Tortured Detainee Admits He Told Interrogators What They Wanted To Hear

This was last night's news, but it bears repeating. When Dick Cheney or any other torture apologist tries to say that breaking the Geneva Convention helps procure good intelligence, they are lying. Recently released information from the White House adds to the overwhelming evidence that torture does not work, just ask one of the guys they tortured.

From ThinkProgress:

The Bush administration has long justified its use of torture by claiming that it obtained valuable information from torturing 9-11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. Late last year, former Vice President Dick Cheney said, “Did it produce the desire results? I think it did.” He explained:

I think, for example, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who was the number three man in al Qaeda, the man who planned the attacks of 9/11, provided us with a wealth of information.

But according to documents released by the Obama administration in response to a lawsuit brought by the ACLU, Cheney was lying. Mohammed told U.S. military officials that he gave false information to the CIA after withstanding torture:

“I make up stories,” Mohammed said, describing in broken English an interrogation probably administered by the CIA that concerned the location of Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

“Where is he? I don’t know. Then he torture me,” Mohammed said. “Then I said, ‘Yes, he is in this area.’”

Interrogation experts have always maintained that torture does not work, and actually hinders an investigation because of false information being told to make the pain stop. The very fact that we are having this debate is bad enough, but at least the truth can come out that shows people like Dick Cheney, John Yoo, George Bush and the rest of them are full of it when it comes to fighting terrorism with torture.

Ex-Sec. Rice Says President Is Above The Law

Although the ex-Secretary of State tried to word her statement carefully, she failed terribly in her answer to a student concerning torture and her involvement in it. Cenk Uyugr helps publicize the exchange where she pretty much has a Frost/Nixon moment declaring the President is above the law.

Time To Indict Condi Rice For Torture

Jay Bybee, John Yoo and other senior Bush Administration figures have already been fingered for their roles in making torture "legal" for the government. Whether they had written the memos or passed them along, they played a part in shaming our once proud nation by committing those despicable acts. Cheney has been called out before too, but for the most part the upper echelon of Bush's people have not been touched. Now though, it looks like former Secretary of State Rice had intimate knowledge and approval of, torturing terrorist suspects.

From RawStory:

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The CIA first sought in May 2002 to use harsh interrogation techniques including waterboarding on terror suspects, and was given key early approval by then-national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, a US Senate intelligence document said.

The agency got the green light to use the near-drowning technique on July 26, 2002, when attorney general John Ashcroft concluded "that the use of waterboarding was lawful," the Senate Intelligence Committee said in a detailed timeline of the "war on terrorism" interrogations released Wednesday.

Nine days earlier, the panel said, citing Central Intelligence Agency records, Rice had met with then-director George Tenet and "advised that the CIA could proceed with its proposed interrogation of Abu Zubaydah," the agency's first high-value Al-Qaeda detainee, pending Justice Department approval.

Though Rice was the first of the inner circle to approve of torturing suspects, Ashcroft, Cheney and Gonzales were all there with her on this from the beginning. Since we have this declassified report out in the open, the only and natural next step is for Attorney General Eric Holder to appoint a special prosecutor and draw up charges for every single man and woman that decided to spit on the honor of our country and disregard the basic tenets of decency and morality for humankind.

More Evidence That Torture Doesn't Work

Republicans love the myth that fictional character Jack Bauer mirrors what happens in the real world of fighting back against international terrorists. Unfortunately, that just isn't the case. Investigators who have procured information from these people have already said that it doesn't work, but now we have even more evidence that waterboarding fails to help dismantle terror plots. In fact, it can lead to false information that wastes valuable time of our law enforcement capabilities.

From The Washington Post:

When CIA officials subjected their first high-value captive, Abu Zubaida, to waterboarding and other harsh interrogation methods, they were convinced that they had in their custody an al-Qaeda leader who knew details of operations yet to be unleashed, and they were facing increasing pressure from the White House to get those secrets out of him.

The methods succeeded in breaking him, and the stories he told of al-Qaeda terrorism plots sent CIA officers around the globe chasing leads.

