The Tortured Party

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-20-2008
The Tortured Party
472
Fri, 12-12-2008 - 11:15pm

Now that he's got nothing to lose by dropping the pandering, McCain issued a joint report just that found that Rumsfeld was right in the middle of authorizing the torture:

"Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld Approves Aggressive Techniques (U)
(U) With respect to GTMO’s October 11, 2002 request to use aggressive interrogation
techniques, Mr. Haynes said that “there was a sense by the DoD Leadership that this decision
was taking too long” and that Secretary Rumsfeld told his senior advisors “I need a
recommendation.” On November 27, 2002, the Secretary got one. Notwithstanding the serious
legal concerns raised by the military services, Mr. Haynes sent a one page memo to the
Secretary, recommending that he approve all but three of the eighteen techniques in the GTMO
request. Techniques such as stress positions, removal of clothing, use of phobias (such as fear of
dogs), and deprivation of light and auditory stimuli were all recommended for approval.
(U) Mr. Haynes’s memo indicated that he had discussed the issue with Deputy Secretary
of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Doug Feith, and General
Myers and that he believed they concurred in his recommendation. When asked what he relied
on to make his recommendation that the aggressive techniques be approved, the only written
legal opinion Mr. Haynes cited was Lieutenant Colonel Beaver’s legal analysis, which senior
military lawyers had considered “legally insufficient” and “woefully inadequate,” and which
LTC Beaver herself had expected would be supplemented with a review by persons with greater
experience than her own.
(U) On December 2, 2002, Secretary Rumsfeld signed Mr. Haynes’s recommendation,
adding a handwritten note that referred to limits proposed in the memo on the use of stress
positions: “I stand for 8-10 hours a day. Why is standing limited to 4 hours?”
(U) SERE school techniques are designed to simulate abusive tactics used by our
enemies. There are fundamental differences between a SERE school exercise and a real world
interrogation. At SERE school, students are subject to an extensive medical and psychological
pre-screening prior to being subjected to physical and psychological pressures. The schools
impose strict limits on the frequency, duration, and/or intensity of certain techniques.
Psychologists are present throughout SERE training to intervene should the need arise and to
help students cope with associated stress. And SERE school is voluntary; students are even
given a special phrase they can use to immediately stop the techniques from being used against
them.
(U) Neither those differences, nor the serious legal concerns that had been registered,
stopped the Secretary of Defense from approving the use of the aggressive techniques against
detainees. Moreover, Secretary Rumsfeld authorized the techniques without apparently
providing any written guidance as to how they should be administered. "

http://levin.senate.gov/newsroom/supporting/2008/Detainees.121108.pdf

What a surprise! There will be a lot more on this. If we don't hold those who broke the law accountable, the rampant rate of lawbreaking in the Republican Party will not slow down in the slightest. It will also be a good message to Democrats not to make the same mistakes.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Fri, 12-26-2008 - 3:21am

Apropos

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hmdRuIx50TBin51W_eKjDvsUJbnQ
Kabul to ask NATO to protect controversial mass grave
1 day ago
KABUL (AFP) — Afghanistan said Wednesday it wanted NATO troops to help guard a mass grave site thought to contain the remains of up to 2,000 Taliban prisoners killed by pro-US militia in 2001 after attempts to loot it.

Presidential spokesman Humayun Hamidzada told AFP Kabul had decided to ask for assistance after armed criminals apparently attempted to remove bodies from the remote desert site in northern Jawzjan province.
"There have been attempts to remove remains from the Dasht-i-Laili site," Hamidzada said.
"We are in the process of asking NATO to assist us in protecting the site."

NATO spokesman Captain Mark Windsor told AFP the force had not yet received any such request.
The site is believed to contain the remains of Taliban prisoners allegedly massacred in late 2001 by fighters loyal to notorious Afghan warlord Abdul Rashid Dostam, who helped US-led forces oust the Taliban regime.

Dostam -- an ethnic Uzbek and former general who is now loyal to Kabul but maintains control of substantial oil and gas reserves in the north -- has been the chief suspect since reports of the alleged massacre surfaced in 2002.
Nader Nadery, a spokesman for the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) confirmed the attempted robberies, saying they were a "clear attempt" to destroy the "physical evidence of war crimes".
"Our research -- interviews with locals and eye-witnesses -- revealed that some locals, armed people, were involved," he said.

Neither Hamidzada nor Nadery expressly pointed the finger of blame at Dostam.
Taliban prisoners captured after a major battle in northeastern Kunduz province were allegedly packed into shipping containers and left to suffocate, or were shot through the container walls, before being buried in mass graves.
Since late 2001, the remnants of the Taliban have waged an increasingly bloody insurgency against Kabul and about 70,000 foreign forces have been deployed here to support the government.

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-24-2008
Fri, 12-26-2008 - 6:10am

Wonderful post.

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-24-2008
Fri, 12-26-2008 - 6:15am
We fell way behind other countries during the Bush years.
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-24-2008
Fri, 12-26-2008 - 6:21am
I am so enjoying your belief you predict the future.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-30-2007
Fri, 12-26-2008 - 12:18pm

Did you ever hear of Native Americans?

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-20-2008
Fri, 12-26-2008 - 2:58pm

Too partisan, in all likelihood. IF a Democratic administration had been behaving as BushCo did for the past eight years, there would be impeachment proceedings well underway. As it is, a man who has been DIRECTLY responsible for the deaths of thousands of U.S. troops, tens of thousands of Iraqis, and the injuries of far far more; will waltz out of office, convinced (not that it's working for the rest of the nation!) that he's done the right thing. Compare this to Bill Clinton, a man who didn't have the self discipline to keep his zipper up and therefore went through the impeachment process.

So much for justice. It was ditched along with international conscience, due process, civil rights protections, and the balance of powers.

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-09-2008
Fri, 12-26-2008 - 6:32pm
Since torture has been proven ineffective your point is moot. An Afghanistan leader gave up important information, which aided our troops, for nothing more the Viagra. People, no matter who they are, are more likely to give information if they think it will benefit them.
iVillage Member
Registered: 10-09-2008
Fri, 12-26-2008 - 6:35pm
What is "truly amazing" is your ability to generalize. My husband,and several of his friends, could be considered, by some, to be liberal. They've all been to Iraq twice.
iVillage Member
Registered: 10-09-2008
Fri, 12-26-2008 - 6:43pm

Couple of points



  • the Indians were called savages too. Seems a common name given to those who disagree with a certain group.

  • how can you be Pro-Lie and Pro-death?

  • So it's OK for them to chop our heads off because they see us as a legitimate threat?

  • What about all the innocent people who were tortured or killed.

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-09-2008
Fri, 12-26-2008 - 6:50pm
If you don't tale part in the process of convicting, and then torturing, people how do you know the are guilty?? Do you know how many innocent people are on death row??

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