ACLU Releases Newly Declassified-UNREDACTED-DOD Docs Detailing Deaths & Torture=RUMMY COVER-UP

[kpete]

Newly Declassified DOD Documents Detail Torture, Deaths of Detainees

Church Report
Unredacted Church Report documents (previously classified) (2/11/2009)

File Attached -
Description: Uredacted pages from the Report of Vice Admiral Albert T. Church on Department of Defense interrogation operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay

http://www.aclu.org/safefree/torture/38710lgl20090211.html
http://www.aclu.org/images/torture/asset_upload_file293_38710.pdf


Moreover, the declassified documents name a private contractor, David Passaro, who conducted an interrogation that allegedly led to the death of a prisoner.

However, the declassified Pentagon documents, coupled with a report issued last December by the Senate Armed Services Committee tell a different story and lend credence to claims by civil libertarians and critics of former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld that refusal to release a fully classified version of the Church Report several years ago amounted to a cover-up.

In a news release, the ACLU said it also obtained reports of five separate investigations into deaths that took place in Afghanistan and Iraq – as well as Abu Ghraib abuses, which, although previously reported, marks the first time the military investigations have been released in full.

Those documents which span thousands of pages include:
http://www.aclu.org/torturefoia/released/021109.html

* Investigation of two deaths at Bagram. Both detainees were determined to have been killed by pulmonary embolism caused as a result of standing chained in place, sleep depravation and dozens of beatings by guards and possibly interrogators. (Also reveals the use of torture at Gitmo and American-Afghani prisons in Kabul).

* Investigation into the homicide or involuntary manslaughter of detainee Dilar Dababa by U.S. forces in 2003 in Iraq.

* Investigation launched after allegations that an Iraqi prisoner was subjected to torture and abuse at “The Disco” (located in the Special Operations Force Compound in Mosul Airfield, Mosul, Iraq). The abuse consisted of filling his jumpsuit with ice, then hosing him down and making him stand for long periods of time, sometimes in front of an air conditioner; forcing him to lay down and drink water until he gagged, vomited or choked, having his head banged against a hot steel plate while hooded and interrogated; being forced to do leg lifts with bags of ice placed on his ankles, and being kicked when he could not do more.

* Investigation of allegations of torture and abuse that took place in 2003 at Abu Ghraib.

* Investigation that established probable cause to believe that U.S. forces committed homicide in 2003 when they participated in the binding of detainee Abed Mowhoush in a sleeping bag during an interrogation, causing him to die of asphyxiation.

http://www.aclu.org/safefree/torture/35110res20080430.html
via:
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Newly-Declassified-DOD-Doc-by-Jason-Leopold-090211-607.html

[liberalmuse]

1. So it looks like FOIA is once again open.

Good!

[Bolo Boffin]

2. Kicked and recommended.

Let the sunshine in.

ETA: This will be a great way of ensuring our orderly departure from Iraq inside of 16 months.

[Hubert Flottz]

3. K&R...

[Hell Hath No Fury]

4. Wow...

And so it begins...about damn time. :mad:

[LakeSamish706]

5. So any of these criminals getting their starting blocks up to leave this country yet?

It would seem that the US will have very little choice in whether they try these criminals for torture or not. The bigger question is how far down do the prosecutions need go?

[shanti]

62. the plane for paraguay

is probably already parked on the runway for their quick departure.

[Botany]

6. Rummy & company need to be on trial

[malaise]

15. Bingo

These are war crimes.

[sonias]

7. Shame on our collective souls

We can not start to rebuild our reputation in the world without fully exposing these atrocities and bringing those responsible to justice. We do not approve of murder and torture in our name.

And Donald Rumsfeld, George W. Bush and those repsonsible will rot in hell one day.

Sonia

[Gregorian]

8. Sign the Amnesty International torture petition that is going to Congress!

http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/siteapps/advocacy/index.aspx?c=jhKPIXPCIoE&b=2590179&template=x.ascx&action=11732&tr=y&auid=4493867

[Peace Patriot]

31. Done! Thanks for posting the letter info! nt

[Gregorian]

9. Janet Karpinski was demoted!

Obama needs to reverse the pledges of silence that were signed by employees as they left Iraq. Remember, Karpinski didn't sign one, and that is why she is speaking out.