In the end, though, not a single significant plot was foiled as a result of Abu Zubaida's tortured confessions, according to former senior government officials who closely followed the interrogations. Nearly all of the leads attained through the harsh measures quickly evaporated, while most of the useful information from Abu Zubaida -- chiefly names of al-Qaeda members and associates -- was obtained before waterboarding was introduced, they said.

The Post's article goes on to detail the story of Abu Zubaida and highlights the failings of using torture on captured al-Qaeda members. The facts are out there and anyone out there that still believes what they watch on "24" as truth needs to wake up. This isn't about being weak with those that wish to attack and kill Americans, it is about being smart, something the United States failed to do under eight years of George Bush.

Cheney Admits To Approving Torture, Laughs In The Face Of Congress

Not that people didn't assume, highly suspect or know deep down inside already, but Dick Cheney came out yesterday and admitted that he approved of and condoned torture tactics. With just a few short weeks left in the Bush/Cheney Administration, the sinister Vice President brazenly acknowledged that not only does he believe in waterboarding, he supported it.

From RawStory:

When asked by ABC News reporter Jonathan Karl whether he approved of interrogation tactics used against a so-called "high value prisoner" at the controversial Guantanamo Bay prison, Mr. Cheney, in a break from his history of being press-shy, admitted to giving official sanctioning of torture.

"I supported it," he said regarding the practice known as "water-boarding," a form of simulated drowning. After World War II, Japanese soldiers were tried and convicted of war crimes in US courts for water-boarding, a practice which the outgoing Bush administration attempted to enshrine in policy.

"I was aware of the program, certainly, and involved in helping get the process cleared, as the agency in effect came in and wanted to know what they could and couldn't do," Cheney said. "And they talked to me, as well as others, to explain what they wanted to do. And I supported it."

He added: "It's been a remarkably successful effort, and I think the results speak for themselves."

ABC asked him if in hindsight he thought the tactics went too far. "I don't," he said.

Cheney obviously could care less that the American people know that he is in favor of remaking America into an evil empire like that that rules his own head. Despite overwhelming evidence that conducting torture has increased the ranks of Al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations he approves of torture. Despite more and more Americans losing their lives overseas and the global goodwill towards our country that vanished overnight, he approves of torture. Despite the fact that waterboarding by Americans doesn't even give us good information, he approves of torture.

Dick Cheney is a sick, deluded and evil man. So what does that say for the Congress of the United States that has given him a free pass? Shame on every single one of them that did not sign up to prosecute Cheney. Sure, there were a few that wanted to but not nearly enough. Congress ignored its duty as a check on the Executive branch and now Cheney is ready to get away scot free.

Guantanamo Bay will be closed under Obama (and hopefully all sites where torture exists) which is great but it does not dish out the necessary justice that Cheney deserves. Either Obama, or the judicial system in some form must act to show the world we do not only abhor torture, but prosecute and incarcerate those that do.

Come Get "Waterboarded" At Coney Island

A trip down to Coney Island includes the world-famous boardwork, gut-wrenching Cyclone and a general sense of disrepair in the amusement park. Well now, in its very last summer (in the current form anyways) a new attraction joins the scene, the "Waterboard Thrill Ride" by Steve Powers.

From The NY Times:

It looks at first like any other shuttered storefront near the boardwalk: some garish lettering and a cartoonish invitation to a delight or a scam — in this case there’s SpongeBob SquarePants saying, “It don’t Gitmo better!”

If you climb up a few cinderblock steps to the small window, you can look through the bars at a scene meant to invoke a Guantánamo Bay interrogation. A lifesize figure in a dark sweatshirt, the hood drawn low over his face, leans over another figure in an orange jumpsuit, his face covered by a towel and his body strapped down on a tilted surface.

Feed a dollar into a slot, the lights go on, and Black Hood pours water up Orange Jumpsuit’s nose and mouth while Orange Jumpsuit convulses against his restraints for 15 seconds. O.K., kids, who wants more cotton candy!

In interrupting a day at the beach with scenes of the United States government’s rougher practices, Mr. Powers is being deliberately provocative. “What’s more obscene,” he asks, “the official position that waterboarding is not torture, or our official position that it’s a thrill ride?”

