How Bush Threatened Britain-LETTERS NOW RELEASED PROVE-Bush Intervened-To Suppress Torture Evidence

[kpete]

How Bush Threatened Britain

In order to prevent any details of its torture record being publicly disseminated, the Bush administration threatened the British government with withdrawal of intelligence sharing if they allowed a court to publish the redacted evidence. Foreign secretary David Miliband denied this on Wednesday, but the letters from the US have been released by Channel 4 News. And their message is unmistakable.
http://www.watoday.com.au/world/letters-prove-us-warning-20090206-7zx8.html?page=2

The first letter:

"I write with respect to proceedings … regarding Mr Binyam Mohamed," the letter said. "We note the classified documents identified in your letters of June 16 and August 1, 2008, to the acting general counsel of the Department of Defence … the public disclosure of these documents or of the information contained therein is likely to result in serious damage to US national security and could harm … intelligence information sharing arrangements between our two governments."

The second:

"Ordering the disclosure of the US intelligence information now would have only the marginal effects of serious and lasting damage to the US-UK intelligence sharing relationship, and thus the national security of the UK …"

That is a threat to hurt the security of a very close ally unless the British government intervenes into a court process to suppress evidence of US torture. In a critical test of the Obama administration, the demand that such evidence be suppressed was reiterated. (I don't know by whom. Panetta isn't in place yet. Brennan? Clinton?) And that's how illegal torture spreads throughout a legal and military system to undermine alliances as well as the rule of law. The poison of Cheney is still in the system. And it will be for a long time. That was the point: the crimes and blunders they committed were such that their successors find themselves, willy nilly, implicated in them.

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2009/02/how-bush-threat.html

[pleah]

1. K&R

[jimshoes]

2. Time to cleanse the septic tank

Somehow, just start.

[Vogon_Glory]

3. Looks Like George GTT Bush Had Better Pick where He Vacations With Care

Sounds like George GTT Bush had better pick where he vacations with care. Enough little memoes like this, and even tourism-dependent British Commonwealth and British colonies might let outrage overrule prudence and decide to pack him off to Blighty if the Brits decide to indict Dubya on criminal charges.

[Royal Sloan 09]

4. What about War Crimes, they're being covered up and placing blame on others, WTF. eom

[leveymg]

5. Binyam Mohamed was one of five men linked to Abu Zubaydah. Torture seems to have been the common

thread among those captured who were involved in certain AQ programs closely monitored by US and UK intelligence services. Both Binyam and Jose Padilla were turned into near-vegetables by sensory driving and drug injections (Ewing Cameron's technique), and Zubaydah and KSM were waterboarded multiple times - that no doubt didn't help their ability to clearly recall key events.

Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, who was also tortured, attended the early January 2000 AQ planning summit with Zubaydah where the USS Cole and 9/11 attacks were planned. That meeting is a primary nexus in this. Nashiri along with al-Hazmi (Flt. 77 hijacker) and Zubaydah had been on the CIA and MI6 scopes no later than 1996. All these guys were very familiar faces at Langley and the SIS Bldg.

See,

Results 1 - 10 of about 388 for leveymg Abu Zubaydah. (0.33 seconds)
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1.
FBI, CIA Debate Significance of Terror Suspect - Democratic ...
13 posts - Last post: Dec 18, 2007
WHAT THE CIA DOESN'T WANT YOU TO KNOW ABOUT ABU ZUBAYDAH Posted by leveymg in General Discussion Mon Dec 10th 2007, 12:32 PM ...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph... - 79k - Cached - Similar pages -
2.
CIA Detainee Torture, Memory Loss, and the Bush Administration's ...
Abu Zubaydah was the first "high value" al-Qaeda figure captured in March 2002. .... That is the worst form of memory erasure, of the electorate. leveymg ...
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TPMmuckraker | Talking Points Memo | Today's Must Read
Dec 18, 2007 ... Abu Zubaydah was:. A) A high-ranking Al Qaeda operative who largely confounded .... I have to agree with leveymg's hypothesis in this case. ...
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Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri was a participant or observer in the following events:
1997: Future Hijackers Supposedly Watchlisted in Saudi Arabia for Failed Gunrunning Plot
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Prince Turki al-Faisal, Saudi intelligence minister until shortly before 9/11 (see August 31, 2001), will later claim that al-Qaeda attempts to smuggle weapons into Saudi Arabia to mount attacks on police stations. The plot is uncovered and prevented by Saudi intelligence, and two of the unsuccessful gunrunners, future hijackers Khalid Almihdhar and Nawaf Alhazmi, are watchlisted. However, Almihdhar and Alhazmi continue to move in and out of Saudi Arabia unchecked and will obtain US visas there in April 1999 (see 1993-1999 and April 3-7, 1999). The US is supposedly informed of Almihdhar and Alhazmi’s al-Qaeda connection by the end of 1999 (see Late 1999). Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, an associate of Almihdhar and Alhazmi (see January 5-8, 2000), is implicated in a plot to smuggle four Russian antitank missiles into Saudi Arabia around the same time, although it is unclear whether this is the same plot or a different one. The Saudi authorities uncover this plot and the US is apparently informed of the missile seizure in June 1998. <9/11 Commission, 7/24/2004, pp. 152-3, 491>

