Monday, June 02, 2008

Does George Bush Consider "Floating Prisons" A Model Of Good Public Service?

George Bush told the graduating class at Furman University to be good, model citizens this weekend, but he certainly didn't mention extraordinary rendition as part of that role. Bush's hypocrisy knows no bounds and the latest story about the United States' torture/secret imprisonment saga is definitely out there on the plane of morality. One thing that would have been truthful is that to be a good George Bush, get better at keeping secrets such as where to keep prisoners who are denied any rights away from the media.

From The Guardian:

The United States is operating "floating prisons" to house those arrested in its war on terror, according to human rights lawyers, who claim there has been an attempt to conceal the numbers and whereabouts of detainees.

Details of ships where detainees have been held and sites allegedly being used in countries across the world have been compiled as the debate over detention without trial intensifies on both sides of the Atlantic. The US government was yesterday urged to list the names and whereabouts of all those detained.

Information about the operation of prison ships has emerged through a number of sources, including statements from the US military, the Council of Europe and related parliamentary bodies, and the testimonies of prisoners.

The analysis, due to be published this year by the human rights organisation Reprieve, also claims there have been more than 200 new cases of rendition since 2006, when President George Bush declared that the practice had stopped.


Secrets and lies, more lies and more secrets are what he and his Administration do best. The media for the most part is doing its part for him by not reporting this. Most stories are on international outlets and curiously the one that stands out in the U.S. is FoxNews. Perhaps their viewers like to hear about "American ingenuity" in action. What is important here is that our government is allowed to get away with this, shredding more chunks from what little respect we garner around the world as we disrespect what our country is all about.