The Bush Administration would call it a thrill ride, because, as we all know, the United States does not torture. Powers' creation is certainly a great way to attract attention to the issue, especially with our typical short attention span when it comes to hearing about waterboarding on the news. Yesterday's atrocity is today's afterthought for too many of us. So if a few thousand people get to see a re-enactment of what we do to terrorism suspects, then good for them....and cheers to Steve Powers for bringing it to Coney Island.

Christopher Hitchens Literally Tortures Himself

Christopher Hitchens has been known to be controversial for his views on politics and especially religion. He has been called many names from both sides of the political spectrum, but one thing he certainly cannot be called is 'chicken'. Recently, in the name of journalism, Hitchens decided to see for himself if waterboarding is torture.

From RawStory:

Christopher Hitchens, the British journalist who is among the staunchest defenders of the war in Iraq, was waterboarded for a recent article in Vanity Fair.

"Believe Me, It's Torture" is the article's title.

In it and an accompanying video Hitchens outlines a trip to North Carolina where interrogators experienced in the Survival, Evasion, Resistance, Escape (SERE) training that Special Forces soldiers participate in to resist torture at the hands of enemies.

"I apply the Abraham Lincoln test for moral casuistry: 'If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong.' Well, then, if waterboarding does not constitute torture, then there is no such thing as torture," Hitchens wrote after enduring the procedure.

Of course, anyone with common sense and the ability to watch prior video of the practice knows that this procedure is torture. It is a shame that Mr. Hitchens had to feel it literally before proclaiming that proverbial duck is truly a duck. Nevertheless, Hitchens' stunt keeps the government's practice in the spotlight....although I sincerely doubt any of the chickenhawks in Congress or the White House will stand down from their assertions that waterboarding is hunky dory.

Doubletalking McCain On Torture

Senator, actions speak louder than words:

Today Is Another Sad Day For The Presidency

While the race in Wyoming between Obama and Hillary adds to the excitement of the 2008 election, and Bill Foster takes on Jim Oberweis to reclaim IL-14 for the Democratic party in Congress, it is a sad day over at the White House. Now Bush may not be in a glum mood, but the American ethic, the people and our reputation around the world will truly suffer as George vetoes a bill that would have banned torture.

From The Huffington Post:

WASHINGTON — The White House says President Bush will veto legislation on Saturday that would have barred the CIA from using waterboarding _ a technique that simulates drowning _ and other harsh interrogation methods on terror suspects.

Bush has said the bill would harm the government's ability to prevent future attacks. Supporters of the legislation argue that it preserves the United States' right to collect critical intelligence while boosting the country's moral standing abroad.

"The bill would take away one of the most valuable tools on the war on terror, the CIA program to detain and question key terrorist leaders and operatives," deputy White House press secretary Tony Fratto said Friday.

The bill would restrict the CIA to using only the 19 interrogation techniques listed in the Army field manual.

Those 19 techniques have unearth scores of secrets and won over many of our adversaries in the past. Way back in World War II, interrogators knew that torturing their captives never provided truthful or useful information. All that does is produce what the victim perceives the torturer wants to hear.

I think that this is quite indicative of our President. He only sees and hears what he wants to, discarding the truth when he sees fit. You can't fit much of the truth in if the glass you are looking through is as narrow as the Presidential red plastic viewfinder.

Lieberman Joins The Pro-Torture Ranks

Holy Joe has made it official, he's endorsed the practice of waterboarding, where the captors hold down their victim and pour water over them to simulate drowning. This is where the water is forced into your lungs and the burning sensation triggers an adrenaline rush that would make a blindfolded man want to bolt out of the predicament. According to Lieberman, a self-purported torture expert, this isn't as bad as "putting burning coals on someone's body." Yep, he actually said that.

From ThinkProgress:

Yesterday, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) “reluctantly acknowledged” that he doesn’t believe waterboarding is torture. According to the Connecticut Post, Lieberman downplayed the severity of the waterboarding because it doesn’t inflict permanent physical damage:

In the worst case scenario — when there is an imminent threat of a nuclear attack on American soil — Lieberman said that the president should be able to certify the use of waterboarding on a detainee suspected of knowing vital details of the plot.

