FBI Releases the Truth About GITMO

[ShaneGR]

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/americas/01/02/guantanamo/index.html

(snip)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The FBI on Tuesday released documents showing at least 26 of the agency's employees witnessed aggressive mistreatment and harsh interrogation techniques of prisoners by other government agencies or outside contractors at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

"On several occasions witnesses saw detainees in interrogation rooms chained hand and foot in fetal position to floor with no chair/food/water; most urinated or defecated on selves and were left there 18, 24 hours or more," according to one FBI account made public.

One FBI witness saw a detainee "shaking with cold," while another noted a detainee in a sweltering unventilated room was "almost unconscious on a floor with a pile of hair next to him (he had apparently been pulling it out through the night)."

Another witness saw a detainee "with a full beard whose head was wrapped in duct tape."

(snip)

Other actions FBI personnel reported either witnessing or being told about included:

- Placing a detainee in a darkened cell with the intent of interrogating him for 24 hours straight; the witness reported being told that then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld had approved this technique.

- Keeping detainees awake for days on end with strobe lights and loud music.

- Dressing as a priest and "baptizing" a detainee.

- Subjecting a detainee to a lap dance by a topless female guard.

- Interrupting detainees' attempts to pray by putting fluid on their faces and telling them it was menstrual blood.

- Beating a detainee who said he had recently undergone abdominal surgery.

[illinoisprogressive]

1. I see a new explosion with all the others coming up

these people in this administration are sick and disgusting. What is happening in gitmo is a horror story waiting to be told.

[orleans]

2. NOW will these pukes we live amongst believe the stories about the torture?

or is the fbi just plain old full of shit like us dems are?

[ClintonTyree]

27. They'll believe it.....

they'll even applaud it. They don't care about the torture, they applaud it. These suspects are automatically guilty as far as they're concerned. They're sub-human prisoners of war, each and every one of them directly responsible for the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. They have no problem justifying torture in their minds so an FBI report admitting torture isn't going to phase them in the least. They're pro-torture. That is, until it's Americans who are on the receiving end of said torture. Then the situation changes drastically and the torturers become barbarians instead of heroes. Their's is a non-linear type of logic that's almost impossible to understand and even less possible to change. They're not very bright and haven't an ounce of introspection. I fear they'll never change.

[Rude Horner]

35. Every word you typed is exactly what I was thinking.

You nailed it perfectly. I know, because I know people like those you described. Sick.

[ShaneGR]

40. Ya, I tend to agree

I'm amazed how far they're willing to go with this stuff.

[Usrename]

49. Well, aren't all of these detainees going to Hell anyhow?

Only evangelical born-again folks matter. Everyone else is just here for their amusement.

[blondeatlast]

36. The operative question is: Will they care?

That 31% still supporting this rat administration heartily approve of this treatment. It never occurs to them that it could just as easily be happening to OUR soldiers taken as prisoners of war (and I consider the Gitmo detainees to be such).

[brg5001]

42. Addled Bushco apologists deny, yet applaud the torture

While much of the American public sleeps through another day of network television, this fascist regime has set up a gulag. While denying or redefining torture, they and their apologists have been busy applauding the torture so these revelations will probably leave them thirsting for more, while decrying the release as harmful to our national security, or way of life, or Christian values, or whatever other convenient prop they can find. Our soldiers will no doubt be subject to the same or equal brutality at some point. What I want to know is: If all the prisoners are automatically GUILTY because God's own president ordered them incarcerated and it was nothing more than a day spa anyway, and even if it wasn't, they all deserved it, then what do we tell the hundreds of victims that we RELEASED from this hellhole because OOOOOOPS! They really hadn't done anything after all or were set up by angry in-laws back in Pakistan, or whatever.

F*&^ING DISGRACEFUL!!!

[951-Riverside]

3. UGH! What a bunch of sadists

and I wonder if the topless female guard did this willingly.

[Spazito]

4. I can only hope the truth continues to trickle out....

as horrific and graphic as it is because it is the only way the bush cabal and it's sychophants might possibly be held accountable.

[Divine Discontent]

5. sick sick sick sick

and yet the right wing voters will just continue to say these things are "sadly needed" to fight terrorism, like my aunt.



www.cafepress.com/warisprofitable <<-- antibush prodem stickers/shirts

[Cass]

6. Remember how that loudmouth Limbaugh said they were playing tennis and eating

lemon chicken with 3 kinds of fruit at Gitmo?? He even sells shirts about club Gitmo or some such nonsense. He makes money on the torture and mistreatment of prisoners because his brainwashed dittohead listeners buy those stupid shirts. How sick is that?

This FBI information needs to be pounded on over and over on the airwaves so people in this country wake the f*ck up about what is really going on. That article made me sick.

