Bloodstar

How is the rot and corrosion in our souls feeling now? How does it feel to know that people were tortured… to death to make you feel safer? some of the people wanted to hurt us and some of them were just sheep herders who were turned in for the money. How does it feel to know that we tortured and killed people who had nothing to do with terror? To make you feel safer? How does it feel to know that we waterboarded people for so long, that they simply gave up and quit fighting, accepting death rather than struggling to live? Some of the people were bad people, and some of these people were innocent. Does it make you feel better knowing that innocent people died to make you feel like America was “doing something”?

The CIA’s waterboarding regimen was so excruciating, the memos show, that agency officials found themselves grappling with an unexpected development: detainees simply gave up and tried to let themselves drown. “In our limited experience, extensive sustained use of the waterboard can introduce new risks,” the CIA’s Office of Medical Services wrote in its 2003 memo. “Most seriously, for reasons of physical fatigue or psychological resignation, the subject may simply give up, allowing excessive filling of the airways and loss of consciousness.”

Do you look in the mirror in the morning? Do you accept the responsibility for what we did as a country?

the memos also reveal that the Bush-era Justice Department authorized the CIA to use it in combination with other forms of torture. Specifically, a detainee could be kept awake for more than seven days straight by shackling his hands in a standing position to a bolt in the ceiling so he could never sit down. The agency diapered and hand-fed its detainees during this period before putting them on the waterboard.

Was waterboarding just a little bit of water? meant to scare the victim? Do you still believe that trope?

One of the more interesting revelations in the documents is the use of a saline solution in waterboarding. Why? Because the CIA forced such massive quantities of water into the mouths and noses of detainees, prisoners inevitably swallowed huge amounts of liquid – enough to conceivably kill them from hyponatremia, a rare but deadly condition in which ingesting enormous quantities of water results in a dangerously low concentration of sodium in the blood.

…

Therefore, “based on advice of medical personnel,” Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Steven Bradbury wrote in a May 10, 2005, memo authorizing continued use of waterboarding, “the CIA requires that saline solution be used instead of plain water to reduce the possibility of hyponatremia.”

The agency used so much water there was also another risk: pneumonia resulting from detainees inhaling the fluid forced into their mouths and noses. Saline, the CIA argued, might reduce the risk of pneumonia when this occurred.

“The detainee might aspirate some of the water, and the resulting water in the lungs might lead to pneumonia,” Bradbury noted in the same memo. “To mitigate this risk, a potable saline solution is used in the procedure.”

And rather than confront the reality of what America has done, rather than understand what we permitted to happen, we respond with a yawn or a ‘they had it coming cause we know that all arabs are terrorists, even the sheep herders.’ or a shrug and bury our head in the sand, and proclaim how much better America is than anyone else, we wave our flags and show into the air about how we would never do these things, because we’re America, and even if we did do these things, well that’s ok, we’re America after all, and if we do it, it must be right.

So try to bury it, try to ignore it, try to put the stain on the very Soul of America out of your mind. if you’ll sleep better at night, then that’s your choice.

But I choose to look into the dark places of America’s heart, and I choose to fight to ensure that those dark places are illuminated. I believe in an America that *is* better than other countries, both in spirit and deed. And maybe people won’t be punished for torturing and murdering, but the more light we shine on what we let happen, then perhaps the next time someone considers adding more stains to America’s soul, they’ll choose the right path, the right choice, and not step into the darkness.

Tags: Criminal, Evil, Torture, bloodstar by bloodstar
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Sometimes the truth comes out despite their best efforts:

“What I told Brian Ross in late 2007 was wrong on a couple counts,” he writes. “I suggested that Abu Zubaydah had lasted only thirty or thirty-five seconds during his waterboarding before he begged his interrogators to stop; after that, I said he opened up and gave the agency actionable intelligence.”

But never mind, he says now.

“I wasn’t there when the interrogation took place; instead, I relied on what I’d heard and read inside the agency at the time.”

“Now we know,” Kiriakou goes on, “that Zubaydah was waterboarded eighty-three times in a single month, raising questions about how much useful information he actually supplied.”