“You want to be able to use emergency tech to try to get the information out of that person,” Lieberman said. […]

“It is not like putting burning coals on people’s bodies. The person is in no real danger. The impact is psychological,” Lieberman said.

So messing with someone's brain isn't as bad physically burning them? Why doesn't he tell that to our troops who come home in the thousands afflicted by PTSD? I'd love to see him defend that statement. Absolutely love it.

NY Times Strikes A Raw Nerve In The White House

When the powers that be get angry at something one does, you know you are on the right path. Well the New York Times is definitely on a speedy track to finding out the Bush Administration's role in the destruction of the 'torture tapes' the CIA made as they waterboarded terrorists in their custody.

Dana Perino blasted the newspaper for printing a story that showed the Administration was more involved in the destruction of the tapes than they let on. The White House at least wants the sub-heading changed, from "White House Role Was Wider Than It Said" to.....well, probably something that reads like "What tapes?" or "Bush saves cat from tree!"

From Yahoo News:

The Times cited "conflicting accounts" as to whether any of the lawyers supported destroying the tapes, but cited one former top intelligence official with direct knowledge of the matter as saying that "there had been 'vigorous sentiment' among some top White House officials to destroy the tapes."

Other officials told the Times that no-one at the White House called for destroying the tapes -- but that no White House lawyer ordered that they be preserved or warned that destroying them might be illegal.

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino angrily denounced the Times's sub-headline -- "White House Role Was Wider Than It Said" -- in a highly unusual written statement that demanded a formal correction.

"The New York Times' inference that there is an effort to mislead in this matter is pernicious and troubling, and we are formally requesting that NYT correct the sub-headline of this story," she said.

Perino said that the White House has simply refused to comment on the matter beyond saying that US President George W. Bush did not recall being aware of the videos or the decision to destroy them prior to being briefed recently.

Well of course we are going to get a "no comment" out of them now, we wouldn't want poor Dana to perjure herself or anything. Not that anyone in the White House would commit a crime like that.

Unfortunately for the Times and journalism as a whole, the Times submitted to their pressure and caved in, changing the heading.

Arlen Specter Is A Fool

Senator Arlen Spector got his name in the news today, looking like the same old buffoon that he usually is. His latest outburst was to pan Congress for stalling FISA legislation and the Bush Administration for throwing up roadblocks to see what was on those CIA torture tapes.

Sigh.

Spector can't possibly be this stupid can he? Well, he can certainly act like it.

From RawStory:

Specter is proposing a compromise that would give the telecoms immunity but make the federal government the defendant in their place. "I believe that it is very important on our checks and balances to have the courts as part of the picture," he told CNN. "Regrettably, the Congress has been very ineffective in oversight on what the executive branch does."

The ACLU has argued that suing the government isn't an adequate substitute, because it can use the state secrets privilege, executive privilege, and even a claim of sovereign immunity to get the cases thrown out. "My bill answers all of those considerations," Specter replied, saying that it would make the government an exact stand-in for the telecoms with no special rights. However, a CNN legal expert who commented at the end of the segment said she believed the ACLU was right and Specter was wrong.

Specter was also asked about Attorney General Mukasey's refusal to give the Judiciary Committee any information on his investigation of the destruction of the CIA interrogation tapes. "I'm very disappointed in what the Attorney General did because it runs exactly counter to the assurances he gave us at his confirmation hearings," Specter said.

Wow. Lets start with the first paragraph, shall we? Giving the telecoms immunity would relinquish them from their responsibility for standing before a judge and jury for their crimes against the country and all the Americans that they allowed the Bush Administration to spy on. This "compromise," or "bending over and grabbing Congress' ankles for the President" would not solve one goddamn thing. And to talk about not having effective oversight on the Administration??? Where the hell have you been these last seven years Senator?

Obviously the ACLU answers Spector in the second paragraph. As for the third, this is further proof that Spector must walk around the Senate with a giant blindfold, because he exhibits no common sense whatsoever. Anyone that could rub two braincells together knew that Mukasey was going to do whatever it takes to keep the President away from legal scrutiny.