[slowry]

8. Oh come on.

These prisoners, from what I can tell, are given round the clock access to what are essentially saunas, petting zoos, and discotheques. Sign me up!

Oh um... wait... there it is...

:sarcasm:

[Jawja]

54. Limbaugh is

a pile of shit and his listeners are flies.

[leftofthedial]

7. can we call these motherfuckers nazis now?

:shrug:

[Jcrowley]

11. Yes

n/t

K&R

[ConsAreLiars]

9. Plus a hundred or so deaths

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4738008.stm

"The report defines the 34 cases classified as homicides as "caused by intentional or reckless behaviour".

"It says another 11 cases have been deemed suspicious and that between eight and 12 prisoners were tortured to death."

For more info see http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/us_law/etn/dic/exec-sum.asp

[crim son]

10. Jesus H. Christ. And I suppose

these acts have all been categorized as "necessary and useful in the war on terror"?

No kid of mine is ever going to join the military. Period. I am ashamed every time I read about this sort of garbage.

[Old and In the Way]

13. We need to test that assumption.

I want Congress to see what these people's justification for incarceration is....what are their personal histories that justify this treatment?

My guess is that these are, for the most part, people with little or no humint value. But they allow this administration to pretend they are conducting a war on terror, as well as sending a signal to the American people that we, too, could be picked off the streets and have our rights taken away and tortured if our King fancies us as terrorists (see Jose Padilla).

All I can say is this is a major bomb...looks like the Democratic Congress is going to have a starting point to begin investigations. Could get very interesting, very quickly.

[crim son]

15. I hope so, but am still suffering from grotesquely low

expectations after the last six years of dodges and evasions.

[Name removed]

52. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[4nic8em]

12. I stand corrected...

"Aggressive mistreatment and harsh interrogation techniques". Shit...all this time I thought John McCain said he was "tortured".

[LuckyX]

14. Wow

Sounds like this treatment is directed by those who really hate muslims, wonder who that might be?

[Disturbed]

16. There is enough evidence to put Rumsfailed on Trial

He will be the first but not the last to stand Trial for War Crimes in this matter.

[newyawker99]

47. Hi LuckyX!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[danhan]

17. Unbelievable

[Disturbed]

20. There are probably worse things that happened at GITMO.

The American public will get more info as investigations go forward.

All the abuse and torture at GITMO, Abu Grahib and other Detention Centers were sanctioned by Pres. GW Bush.

[Theduckno2]

24. Yes, it is very disturbing.

Welcome to the DU.

I would like to take a moment to thank those 26 witnesses for their integrity, humanity and willingness to go on record.

K & R

[LynnTheDem]

18. America; that shining beacon.

Hold your heads up proudly!

Oh, and never mind about all the innocent in Gitmo;

Mistake; captives languish at Guantanamo

Five Chinese Muslims the U.S. military admits were captured by mistake want the U.S. Supreme Court`s help in getting out of the Guantanamo Bay military prison. Their capture and detention in the Cuban facility for more than four years has created a legal dilemma for the Bush administration, which fears releasing them back to China where they could face torture, yet refuses to grant them asylum for fear of opening floodgates to others.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0213/p03s03-usju.html
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/northamerica/article_1097256.php/`Mistake`_captives_languish_at_Guantanamo

Reports Find Tenuous Terror Ties at Guantanamo

Compiled from declassified Defense Department evaluations of the more than 500 detainees at the Cuba facility, the report says just 8 percent are listed as fighters for a terrorist group, while 30 percent are considered members of a terrorist group and the remaining 60 percent were just "associated with" terrorists.

55 percent of the detainees are informally accused of committing a hostile act. But the descriptions of their actions ranged from a high-ranking Taliban member who tortured and killed Afghan natives to people who possessed rifles, used a guest house or wore olive drab clothing.
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=32241

Intelligence Reports of Innocence Were Hidden
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3868-2005Mar26.html

Report claims most Guantanamo prisoners never saw battle. Only 8 percent detainees are characterised in govt documents as Al Qaeda fighters
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006%5C02%5C11%5Cstory_11-2-2006_pg4_4

[nam78_two]

19. K&R.nt

[Selatius]

21. Gitmo should be turned into a war memorial when this is all finished.

It should be left standing as it is to send a stark reminder to future generations what happened here. If it comes to be known to the rest of the world as America's Auschwitz, then so be it.

[blondeatlast]

37. Absolutely. nt

[G Hawes]

22. Pretty ugly.

That's some pretty ugly stuff, no question, and dead wrong.

Sadly, though, it is not surprising, because this kind of stuff has been going on since time immemorial.

[Voltaire99]

23. Cut the defense budget.

Eliminate this cozy full-time torture gig, and let these people find their proper place in nature--as serial killers.