[Peace Patriot]

29. I didn't know about the pledges of silence. Got a url or google hint?

Would I find it if I googled Karpinski and pledge of silence?

[Gregorian]

32. In lieu of real truth, I used the term "pledge". It was a post employment document.

I'll look around for it. It was a document that was forced upon most (and now I don't know if it was military only) employees to keep their mouths shut. I know the phrase, but my brain is locked.


My first search brought up this 2005 interview with Amy Goodman which has some pretty major tidbits about violating Geneva Conventions, CACI, Titan corporation (torture by contract), Rumsfeld, the general who wanted to "Gitmoize" Abu Ghraib. But I'm not seeing this bit about all of the retired employees who signed statements to keep them from talking.

http://www.democracynow.org/2005/10/26/col_janis_karpinski_the_former_head

[Oldtimeralso]

10. We Must

Investigate,Indite,and hand over to the World Court if we are to regain any credibility.

[AndyA]

11. As a country, we cannot continue to ignore the war crimes of the Bush Administration

for long.

Jonathan Turley was quite clear on Olbermann last night: there is no choice about it. It is mandatory. We signed treaties that require us to investigate and prosecute. We cannot be in violation of those treaties.

[EFerrari]

12. Scott Horton has said the same thing. We must immediate open

a prosecution or be in violation of the torture convention.

[pansypoo53219]

13. private contractors for torture??

well, then it's ok cause the US military didn't do it.

i hope georgee accidently gets his balls stuck in a zipper/vise/lauWa's claw........
cheeney too.

[UpInArms]

14. Background: Afghan prisoners beaten to death at US military interrogation base

http://www.worldrevolution.org/article/716

March 7, 2003
Afghan prisoners beaten to death at US military interrogation base
The Guardian (UK)

Two prisoners who died while being held for interrogation at the US military base in Afghanistan had apparently been beaten, according to a military pathologist's report. A criminal investigation is now under way into the deaths which have both been classified as homicides.

'Blunt force injuries' cited in murder ruling

Duncan Campbell in Los Angeles
Friday March 7, 2003
The Guardian

Two prisoners who died while being held for interrogation at the US military base in Afghanistan had apparently been beaten, according to a military pathologist's report. A criminal investigation is now under way into the deaths which have both been classified as homicides.

The deaths have led to calls for an inquiry into what interrogation techniques are being used at the base where it is believed the al-Qaida leader, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, is now also being held. Former prisoners at the base claim that detainees are chained to the ceiling, shackled so tightly that the blood flow stops, kept naked and hooded and kicked to keep them awake for days on end.

The two men, both Afghans, died last December at the US forces base in Bagram, north of Kabul, where prisoners have been held for questioning. The autopsies found they had suffered "blunt force injuries" and classified both deaths as homicides.

A spokesman for the Pentagon said yesterday it was not possible to discuss the details of the case because of the proceeding investigation. If the investigation finds that the prisoners had been unlawfully killed during interrogation, it could lead to both civil and military prosecutions. He added that it was not clear whether only US personnel had had access to the men.

One of the dead prisoners, known only as Dilawar, died as a result of "blunt force injuries to lower extremities complicating coronary artery disease", according to the death certificate signed by Major Elizabeth Rouse, a pathologist with the Washington-based Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, which operates under the auspices of the defence department. The dead man was aged 22 and was a farmer and part-time taxi-driver. He was said to have had an advanced heart condition and blocked arteries.

Chris Kelly, a spokesman for the institute, said yesterday that their pathologists were involved in all cases on military bases where there were unusual or suspicious deaths. He was not aware of any other homicides of prisoners held since September 11. He said that the definition of homicide was "death resulting from the intentional or grossly reckless behaviour of another person or persons" but could also encompass "self-defence or justifiable killings".

The death certificates for the men have four boxes on them giving choices of "natural, accident, suicide, homicide". The Pentagon said yesterday that the choice of "homicide" did not necessarily mean that the dead person had been unlawfully killed. There was no box which would indicate that a pathologist was uncertain how a person had died.

It is believed that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, described as the number three in al-Qaida, is being interrogated at Bagram. He is said to have started providing information about the possible whereabouts of Osama bin Laden whom he is said to have met in Pakistan last month. Most al-Qaida suspects are being held outside the US which means that they are not entitled to access to the US judicial system.

