Clinton with a choice between law and politics. June 24, 1998
Two Indonesias, Two Americas
The turmoil in Indonesia has brought to
the fore secret military relations between Washington and Jakarta that date back to the
1960s. Then, President Sukarno was ousted by Gen. Suharto amid a bloody rampage that
killed up to one million people. The U.S. hand always hid behind a cloak of national
security, one dark chapter in a troubling history of counterinsurgency. June 9, 1998
India, the CIA & the Bomb
CIA's botched Indian analysis is
drawing criticism, but the root of the failure is found in President Reagan's
'politicization' and President Clinton's failure to correct the problem. June 9, 1998
Lost History: GOP & KAL-007:
'Key Is to Lie First'
Republican leaders say they want the "whole truth" about the Clinton
scandals. But the GOP's history is strewn with 50 years of Cold War situational lying,
like the doctored intercepts used as propaganda after the Korean Air Lines disaster in
1983. (5/18/98)
Lost History: Project X, Drugs
& Death Squads
New disclosures about secret 'Project X' training manuals and the CIA's purge of
criminals from its payrolls have corroborated many of the decades-old criticism of U.S.
national security. But the news is slipping back into a media black hole. (3/31/97)
Lost History: Contras, Dirty $
& CIA (Part 2)
A mysterious Cuban-American banker lined up millions of dollars in guns for the
Nicaraguan contras. But the money came from shadowy Panamanian banks and brought suspicion
that the CIA was arranging laundered drug profits. (3/3/97)
Lost History: Contras, Dirty
Money & CIA
When Ronald Reagan wanted to get guns and money to the Nicaraguan contras, his men
often turned to the shadowy world of money-laundering. Newly discovered documents show a
well-worn trail that leads from Panama's law offices to Swiss banks, from dirty money on
the streets of American cities to the brutal murder of a principal contra financier.
(2/17/97)
Lost History: Ollie's 'Enemies'
& the FBI
When Oliver North was at the height of his power, he tried to muscle his 'enemies'
by enlisting the FBI and other federal agencies to investigate them. Newly released
Iran-contra documents show that North saw the FBI as a possible weapon even to use against
troublesome journalists. (2/3/97)
Lost History: The CIA Protects
the Iran-Contra Cover-up (1/20/97)
Lost History: CIA-Contra
Plan-Kill Cubans
Duane Clarridge acknowledges in a new book that an original goal of the contra
operation was to "start killing Cubans." (1/20/97)
Lost History: The CIA's Fugitive
Terrorist
Luis Posada, a CIA-trained Cuban exile, hooked up with Oliver North's secret
Nicaraguan contra supply operation in 1986. Before that Posada was a known international
terrorist accused of bombing a civilian airliner that was headed for Havana. (1/6/97)
Lost History: CIA's Perception
Management
How the CIA practiced "Perception Management" on the American people
during the '80s. (12/9/96)
Lost History: Dole Nearly Cited
in Iran-Contra Report
While in the Senate, Dole fought to hinder Lawrence Walsh's Iran-contra
investigation and then urged President Bush to pardon Casper Weinberger in the last month
of the Bush Presidency. (11/11/96)
Lost History: Arafat Reveals
'October Surprise' Bid
Arafat informed President Carter that the Republicans approached him in 1980 over
October Surprise. (10-28-96)
Lost History: 'Project X' &
Assassins School
The Pentagon now admits that the School of the Americas used manuals that advocated
torture, murder and coercion for political ends. (10-14-96)
Lost History: Wall Street
Journal's 'Big Lies'
The Wall Street Journal's editorial page, edited by Robert Bartley, stoops to some
of the worst media abuses. Evidence is fabricated. Good people are smeared. Case in point:
WSJ vs. Gary Sick. (9-30-96)
Lost History: Reagan-Bush Crime
Syndicate
A decade ago, press reports disclosed that the Nicaraguan contra rebels were
trafficking in cocaine to buy guns. But instead of going after the contras, the White
House went after the story and the government investigators who tried to follow it up.
(9-16-96)
Lost History: Marcos, Money &
Treason
In a stunning disclosure, Ed Rollins, Ronald Reagan's former campaign manager,
writes that Philippine despot Ferdinand Marcos sent $10 Million in cash to Reagan's 1984
campaign. (9-2-96)
Lost History: Newsweek's
Convenient Lies
When Newsweek columnist Joe Klein lied about his authorship of a novel and editor
Maynard Parker published falsehoods in Newsweek to protect Klein's money-making secret,
the magazine's 'standards of truth' responsible for hounding Adm. Jeremy Boorda over his
right to wear a pin were suddenly less inviolable. (8-19-96)
Lost History: Pierre Salinger
& 1980 Taboo
The censorship of fomer ABC News' Paris bureau chief Pierre Salinger's memoirs, P.S.,
which expunged his October Surprise conclusion, is another case of the history of the 1980
American Presidential election is Lost History. (7-8-96)
Lost History: October Surprise
Arises
The October Surprise has been brought before the Supreme Court in a libel suit.
Former national security adviser Robert McFarlane has brought suit against Esquire
magazine for a 1991 story linking McFarlane to both the alleged 1980 hostage dirty trick
and to the Jonathan Pollard spy case. (6-24-96)
Lost History: The Devil & Bob
Gates
Ex-CIA Director Bob Gates's memoirs, "From the Shadows," reveals an eerie
mix of startling admissions blended with dubious history and self-serving explanations to
provide proof of our lost history. (6-10-96)
Lost History: Death, Lies and
Bodywashing
A small granite marker in Arlington National Cemetery honors the 21 American
soldiers who fought and died in El Salvador's civil war, but their story remains a secret
to the American people. (5-27-96) |
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