[fooj]

25. WTF? KO reported that the US is building a NEW Courthouse @ Gitmo...

Complete with restaurants for 125 MILLION!!!!! WTF? How the hell did I miss that one?

[Bluebear]

26. 'one detainee whose head was wrapped in duct tape for chanting the Quran'

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070103/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/detainee_abuse

[Disturbed]

28. How would we know that those guys that committed

suicide, actually did so?

[tom_paine]

29. Torture is now as American as Apple Pie

This is a stain our nation will have to live with for a long time...and that was if we stopped torture as official policy this very minute.

But we aren't going to stop.

[Catfight]

30. The Bush Torture Years...is it 2008 yet? nt

[democrank]

31. Sick

Just plain sick.

[malaise]

32. Impeach Bush

There is no other solution

[Vinca]

33. Yet one more Bushco lie exposed as truth. nt

[Maryland Liberal]

34. Subjecting a detainee to a lap dance by a topless female guard?

Where do I go to sign up? :)

[WorseBeforeBetter]

44. freerepublic.com? (n/t)

[spinbaby]

38. K&R

Funny, the BBC mentioned this story this morning but not a whisper on American news services.

[jwirr]

39. I feel sick at the thought.

[VotingVet]

41. This is Rumsfeld's Legacy

I hope he becomes known to history as an evil, sadistic, self-serving monster. And I hope he lives to see this reputation take shape in the minds of decent Americans, especially children.

He should be tried as the war criminal he so clearly is, but I'm not holding my breath. He approved methods of interrogation that decent Americans have always condemned; he violated international standards of human rights and human decency; he lied about his crimes repeatedly to a too often gullible and silent media. Evil has so devoured his soul that he actually smiles pleasantly, talking about torture in the same tone as a kindly grandfather describing a fishing trip to his grandson. But the US is still "in power" and will not allow an international court to touch him. Sadly, despite the Democratic victory in November, the Congress is not going to seek to put him in prison. (When the investigations begin, Rumsfeld will have reams of documented "proof" that he was very concerned about the treatment of prisoners and not only never sanctioned torture but actually went out of his way to ensure their humane treatment. It will all be bogus, of course, but who in the Congress, Repub or Dem, will challenge it with the persistence and energy that it deserves?)

[yardwork]

46. Welcome to DU!

[newyawker99]

48. Hi VotingVet!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[fedupinBushcountry]

50. You need to watch

"The Road to Guantanamo" http://www.channel4.com/film/newsfeatures/microsites/G/guantanamo/index.html

It is also on On Demand and a must see, many of the things mentioned were portrayed on this documentary which was a story told by 3 English detainees, who have been released.

In the documentary they show a clip of Rumsfeld saying " we live up to the Geneva convention, sorta". This man needs to be in prison.

Welcome to DU. :patriot:

[Gregorian]

43. Does anyone think about who these guards are?

And where these guards live?

And if there are people who do these things, that there are many more who are right here among us in our towns?

I happen to live in a town where I can say with absolute certainty that many of those who are my neighbors would literally delight in doing what they're doing in Guantanamo. Arrogant, aggressive and ignorant Americans. Loud pickups, guns, and chainsaws.

I'm philosophizing here, but I think America has a large percentage of people who are psychotic. And I'm not talking mentally ill. I'm talking socially ill.

I fear as I read this forum over the years that there isn't one George Bush, but millions.

[peacetalksforall]

45. Imagine. Duct Tape.

For years, Garrison Keillor on The Prairie Home Companion, has brought us clever, fun, and funny jokes about the uses for duct tape. He even had a pretend duct tape sponsor.

Contrast that with Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Ridge who told us to 'duct tapa' our homes to protect them from terrorist fallout and now we have -

"Another witness saw a detainee "with a full beard whose head was wrapped in duct tape."

Kind of a picture of how far down we've fallen.

Ever to rise back up again?

I yearn.

(War - brought to you by those who profit from it.)

[Orwellian nightmare]

51. The Ministry of Love.

[brg5001]

59. Welcome, Orwellian Nightmare (and it is an Orwellian Nightmare!)

Great handle, very cool morph...scary

[Rex]

53. So we have FBI agents admitting to seeing our military use torture.

And Cheney loves the idea of waterboarding someone. Why?

"Because poor people are replaceable, like a gear."

[Disturbed]

55. "Congress is not going to seek to put him in prison."

It is not Congress that is responsible for bringing charges on Rumsfailed.

Charges are being brought by the ACLU in a Class Action Suit.


Further Evidence Rumsfeld Implicated in War Crimes
Please read this important post by Marty Lederman, Army Confirms: Rumsfeld Authorized Criminal Conduct.