Entity Tags: Nawaf Alhazmi, Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, Khalid Almihdhar, Saudi General Intelligence Directorate, Turki al-Faisal, Al-Qaeda

Timeline Tags: Complete 911 Timeline, 9/11 Timeline
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Late April 1998 and Shortly After: Tenet Unhappy over Saudi Information Sharing, Suggests Al-Qaeda Leader Wants to Assassinate Vice President
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When Saudi authorities foil a plot by al-Qaeda manager Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri to smuggle missiles into the kingdom (see 1997), CIA director George Tenet becomes so concerned they are withholding information about the plot from the US that he flies to Saudi Arabia to meet Interior Minister Prince Nayef. Tenet is concerned because he believes that the four antitank missiles smuggled in from Yemen by al-Nashiri, head of al-Qaeda operations in the Arabian peninsula, may be intended for an assassination attempt on Vice President Albert Gore, who is to visit Saudi Arabia shortly. Tenet and another CIA manager are unhappy about the information being withheld and Tenet flies to Riyadh “to underscore the importance of sharing such information.” Tenet obtains “a comprehensive report on the entire Sagger missile episode” from Interior Minister Prince Nayef by making a not-so-veiled threat about negative publicity for Saudi Arabia in the US press. It will later be reported that the militants’ plan is apparently to use the armor-piercing missiles to attack the armored limousines of members of the Saudi royal family. There are no reports of the planned attack being carried out, so it appears to fail due to the confiscation of the missiles. However, al-Nashiri will later be identified as a facilitator of the East African embassy bombings (see August 22-25 1998) and will attend a summit of al-Qaeda operatives in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, which is monitored by local authorities and the CIA (see January 5-8, 2000).

Entity Tags: Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, Saudi Arabia, George J. Tenet, Central Intelligence Agency, Nayef bin Abdul-Aziz

Timeline Tags: Complete 911 Timeline
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After August 7, 1998: Witness Tells FBI Al-Qaeda Operative Intends to Hit US Vessel in Aden
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A witness questioned during the FBI’s investigation of the African embassy bombings says that al-Qaeda operative Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri intends to attack a US vessel in Aden. The USS Cole will be bombed in Aden harbor two years later (see October 12, 2000) and al-Nashiri, who provided a fake passport for one of the embassy bombers (see August 22-25 1998), will be one of the managers of the operation (see November-December 2000).

Entity Tags: Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, Federal Bureau of Investigation

Timeline Tags: Complete 911 Timeline
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Mark

[Horse with no Name]

6. Who was that healthy British reporter that just ended up...dead?

Used to speak out about the Bush/Blair regimes. He died right around the release of the Downing Street Memos. Makes you wonder WHAT he knew.:shrug:

[chill_wind]

9. What about Dr. David Kelly-- (weapons expert)? Is that who you're thinking of?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr_David_Kelly

[goforit]

23. And will Tony Blair be implicated as accomplice to his death and cover-up?

Hey Judith Miller? ....Step right up and tell us about those "DARK FORCES"

[librechik]

7. And yet any time WE felt like bragging about a terror arrest, we blabbed it out loudly

spoiling the Brits case. I believe we did that at least twice.

[David Zephyr]

8. K&R.

tick,tick.

[Senator]

10. K&R

[SalmonChantedEvening]

11. War crimes.

Are we there yet?