...more...

[EFerrari]

16. Only the Rumsfeld DoD could re-purpose "homicide" to mean something

besides unlawful killing. I wish I still believed in Hell. :grr:

[Downwinder]

37. The thought of them being chained to a rock

and having buzzards eat their livers out every day for eternity is compelling.

[wroberts189]

17. and the little guys are rotting in jail ..left to take the fall for the bush admin.

[Solly Mack]

18. K&R plus some more info on David Passaro

I dug this out of my Dilawar/Wali files (in my favorites)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A48239-2005Apr12.html

and then there's this...from another file

http://www.slate.com/features/whatistorture/ChainOfCommand.html?http://www.slate.com/features/whatistorture/ChainOfCommand_DavidPassaro.html

[UpInArms]

19. remember this one?

http://newstandardnews.net/content/?action=show_item&itemid=275

Telltale Signs of Torture Lead Family to Demand Answers
Wife, Daughters Tell of Iraqi Man Discharged from U.S. Custody in Coma
by Dahr Jamail

Brian Dominick contributed to this piece.

US troops captured an Iraqi family man on July 21, 2003 only to drop him off at a civilian hospital more than a month later, beaten and in a vegetative state. We try to piece the story together and find out just what happened to Sadiq Zoman.

Editor's Note: Part of the following feature story was first reported by Baghdad correspondent Dahr Jamail back in January, when almost no one was paying attention to stories of the horrifying treatment dealt to Iraqi prisoners by their Western captors. Now that the world has deemed the topic newsworthy, Jamail has returned to the story for more thorough coverage. As part of our mission to The NewStandard will continue to pursue this and other stories like it in the near future. As any Iraq correspondent who speaks with Iraqis can attest, there is no shortage of them.

Baghdad; May 4, 2004 – Not all evidence of military personnel mistreating Iraqis held in US custody come from leaks within the American- and British-run detention facilities. In many cases, such as that of Sadiq Zoman, 57, who last year entered US custody healthy but left in a vegetative state, the story originates with family members desperate to share their loved one?s story with anyone willing to listen.

American soldiers detained Zoman at his residence in Kirkuk on July 21, 2003 when they raided the Zoman family home in search of weapons and, apparently, to arrest Zoman himself.

More than a month later, on August 23, US soldiers dropped Zoman off, already comatose, at a hospital in Tikrit. Although he was unable to recount his story, his body bore telltale signs of torture: what appear to be point burns on his skin, bludgeon marks on the back of his head, a badly broken thumb, electrical burns on the soles of his feet. Additionally, family members say they found whip marks across his back and more electrical burns on his genitalia.

...more...

[Solly Mack]

22. Yes

:(

[UpInArms]

23. I am so sad -

I really don't know what to do or say anymore

If the crimes of the Bush mal-administration are allowed to go unpunished..

I don't want to be a "good German" and just blindly exist with this

:(

thanks for helping me feel not so alone, Solly Mack

:pals:

[Solly Mack]

25. That's exactly how I feel!!!

"I don't want to be a "good German" and just blindly exist with this"

I don't even know how to....

:hug:

[UpInArms]

20. or, how about this one?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/may/24/iraq.usa3

'I will always hate you people'

Family's fury at mystery death
Luke Harding in Baghdad
guardian.co.uk, Monday 24 May 2004 08.40 BST

Article history

The first Mohammed Munim al-Izmerly's family knew of his death was when his battered corpse turned up at Baghdad's morgue. Attached to the zipped-up black US body bag was a laconic note.

The US military claimed in the note that Dr Izmerly, a distinguished chemistry professor arrested after US tanks encircled his villa, had died of "brainstem compression".

Dr Izmerly's sudden death after 10 months in American custody left his family stunned, not least because three weeks earlier they had visited him in the US prison at Baghdad airport. His 23-year-old daughter, Rana, recalled that he had seemed in "good health".

The family commissioned an independent Iraqi autopsy. Its conclusion was unambiguous: Dr Izmerly had died because of a "sudden hit to the back of his head", Faik Amin Baker, the director of Baghdad hospital's forensic department, certified.

The cause of death was blunt trauma. It was uncertain exactly how he died, but someone had hit him from behind, possibly with a bar or a pistol, Dr Baker confirmed yesterday.