Apparently Arlen is down to his last working neuron.

FBI Agent Contradicts Pro-Waterboarding Claims

President Bush, who told us all that the United States does not torture endorsed the CIA's statement that waterboarding helped them to ascertain important information from Abu Zubaida, an Al-Qaeda operative. The only problem is that the important information and how it was gathered is in dispute. The CIA is backing up what they did, but FBI agents involved in his interrogation say that once he was subjected to torture whatever he told his handlers was "crap."

From The Washington Post:

In legal papers prepared for a military hearing, Abu Zubaida himself has asserted that he told his interrogators whatever they wanted to hear to make the treatment stop.

Retired FBI agent Daniel Coleman, who led an examination of documents after Abu Zubaida's capture in early 2002 and worked on the case, said the CIA's harsh tactics cast doubt on the credibility of Abu Zubaida's information.

"I don't have confidence in anything he says, because once you go down that road, everything you say is tainted," Coleman said, referring to the harsh measures. "He was talking before they did that to him, but they didn't believe him. The problem is they didn't realize he didn't know all that much."

The only good information came before they started "enhanced interrogation" methods (i.e. torture) which was an accidental slip that led to Jose Padilla's arrest and Khalid Sheik Muhammad's capture.

Coleman basically thinks that those at the CIA claiming waterboarding did any good is nuts. Torture has never provided any good information to anyone and this was certainly proved to be true in Abu Zubaida's case. Anyone at the CIA that tells you different is trying to pull gold from thin air.

More Obstruction Of Justice From The White House

As we learn that one man in the White House has given up his appeal of being found guilty of obstruction of justice, another count can be levied against the White House. The last one was for uncovering the identity of undercover agent Valerie Plame. This one is for destroying evidence of torture, despite being told by a judge not to erase the tapes.

From The Huffington Post:

WASHINGTON — The Bush administration was under court order not to discard evidence of detainee torture and abuse months before the CIA destroyed videotapes that revealed some of its harshest interrogation tactics[...].

The CIA destroyed the tapes in November 2005. That June, U.S. District Judge Henry H. Kennedy Jr. had ordered the Bush administration to safeguard "all evidence and information regarding the torture, mistreatment, and abuse of detainees now at the United States Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay."

U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler issued a nearly identical order that July.

At the time, that seemed to cover all detainees in U.S. custody. But Abu Zubaydah and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, the terrorism suspects whose interrogations were videotaped and then destroyed, weren't at Guantanamo Bay. They were prisoners that existed off the books _ and apparently beyond the scope of the court's order.

Attorneys say that might not matter. David H. Remes, a lawyer for Yemeni citizen Mahmoad Abdah and others, asked Kennedy this week to schedule a hearing on the issue.

Though Remes acknowledged the tapes might not be covered by Kennedy's order, he said, "It is still unlawful for the government to destroy evidence, and it had every reason to believe that these interrogation records would be relevant to pending litigation concerning our client."

Now President Bush is claiming that he only heard about the matter last week. This proves yet again that George is either lying or cannot control his White House. I'm gonna go with the former on this, the President had to know what was going on. His track record for telling the truth is far too f%*ked up to believe him now. I'd believe that he quit drinking cold turkey for twenty years before I'd take his word on not torturing people.

Fox News Panelist/Doctor Condones Torture

Not only does Dr. Krauthammer endorse torture, he favors the CIA covering up their tracks so that the people not see the brutality of it. I guess he doesn't remember his hippocratic oath, nor the fact that if you commit a crime, you should be held accountable for your actions.

Skip ahead to the 6:20 minute mark for his statements:

Olbermann Comments On Waterboarding And George Bush

Once again, Olbermann nails the subject of waterboarding and how George Bush implements that torture technique with our "enemies."

Screw You Schumer

Along with the conservative Dem Dianne Feinstein, my Senator Chuck Schumer has shown himself to be another spineless Democrat who apparently condones waterboarding. The debate that continues to rage in the Senate over Mukasey's confirmation as the next Attorney General is now headed to the floor for a vote, and we have Chuckie to thank for it. Schumer is the epitome of what is wrong with the current crop of Democrats in office.

