Showing posts with label shame. Show all posts
Showing posts with label shame. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

We don't deserve a July 4th

Oh, I have no doubt the Makins and Hewitts and their ilk will howl over this column: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/chris_satullo/20080701_Chris_Satullo__A_not-so-glorious_Fourth.html

But Satullo is right.

After all, as the New York Times reports, we took our cue straight from the Chicoms: http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/07/02/america/02detain.php

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

"If the detainee dies, you're doing it wrong"

From Spencer Ackerman: http://www.washingtonindependent.com/view/if-the-detainee-dies

Levin just laid out a timeline for how we got from Geneva-compliant interrogations pre-9/11 to the torture of Guantanamo Bay. A key step came in early October 2002, when a lawyer for the CIA's Counterterrorist Center, Jonathan Fredman, visited Guantanamo to discuss "aggressive" techniques for interrogation. Fredman explained "the wet towel technique," according to unclassified minutes of his meeting with senior Guantanamo commanders -- also known as waterboarding.
Discussing what the law permitted when it comes to interrogation, Levin, quoting from the minutes, Fredman said: "It is basically subject to perception. If the detainee dies, you're doing it wrong."
The response, from Guantanamo chief of staff, Lt. Col. Diane Beaver: "We'll need documentation to protect us."
By early 2003, following a working group at the Pentagon, Donald Rumsfeld provided exactly that. Cry the beloved country.

Slate - Encyclopedia Baracktannica