"He died from a massive blow to the head. We don't disagree with the coalition's report, but it doesn't explain how he got his injuries in the first place," he told the Guardian.

The apparent murder of a "high-value" detainee, held as part of the search for weapons of mass destruction, is another blow for the Bush administration, still reeling from the Abu Ghraib jail abuse scandal.

...more...

[Solly Mack]

24. Probably at Camp Nama

It was called Camp Nama in 2004 anyway... bad place.

Camp Nama was set up at BIAP at then time.

[Peace Patriot]

60. This is one of the weirdnesses of Bushwhack torture/detention policy.

From your comment: "The apparent murder of a "high-value" detainee, held as part of the search for weapons of mass destruction, is another blow for the Bush administration, still reeling from the Abu Ghraib jail abuse scandal."

---

But there were no "weapons of mass destruction"--and war criminals like Rumsfeld knew it. The UN had cleaned them out. So-o-o-o, why kill this man?

That's what I want to know, in my hunt for "weapons of profit and greed." Were the Bushwhacks ordering torture, indefinite detention and murder--for business reasons, or to cover up trails to their own crimes? And/or, were some of these tortures, murders and detentions flak cover for other, targeted victims?

While I think the Bushwhacks are capable of ordering torture, murder and illegal detention just for terrorism purposes--to terrify the populations of Iraq, Afghanistan and other places--or out of perversity--they usually don't do anything except to further their own greed and power, or to cover up what they've done (to avoid any accountability). I don't think the top Bushites had any other motives. I certainly don't believe they did anything "to keep us safe." Katrina taught us that, as did 9/11, the outing of Valerie Plame (whose job was keeping weapons of mass destruction out of the wrong hands), this Financial 9/11 in September, and many other things. They obviously couldn't give a fuck about this country or us. We were just their vehicle. They are beholden to multinational corporations--who have loyalty to no people and no country--and to super-rich fuckwads (like the Saudi royal family).

It's possible that a Rumsfeld torturer of this chemistry professor just went "rogue" and whacked him. But I would look for motive. Was this man an obstacle to the oil contracts--in some way? Did he know something about the Bushwhacks--such as Rumsfeld selling biochem weapons to Saddam to use on the Iranians? Was he onto a Rumsfeld scheme to plant WMDs in Iraq, to be 'found' by the US soldiers who were 'hunting' for them? Was this man a friend of David Kelly* (whom somebody murdered back in England during the same period)--maybe the one who told Kelly whatever it was that Kelly knew that got him killed? Why was he a threat, and to whom?

-------

*(Kelly, a biochem expert, had been a UN weapons inspector and had made friends with several scientists in Iraq. Just before he himself was killed--on 7/17/03, three days before Valerie Plame was outed--he wrote emails saying he was looking forward to returning to Iraq to visit friends and colleagues there. Also, in one of these emails--to Judith Miller--he expressed concern about the "many dark actors playing games" amidst the controversy about his whistleblowing to the BBC. He then went out on his normal afternoon walk near his home, and, according to the official story, sat down under a tree, slit one wrist--the ulnar artery, normally not fatal--and bled to death all night, out in the rain. A truly dubious story. Afterward, his office and computers were searched, and Robert Novak then additionally outed the entire Brewster-Jennings network (headed by Plame), putting all of Plame's counter-proliferation agents/contacts, in various foreign countries, in great peril of getting killed.)

[UpInArms]

63. sometimes, to get a small idea of what and why, you have to dig

into the past

try this:

The Case for Sedition

by Al Martin

High Crimes of the Bush Cabal (Part 1)

A case for sedition can be made against the Bush Cabal, including George Herbert Walker Bush, James Baker, Cappy Weinberger, and the late Bill Casey et al. They perpetrated a series of frauds against the public purse under the thinly disguised veil of political policies, to wit, the tremendous increase in military and defense expenditures, in order to try to defeat the "Evil Empire" of the Soviet Union, which in itself was a ruse.

This enormous multi-trillion dollar increase in defense spending was used by the Bush Cabal to suck money out of the public purse by the commission of a variety of schemes and to bleed money out of defense appropriations by incessant payments from defense contractors to a shadowy network of Republican-controlled arms companies, security research consultant companies, and offshore research institutes.