From The Huffington Post:

"This is an extremely difficult decision," Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a statement, adding that Mukasey "is not my ideal choice."

In announcing her support for Mukasey, Feinstein, D-Calif., said "first and foremost, Michael Mukasey is not Alberto Gonzales," referring to the former attorney general who resigned in September after months of questions about his honesty.

True, Mukasey is not Alberto Gonzales and definitely not anyone's ideal choice on the left. Regardless, those excuses are not even close to being good enough to give this guy a pass. Feinstein and Schumer are dead wrong in their votes. Many other Democrats understand why Mukasey has no right to be the next AG, because he is unwilling to respect the rule of law. His dodging and weaving during Senate testimony makes that clear.

Mukasey will not admit that waterboarding is torture, even though it is. If he did admit it, he would have to prosecute his boss for condoning and ordering acts of torture against dozens or even hundreds of prisoners that felt as if they were drowning. When an ex-Bushie, Mark Levin underwent the procedure, he knew in an instant that he was being subjected to an act of torture. For his efforts and not toeing the Bush line, he was promptly fired.

Schumer isn't a stupid man, he clearly knows what the stakes are in this case. Why he has bowed down to the Bush Administration is a question many New Yorkers should be asking, and for that matter, Californians should be looking at Feinstein as well.

Thank You Senator Dodd

I've already expressed my displeasure about how the "debate" was setup by MSNBC to follow the media's narrative and that for the most part, the entire two hours was a pathetic show that seemed more like "Presidential Idol" than a real debate. Well Chris Dodd is expressing the same opinion more or less over at Huffington Post and I think it is about time that we actually get to hear important questions and the answers we need to hear to pick an able 44th President.

Here are some of his desired questions and the answers to them as well:

1. Less than two weeks ago, Senator Dodd, you announced you would filibuster any FISA legislation that included retroactive immunity. Why are you opposed to amnesty?

Quite simply: you can't defend America if you don't defend the Constitution.

The Bush administration came to the telecom companies, some even before 9/11, and asked them to eavesdrop on Americans. They didn't produce court orders or warrants to justify their surveillance. And the telecoms went along with it.

These companies have some of the best legal counsel money can buy. They know the law through and through. And they broke it anyway. That is inexcusable and I'm not about to let Congress step in and stop lawsuits against them for violating the privacy of ordinary Americans.

2. Do you think waterboarding is torture?

Absolutely, according to both US law and international conventions. And in my view, the Bush Administration knows full well it is.

He also stated why he opposes Mukasey's nomination (and for good reason), just click on the Huffington Post link above. Even though Dodd was never my first choice, nor sadly does it seem like he has much of a chance, he is showing himself to be a true leader in his campaign and when he gets up on the debating stage. America desperately needs a leader, and not one that will lead us off the cliff and into the abyss of authoritarianism such as Bush has been doing for nearly seven years now.

Mukasey "Can't Recall" Before It Has Even Happened

If anyone thinks for a moment that the soon-to-be Attorney General is going to be better than the last one has got to be kidding themselves. True, Mukasey looks a little less sleazy than Alberto but when it comes to the game of semantics he has been training to lie and dodge Congressional questions from the get go. He condemns torture which is a good thing but doesn't see pretending to drown somebody (i.e. waterboarding) as such. The guy is a match made in neo-con heaven for The Decider.

From RawStory:

"If water boarding is torture, torture is not constitutional," Mukasey said, claiming that he was not familiar with the specifics of the process.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) called that answer a "massive hedge," and he explained the specifics of the practice -- strapping down a detainee and pouring water over his face to simulate drowning. He asked if that practice would be considered constitutional.

"If it amounts to torture it is not constitutional," is all Mukasey would say.

Whitehouse scolded Mukasey, saying he was "very disappointed" in his "very semantic answer."

"Sorry," Mukasey mumbled.

Is "sorry" the new "I can't recall?" Does it really even matter if the Senate is going to confirm him no matter what he does or says? Senators Whitehouse and Leahy may look good during the hearings, but if Mukasey ends up holding the same shovel that Gonzales put down what difference does it make?