Here's a key section, but there's more:

The Army's charges against Jordan reflect the view, undoubtedly correct, that the use of forced nudity or intimidation with dogs against detainees subject to military control constitutes cruelty and maltreatment that Article 93 makes criminal. It doesn't matter whether they are or are not "torture," as such; nor does it matter whether the armed forces should be permitted to use such interrogation techniques: As things currently stand, they are unlawful, as even the Army now acknowledges.

But then how can we account for the actions of the Secretary of Defense and his close aides?

On November 27, 2002, Pentagon General Counsel William Haynes, following discussions with Deputy Secretary Wolfowitz, General Myers, and Doug Feith, informed the Secretary of Defense that forced nudity and the use of the fear of dogs to induce stress were lawful techniques, and he recommended that they be approved for use at Guantanamo.

(The lists of techniques to which Haynes was referring can be found in this memorandum.) On December 2, 2002, Secretary Rumsfeld approved those techniques for use at Guantanamo -- and subsequently those techniques were used on detainee Mohammed al-Qahtani.

In other words, the Secretary of Defense authorized criminal conduct.

...

Today's Army charge under UCMJ Article 93 against Lt. Col. Jordan -- for conduct that the SecDef actually authorized as to some detainees -- demonstrates that Rumsfeld approved of, and encouraged, violations of the criminal law.
http://www.discourse.net/archives/2006/04/further_evidence_rumsfeld_implicated_in_war_crimes.html

[Disturbed]

56. ACLU Files Three Lawsuits

ACLU-NCA home

ACLU and Human Rights First File Revised Complaint in Case Against Rumsfeld on Torture ... ACLU Files Three Lawsuits, Including One Class-Action Case ...

http://www.aclu-nca.org/

[ShaneGR]

57. What court has jurisdiction?

DC Circuit? If so, that court tends to be fairly bi-partisan and has a history of reaching unanimous decisions. Roberts was on that court, so was Ginsburg.

[Disturbed]

58. set to appear in federal court

Suit by Iraqis and Afghans claims Rumsfeld ordered torture ...
Lawyers representing Mr. Rumsfeld and three US Army commanders are set to appear in federal court here Friday in response to a lawsuit charging that the ...

http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1208/p02s01-usju.html

[Imagevision]

61. Rumsfeld-Rumsfeld-Rumsfeld we'll see if Pelosi's investigations will be thourough??

[SpiralHawk]

60. FBI: "Commander AWOL & Chickenhawk Con Minions are lying to Americans"

Again.

[The Stranger]

62. Arrest anyone having anything to do with these matters.

In the meantime, ensure that they do not destroy the records with the names of who participated.

[antiimperialist]

63. I bet Newsweek was right

The world was led to believe that a Newsweek report claiming that US interrogators flushed a Koran were false.

Now the Washington Post reminds us that urinating on the holy book was among the confirmed cases of Koran "mishandling" (stupid word).
The Pentagon had to say that this urinating was done unintentionally (lmao, yeah right) in order to stop violence in the middle east arising from the report.

They acknowledged that soldiers and interrogators had kicked the Koran, had stood on it and, in one case, had inadvertently sprayed urine on a copy.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/02/AR2007010201219.html?sub=AR

[woodsgirl]

64. Those who ordered

and those who carried out the atrocities at Gitmo should be tried at the Hague. Even those in the WH who approved of torture.Even those who approved of it in congress. I want to clean house.

[meowski]

65. "torture"

none of this is torture by the enemy's standards; that would be beheading, cutting off private parts, pulling off fingers with pliers, etc, etc. in fact, i actually find some of the above items funny, especially the baptism by a priest. priceless!

[Danieljay]

66. hey pal, what you find "funny" has led to the death of American soldiers...

real effing funny, tough guy. Lets see how funny you think it is when it happens to you. These kind of actions at Gitmo and Abu Graib by Americans and 'civilian contractors' increased attacks on American soldiers as payback. killing some and wounding others. Some of our soldiers are paying with their lives for this crap and America's reputation as being a nation of integrity and abiding by international law has been tarnished forever. Obviously you're either too young to know better or simply an idiot. I almost accused you of being a Republican however that would be an insult to the few good Republicans that I DO know. Even THEY are ashamed of the actions of this administration. Shame on you.

[meowski]

67. blame america first

Oh really? Did the Danish cartoon controversy cause more American troops to die? How about the fake "Koran flushed down a toilet" story? The point is, the enemy are 7th century barbarians and it's ridiculous to assert that these events "caused" them to hate us more. Their fake outrage is laughable.....those people would riot & declare Jihad if someone slipped on a banana peel. It's not necessary to blame America first, or to call names. Let's keep it on an adult level, please.

[Kurovski]

68. Look everyone, Rush Limbaugh is back at DU!

Just kidding.

America is supposed to be better than this. At least we used to be better than our enemies in the past. Alright, so we used to at least TRY to be. Or is it that we pretended to be? Maybe a combination...but I'm speaking here of just America, not you Meowski.