This can be ascertained when you look at the big Research and Development (R & D) expenditures that were done on the so-called Star Wars missile defense program. You can see the endless list of "security consultants" that were put on as subcontractors, most of whom had absolutely nothing to do with the development of the weapons.

These security consultant firms would put together proposals for estimated usage of weapons, etc, but since they knew the weapons were never going to work, they knew it was really meaningless anyway.

In addition, there was the "spare parts industry" that goes along with the Bush Cabal, which increases the cost of spare parts (which don't work) by ten or twenty times.

These actions of the Bush Cabal then constitute gross economic malfeasance, which, in my view, could rise to the level of sedition. The definition of sedition is four pages long, and it can be found in Statute 792 of US Title Code 18.

In other words, the Bush Cabal knew that what they were doing would severely weaken the United States, both militarily and economically. The country is weakened militarily by loading US military inventories with a lot of high tech weapons systems that don't work. The country is weakened economically by many years of purported multi-hundred billion dollar deficits, claimed to be $350 or $400 hundred billion dollar deficits, but which were actually (as we have pointed out before) twice as high as claimed at any given time.

The Bush Administration just disguised the numbers through a series of smoke-and-mirror accounting tricks, as we have said before. (See Numbers Don't Lie, Bushes Do.)

The premise of the case is that this malfeasance was created, not under the Reagan-Bush Regime, as referred to before, but by the Bush I Regime.

The Bush I Regime, the period from 1980-1992, is so named because Ronald Reagan was simply a figurehead. Reagan never formulated any policies on his own and he hardly had any of his own people in the cabinet. When you think about it, the only pure Reaganite was Donald Regan, and he was intimidated by George Bush. He even publicly said so. The big powerhouses in the administration, like James Baker, Bill Casey, Cappy Weinburger, Brent Scowcroft, were all old Bush Cabalists. These were not Reaganites.

We need to remember that prior to 1980, before the use of the word "Reaganite," Ronald Reagan didn't have any political faction of his own. He wasn't a politician. He was a two-term governor of the state of California. When he left office, the State of California was teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. That says a lot for his ability to manage things. People should have known then. When he first came in as governor of California, the state budget had a record surplus and all state accounts had surpluses. When he left two terms later, the state was nearly bankrupt and had a record deficit. California had asked for federal assistance to bail out several state agencies, and the surpluses were all gone.

Reagan never had a vested political constituency of his own. People ask — where did this term "Reaganite" or "Reaganomics come from? It was the Bush people in the Reagan Administration, who fostered the use of these terms. James Baker used it all the time, and that was to lay all the crap in Reagan's lap.

In marketing, it's called branding. They knew Reagan was the popular figurehead, not George Bush — so why not name everything after him?

much more at link

and it always makes the hair stand up on my neck

[defendandprotect]

35. Quite a chain of military inbetween elected officials and public ---

I imagine that Ashcroft might be a bit worried . . .

probably knows a few things he wishes he didn't know!

[bananas]

21. k&r nt

[SalmonChantedEvening]

26. Indict. Convict. Imprison.

:grr:

[bobthedrummer]

27. K&R

[hootinholler]

28. Is it time to finally release the rest of the photos?

How about the videos?

This was coordinated in the situation room.

They must be prosecuted. AFAIK, no one above the enlisted ranks have been prosecuted. Scapegoat the grunts and sweep the rest under the National Security rug. Standard MO for the neocon.

-Hoot

[slipslidingaway]

30. TAXI TO THE DARK SIDE Trailer

2 minutes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5j3Ry8qXOI


1 minute
Amnesty International Petition

http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/siteapps/advocacy/index.aspx?c=jhKPIXPCIoE&b=2590179&template=x.ascx&action=11732&tr=y&auid=4493898

"...Show Washington that the public wants our nation to take responsibility for past mistakes and that we do have the stomach for a full investigation. We’re working directly with a group of champions in Congress and will ask them to take your comments, and read them aloud on the floor of the Senate and House. Help support our champions in Congress, and add your name to the letter below."

[Wizard777]

33. That's Capital murder! That should make Mr. Passaro and Rummy eligible for the death penalty.

The Yamashita Standard should be applied to include Rummy as an accessory to capital murder.