K&R

Thanks for this kpete :hug: :)

[madrchsod]

12. but no one will be held accountable

no one in the new government will prosecute anyone responsible for these crimes. it is still same "nothing to see-move along" government.

[democrank]

13. Fascist barbarians, every last one who ordered torture.

They must answer to war crimes charges, no matter who they are, what (or who) they own, how much money they have or what friends they have in high places. Period. Charge them.

[CubicleGuy]

25. I hate to say it, but...

I don't think anyone is ever going to have to answer for anything until somebody willing to make a large sacrifice takes matters into his or her own hands.

And then, of course, the government would make sure that the real reasons that drove said person to take such actions would never see the light of day, and the person or persons involved would be villified forever.

Such is life in America these days.

[lonestarnot]

14. Plates good for another 10 years.

[peacetalksforall]

15. Can anyone explan the transition. When I scanned this news yesterday(.?)

I thought the threat was past tense - by the Bush regime. Then someone said Sec. Clinton was continuing it? Can someone explain what this administration is doing - are they perpetuating the threat?

[aikanae]

18. Obama is not stopping it

The idea of missing US "intelligence" struck me as a very weak threat. Not cooperating with British intelligence might do more harm for US security rather than the reverse. Besides, why is US image considered a national security threat for Britain? Last time I checked, Britain and US were separate nations.

But didn't these judges just admit to having knowledge and evidence of war crimes - not disclosing it, wouldn't that make Britain an accomplice? I hoped Britain might be more responsive to the charge than the US (I know, still a long shot).

However, based on the dates, nothing has changed under Obama. Clinton met with Miliband on Feb 3rd.


(summary) Feb 6, Guardian, (David Miliband) "serious and lasting harm" to the exchange of information with the CIA. In other words it would embarrass the Americans and they might deny intelligence in return. This, Miliband said, was not a threat but "a fact".
"For all the protestations of the Obama regime that "the war on terror" is over - echoed by Miliband himself - it is not." (It's obvious from the comments that threatening security to protect war crimes allegations won't improve our world image.)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/feb/06/jenkins-guantanamo-law-liberty

Feb 5, AP "Two senior justices delivered a ruling Wednesday that said there was significant evidence to show Binyam Mohamed was either tortured or abused in U.S. custody, but there was not much they could do about making the documents public..." http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29039031/

Feb 5, Guardian video: Miliband response http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/video/2009/feb/05/miliband-guantanamo-evidence

Feb 4 BBC "But Foreign Secretary David Miliband said there had been no such threat and the UK "never condoned torture".
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7870049.stm

Feb 4 Guardian, Civil Liberties Villain of the Week: David Miliband "Last year, Binyan's lawyers sued the British government, demanding that they turn over evidence that could help prove both his innocence and the extent of his torture."

Feb 3, Sky News: David Miliband has become the first foreign minister to hold face-to-face talks with Barack Obama's administration. http://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20090203/twl-miliband-meets-hillary-clinton-3fd0ae9.html

[peacetalksforall]

20. Thanks. I think Milliband is right - Obama may not be truthful here. Terror over or not? Quote:

""For all the protestations of the Obama regime that "the war on terror" is over - echoed by Miliband himself - it is not." (It's obvious from the comments that threatening security to protect war crimes allegations won't improve our world image.)"

[reprehensor]

16. VIDEO: Channel 4 news coverage

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x269461

[reprehensor]

17. One more VIDEO: MP Ed Davey spells it out.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x269480

Yes, it was a threat, and to cover up evidence of torture.

[bobthedrummer]

19. kick

[Titonwan]

21. I hope you realize that it's probably SOS CLINTON involved here.

You DO know that Hillary Clinton made introductions to the Council of Foreign Relations shortly after she bowed out of the primary race and if you don't think a Faustian Bargain wasn't arranged, you're not seeing the bigger picture here. Anyone remember how cozy Bill and H.W.G. were for awhile (in public) and jetting everywhere together? Does anyone doubt the close ties the Clinton's and the Bush's have? You're friggin' DREAMING if you don't consider the severe probability that Shillary is the one doing the threatening and if this had more EXPOSURE, Barack would have to answer some real tough questions. They're trying to suck him in and they're doing a GOOD JOB OF IT.

[mmonk]

22. Shami Chakrabarti savages UK Minister Geoff "Buff" Hoon

over US threat allegations.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x269505

[DemReadingDU]

24. morning kick