Randi Rhodes caller: Al Gonzalez taught torture at air force academy

[imenja]

Caller is talking about it now. She is asking him for confirmation. The guy says Gonzalez taught him torture techniques--what to expect if he became a prisoner of war.
Needs to be verified to make sure it's true, but if so could be very interesting.

[shoelace414]

1. Best of Randi..

if there was documentation it would be out already.

[rqstnnlitnmnt]

2. it actually is true...

randi comes back later in the show they're highlighting now with fact checks

gonzalez did all the stuff this guy alleges

here's to the constitution!

[imenja]

3. is this a repeat show?

How do you know what she says later? Sorry if I'm broadcasting old news. I assumed it was a current show.

[kaitykaity]

6. She's out for a month. She had her surgery yesterday.

Hysterectomy. Came through with flying colors from
what Malloy said yesterday.

Repeats tues and thurs, Malloy Mondays, Seder Wednesdays,
and Marin Fridays.

From what I remember. I could be switching the last two
around.

[BrklynLiberal]

13. Maron and Riley on Fridays. Otherwise perfect.

[AnneD]

4. If it IS true

It needs to be kicked all the way to DC:dem: :dem: :dem:

This admin just gets sorrier by the nanosecond and it won't be resolved until we take 'em out or they totally drag America down.

[cynatnite]

5. My understanding of this

They prepare their pilots for the possibility of getting shot down and tortured. It's a normal part of their training and has been for years.

I don't think this will go far.

[boneygrey]

10. Maybe a SERE instructor

so you may be right. A good friend of mine was a SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance, Escape) Instructor. He taught pilots what to do if shot down. He never would give me details, even if he'd had a lot to drink. I'm still curious.

[jdj]

7. this bio says he attended, it doesn't even say he graduated

Gonzales was born in San Antonio, Texas and raised in Houston. He is a graduate of Texas public schools, Rice University, and Harvard Law School. Gonzales served in the United States Air Force between 1973 and 1975, and attended the United States Air Force Academy between 1975 and 1977.


the link is messed up, but it's government guide

[imenja]

8. this caller said he was an instructor

but it is evidently a repeat show, which I didn't know or I wouldn't have posted what is now old news.

[Leilani]

9. What trash!

They teach all potential pilots how to resist, when taken as POW's.

All pilots go through a survival school, which consists of some pretty grueling experiences.

They don't teach them torture, they teach them how to deal with it.

[imenja]

12. I had a student who told me otherwise

I had a student in one branch of the armed forces, I don't recall if it was the army or the air force. I teach Latin American history and thus discuss the School of the Americas. I laid out the state of evidence on the school, making clear that what they actually teach there is subject to dispute. This student, who had been at Gitmo (but before 9/11) said he was instructed in "interrogation techniques." He told me interrogation techniques included torture. I was needless to say quite surprised. I expected to face opposition from a military student rather than a statement that went further than I myself felt comfortable arguing.

Although it's not clear in the title of my post, the text itself makes clear that the caller said the instruction was intended to help troops deal with torture at the hands of foreign powers. My own student said they themselves were taught torture. I did not ask him the specific techniques. That was in 2000. At that point there was no public parsing of the word torture designed to allow the practice of some barbarous acts.

[UTUSN]

11. He Dropped Out of the AFA in 2 Yrs. "Taught"? at the Academy?

Kos has a summary of the AA call. Does a 2 yr cadet "teach"? It says he was "in charge of training". Are cadets "sergeants"? I'm asking from sincere ignorance, no sarcasm (I've been a GONZALES-basher from WAY back). These links came from Google.

*******QUOTE*******

http://tom-kertes.dailykos.com/story/2005/2/2/9383/04499

Gonzales Project
by Cedwyn
Wed Feb 2nd, 2005 at 06:38:03 PST

in a different diary, jotter gave us this report about an air america show:


A caller to the Randi Rhodes show this afternoon recounted that Gonzales was his sergeant during the "this is what will happen to you if you are taken prisoner" training at the Air Force Academy. Said Gonzales dropped out after two years there (any longer ... and he would have actually had to serve real time in the military).
He said Sgt Gonzales was a real SOB disliked by all, and expressed the opinion that the methods used at Gitmo and AG sounded quite a lot like what AFA students were taught to expect in the way of torture at the hands of enemies. RR later confirmed that Gonzales had indeed been at the Academy, and was a Sgt in charge of that training. So he had far more first hand experience of the subject than I would otherwise have expected given his educational background as extrapolated from institutions he graduated from. I sure wish someone had had the chance to ask him about those years at the Air Force Academy.

And it got me wonderin'

Diaries :: Cedwyn's diary ::

wondering if this group (his academy classmates) could be contacted. i'm betting the caller would know how to find at least some of the others - maybe randi would get involved?

how powerful it would be to get a collective statement out of that lot!

http://usabig.com/autonomist/articles4/gonzales.html

News With Views elaborates further by saying, "A remarkable feat seems to have been accomplished. A high school graduate goes into the Air Force, not as an officer, but as an enlisted rank. Two years later, Gonzales 'wins' a coveted nomination to the United States Air Force Academy. In two years, this cadet is bored, gets 'transferred' to Rice University and earns a degree in less than two years."

NWV also states, "There are strict guidelines involved in nominating an individual for a cadet slot at the United States Air Force Academy. The competition is tough, application time is considerable and not a process done at the drop of a hat.

********UNQUOTE*******