[chill_wind]

42. Rumsfeld *"personally involved"*

Additionally, a Dec. 20, 2005, Army Inspector General Report relating to the capture and interrogation of suspected terrorist Mohammad al-Qahtani included a sworn statement by Lt. Gen. Randall M. Schmidt. It said Secretary Rumsfeld was “personally involved” in the interrogation of al-Qahtani and spoke “weekly” with Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller, the commander at Guantanamo, about the status of the interrogations between late 2002 and early 2003.

Gitanjali S. Gutierrez, an attorney with the Center for Constitutional Rights who represents al-Qahtani, said in a sworn declaration that his client, imprisoned at Guantanamo, was subjected to months of torture based on verbal and written authorizations from Rumsfeld.

“At Guantánamo, Mr. al-Qahtani was subjected to a regime of aggressive interrogation techniques, known as the ‘First Special Interrogation Plan,’ that were authorized by U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld,” Gutierrez said.

“Those techniques were implemented under the supervision and guidance of Secretary Rumsfeld and the commander of Guantánamo, Major General Geoffrey Miller. These methods included, but were not limited to, 48 days of severe sleep deprivation and 20-hour interrogations, forced nudity, sexual humiliation, religious humiliation, physical force, prolonged stress positions and prolonged sensory over-stimulation, and threats with military dogs.”

{/div]

[bluesmail]

34. kick & recommended. (There's not much aside from dialog to do

and that is a terrible place to be).

[Piewhacket]

36. nice reporting kpete (as usual). REC!

[jeff30997]

38. K&R

Totally sickening.And that's just the tiny tip of the Iceberg.:grr:

[WheelWalker]

39. Recommended.

:kick:

[DallasNE]

40. What Army Field Manual

It sure looks like the touted Army Field Manual was widely ignored. Yet no crime was committed? You figure that one out. Some of this sure looks premeditated.

[chill_wind]

41. !! The 5 documents cited were released to the ACLU in November 2008-

by the Bush Admin! The ones for the first time in full. What can that mean??

http://www.aclu.org/torturefoia/released/021109.html


K & R!

[Norrin Radd]

43. kr

[myrna minx]

44. k&r. Too tired to read all the links tonight. n/t

[Brimon]

45. We must come clean.

I despair that supposedly "Civilised" countries like the U.S. & U.K. could resort to this barbarian behaviour. If you torture people hard enough & long enough they will eventually tell you what you want to hear. Both the U.S. & the U.K. need to come clean on rendition & torture. Moreover surely anyone who was subject to rendition & torture & subsequently convicted of terrorism should have their cases dismissed or at least refered to a civilian court for retrial.

They don't do this in my name.

[myrna minx]

54. I'm mortified by the atrocities that were committed in our name.

It is a shame that we will bear for generations to come.

[pleah]

46. K&R

[SpiralHawk]

47. "Commandment for Republicons: Stop torturing human beings." - J. Christ

[tclambert]

48. Unintentional homicides generally fall into the manslaughter category, but torture itself is a crime

so that puts these deaths into the "felony murder" category. It's just the same as if a bank robber accidentally shoots a teller dead. In fact, the shooter's partners will also face felony murder charges. There have been cases where the driver of the getaway car was convicted of felony murder, even though he was outside when the killing occurred. Felony murder is generally treated the same as premeditated murder (first degree).

The torturers and witnesses (accomplices) to the torture can be charged with felony murder. They may even face the death penalty. Those outside the torture chamber, but clearly involved in the crime, such as Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney, and George W. Bush, can also be charged with felony murder, though for those outside the room, the death penalty is usually not imposed. In this case, since those not present masterminded the original crime, they might be held more accountable than a mere getaway driver would.

[pmorlan1]

49. Bush adminstration officials must be prosecuted

If we allow the Bush administration officials, who designed and authorized the torture techniques, to get off scot-free, with no prosecution, then all of us become guilty of torture right along with them. Please contact the Obama White house to let them know they MUST investigate and prosecute. There is no other alternative. We can't let Obama only hear from those who want to sweep this under the rug. They must hear from citizens like us.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/

[Soylent Brice]

50. NOW can we do a war crimes tribunal???

how much eveidence do they need?

