torture - the story so far

[SDR]

Such as. . .?

[Kevin]

A telling commentary on the grotesque current U.S. practice of torture outsourcing, referred to as "extraordinary rendition".

It's Called Torture
Bob Herbert
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/28/opinion/28herbert.html

"As a nation, does the United States have a conscience? Or is anything and everything O.K. in post-9/11 America? If torture and the denial of due process are O.K., why not murder? When the government can just make people vanish - which it can, and which it does - where is the line that we, as a nation, dare not cross?

"When I interviewed Maher Arar in Ottawa last week, it seemed clear that however thoughtful his comments, I was talking with the frightened, shaky successor of a once robust and fully functioning human being. Torture does that to a person. It's an unspeakable crime, an affront to one's humanity that can rob you of a portion of your being as surely as acid can destroy your flesh.

"Mr. Arar, a Canadian citizen with a wife and two young children, had his life flipped upside down in the fall of 2002 when John Ashcroft's Justice Department, acting at least in part on bad information supplied by the Canadian government, decided it would be a good idea to abduct Mr. Arar and ship him off to Syria, an outlaw nation that the Justice Department honchos well knew was addicted to torture.

"Mr. Arar was not charged with anything, and yet he was deprived not only of his liberty, but of all legal and human rights. He was handed over in shackles to the Syrian government and, to no one's surprise, promptly brutalized. A year later he emerged, and still no charges were lodged against him. His torturers said they were unable to elicit any link between Mr. Arar and terrorism. He was sent back to Canada to face the torment of a life in ruins."

From: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/28/opinion/28herbert.html


See also, the powerful story of one terrible particle from the legacy of Geneva Convention violations long-past:

The Lost Soldiers of Stalag IX-B
Roger Cohen
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/27/magazine/27PRISON.html

[Donald]

The Bush Administration has released about a two-inch stack of documents detailing the administration's position on torture. The documents cite the administration's legal position that terrorist detainees are not covered under the Geneva Convention. ...

[SDR]

Why would anyone who has been paying attention, think for one moment that the US government, as presently constituted, would abide by any limitations, stated or otherwise, in the pursuit of its goals? And why would any experienced enemy combatant expect them to do so?

Such reassurances as are sought by the well-meaning are good only as a palliative. Brutality begets brutality. While no-one will condone terrorism, the truth unfortunately is that our "interests" have taken us to places owned and ocupied by others; to have expected only compliance from those occupants was naive, at best. The history is that the West has been messing around in the Mid-east for the past century-and-a-half; how long was that expected to go on, unchallenged? Have we some divinely-ordained right to be there? Do our industrial imperatives trump all else?

The self-image of America as Good and (potentially) all others as Evil is a ludicrous and dangerous self-delusion; its childish, chest-thumping proponents have led us into peril. To proclaim that our primary interest is "the spreading of freedom" is a hideous and ironic lie.

SDR

[Donald]

SDR Wrote:

[Kevin]

Can't look up the word yourself? Just too hard? Mental block? Maybe this relatively gentle definition will help:

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

"Plagiarism refers to the use of another's ideas, information, language, or writing, when done without proper acknowledgment of the original source. It may also include an element of dishonesty relating to an attempt to pass off the plagiarised work as original."

[Donald]

Brace yourself for another prose-a-thon. Again, folks, its the template at work....without showing any sort of evidence. If the story is perceived as hurting the left ... therefore it is going to get hammered yet again (its called redacted? in the DC forum)... all except for that part which says that "We are free to do whatever we want with terrorists that attack the United States of America. They have no rights. Zippo.....I wonder why? "

[SDR]

Tom Lehrer:

". . .Plagiarize, plagiarize, let no one else's work evade your eyes,

but plagiarize (don't shade your eyes), just plagiarize, plagiarize,

PLAGIARIZE! (But be sure always to call it, please, 'research'. . .!)"

[Donald]

Again folks, it's the
"Template"
definition: something that establishes or serves as a pattern

and

Evidence-
definition: something that furnishes proof....

[SDR]

"Suit Alleges Rumsfeld Approved Torture" (Reuters)

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1896&e=3&u=/nm/20050301/us_nm/iraq_

SDR

[SDR]

That's:

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1896&e=3&u=/nm/20050301/us_nm/iraq_abuse_rumsfeld_dc

SDR

[SDR]

Today's updates on the story of torture, its cover-up, and the reaction of concerned military lraders:

"The Pentagon's Secret Stash of Torture Photos"
www.truthout.org/docs_2005/040105Z.shtml

"We Can't Remain Silent"
www.truthout.org/docs_2005/040105Y.shtml

SDR