[derby378]

51. So why is that PDF still redacted?

:shrug:

[Jefferson23]

52. ACLU outstanding as usual! There is no statute of limitations on

death resulting from torture, it may take many years for the top to be indicted but this is a great start. Personally I hope they grant immunity to the lesser if they have to in order to get the green light bastards. Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld etc, and their fucking lawyers too.

[lsewpershad]

53. One set of laws for all

Mr President, you stated that no one is above the law and I believe you mean it. It is therefore incumbent that a special prosecutor be appointed to investigate and prosecute all those responsible for these heinous crimes in our name.

[Locrian]

55. agreed

Fast approaching for the President to show if he's really about change or business as usual.

[1776Forever]

56. Rumsfeld will go down in history with other incredulous people like Hess,

Remember this:

http://www.mediaresearch.org/cyberalerts/2004/cyb20040511.asp#1

NBC Relays View of Rumsfeld as “Neo-Nazi,” and Raises Mein Kampf -
2004

To give you a flavor of the media’s agenda, a brief rundown of the May 10 show introductions and subsequent story topics on the broadcast network evening shows:

-- ABC’s World News Tonight. Jennings teased: “The International Red Cross says the Bush administration knew about allegations of torture and humiliation in Iraqi prisons more than a year ago.”

Jennings opened his show: “Good evening. Two American soldiers were killed in Iraq today. The war goes on. And so, at a much lower level than a month ago, do the U.S. efforts to get Iraq ready for political self-determination at the end of June. The President made a speech at the Pentagon today about the war effort and why, in his view, the U.S. will prevail. But so much of this here and there is still overshadowed by the reports of U.S. soldiers abusing Iraqis in prison. The President again today tried to limit the damage, but it is very difficult.”

MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann opened his Countdown show by ridiculing President Bush’s insistence that Rumsfeld is doing a “superb job” and asked: “If the buck does not stop with Mr. Rumsfeld, where does it?” Olbermann announced, as taken down by the MRC’s Brad Wilmouth:

"Good evening. For the second time in three business days, the President of the United States has given his Secretary of Defense a public vote of confidence. In business or in sports, that would be the proverbial lead pipe cinch that the guy would be fired within 72 hours. But George Bush was not a typical businessman, not a typical sports owner, and he certainly has not been a typical President. Our fifth story on the Countdown tonight, what the President calls Rumsfeld's 'superb job.' Considering the statement was made on a day when more stark photographs emerged from Abu Ghraib prison, and the military tried to figure out how best to release those worst ones yet to come, the real question might be, 'If the buck does not stop with Mr. Rumsfeld, where does it?'”

AND -

Fareed Zakaria’s rant:

Within weeks after September 11, senior officials at the Pentagon and the White House began the drive to maximize American freedom of action. They attacked specifically the Geneva Conventions, which govern behavior during wartime.... The basic attitude taken by Rumsfeld, Cheney and their top aides has been "We're at war; all these niceties will have to wait." As a result, we have waged pre-emptive war unilaterally, spurned international cooperation, rejected United Nations participation, humiliated allies, discounted the need for local support in Iraq and incurred massive costs in blood and treasure. If the world is not to be trusted in these dangerous times, key agencies of the American government, like the State Department, are to be trusted even less. Congress is barely informed, even on issues on which its "advise and consent" are constitutionally mandated.

Leave process aside: the results are plain. On almost every issue involving postwar Iraq—troop strength, international support, the credibility of exiles, de-Baathification, handling Ayatollah Ali Sistani—Washington's assumptions and policies have been wrong. By now most have been reversed, often too late to have much effect. This strange combination of arrogance and incompetence has not only destroyed the hopes for a new Iraq. It has had the much broader effect of turning the United States into an international outlaw in the eyes of much of the world.

Whether he wins or loses in November, George W. Bush's legacy is now clear: the creation of a poisonous atmosphere of anti-Americanism around the globe. I'm sure he takes full responsibility.

........

Let us NEVER forget!

[KoKo]

57. K&R

[bobthedrummer]

58. bttt

[Dystopian]

59. KandR for justice.

Can't read the links, or read anything else about torture.
This has been sucking the life out of me for years....
I want to see them all behind bars before I die.
Thank you for posting.

peace~

[benld74]

61. Rummy sitting at the witness stand screaming 'YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH'!