Indeed. But after his one-paragraph confession, Kiriakou adds that he didn’t have any first hand knowledge of anything relating to CIA torture routines, and still doesn’t. And he claims that the disinformation he helped spread was a CIA dirty trick: “In retrospect, it was a valuable lesson in how the CIA uses the fine arts of deception even among its own.”

So, which do you believe, that Zubaydah gave all his actionable information before being tortured, and then was tortured repeatedly when they thought he was holding out, or that he held out on them until they tortured him for a month, and that the idea that Zubaydah only lasted a few seconds was put out there to minimize the perception of how evil things were and that really, torture isn’t so bad, as it only took a few seconds anyway. making it easier for the public to turn a blind eye?

The sad part? most people are going to turn a blind eye to everything because they don’t want to understand what evil people performed. And they want to think that it was necessary; that the ends justify the means. And it’s a heck of a lot easier to feel that way when you don’t have to confront the things that were done or confront the idea that maybe the evil that was done… had no effect. That the torture and rape and murder of people in captivity; and sure some of whom were evil people themselves, but some of whom were innocent of the accusations, made no material effect on the safety of the United States.

Has living in fear of the evil terrorists made America that willing to compromise their morals? And even worse, compromise it without any benefit?

Tags: Criminal, Evil, Torture, bloodstar by bloodstar
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It’s looking more and more likely the worst is true:

Three people were tortured and murdered in Gitmo in 2006, apparently by members of the US Military and then covered up. Two of which had been cleared by a tribunal and were scheduled to be released. The story to cover up their murder? They all decided to commit suicide around the same time by:

There is no explanation of how each of the detainees, much less all three, could have done the following: braided a noose by tearing up his sheets and/or clothing, made a mannequin of himself so it would appear to the guards he was asleep in his cell, hung sheets to block vision into the cell—a violation of Standard Operating Procedures, tied his feet together, tied his hands together, hung the noose from the metal mesh of ii the cell wall and/or ceiling, climbed up on to the sink, put the noose around his neck and released his weight to result in death by strangulation, hanged until dead and hung for at least two hours completely unnoticed by guards.

In a cell block with 28 prisoners, 24/7 guards and camera coverage.

Mind you, the rag stuffed down their throats as well is another source of confusion, let alone the bodies were returned to their families with their neck removed.

I’ve not written about this yet, because, honestly I was hoping to see some information that somehow there was something else going on. But the more I see on the story, the more I realize that something awful had happened, and continued to happen in Gitmo. But will enough people care? or is it too uncomfortable to contemplate that maybe there was some evil shit going on. Or worse yet, there may be a group of people who are ok with evil shit going on. That’s what scares me the most.

Tags: Criminal, Evil, Torture, bloodstar by bloodstar
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I’d figure they’d manage to destroy all the evidence by now…

The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) learned today of the existence of video and audio tapes of the abusive interrogations of client Mohammed al Qahtani, the victim of the “First Special Interrogation Plan” personally overseen by former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.

“After the intense scrutiny of the government’s torture and interrogation of Mr. al Qahtani, it is shocking that the government has hidden the existence of these tapes from the public for so many years,” said CCR Attorney Gitanjali S. Gutierrez. “The government’s interrogation of him has been the topic of multiple military, Justice Department and congressional investigations. These tapes should have been acknowledged long ago.”

Until recently, the Government had adamantly denied that any U.S. personnel engaged in acts of torture during Mr. al Qahtani’s interrogation, but on January 14, 2009, Military Commission Convening Authority Susan Crawford conceded that by subjecting Mr. al Qahtani to systematic 20-hour interrogations, prolonged sleep deprivation, 160 days of severe isolation, forced nudity, sexual and religious humiliation, and other aggressive interrogation tactics, the government had engaged in acts of torture. Much of this information appeared in interrogation logs leaked to the press as early as 2006

HT balloon-juice

Tags: Criminal, Evil, Torture, bloodstar by bloodstar
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I do:

Despite ruling out all of the government’s supposed eyewitnesses, and noting that the government had withdrawn “most of its reliance on these witnesses” by the time of the Merits Hearing, Judge Kollar-Kotelly added that “it is very significant that al-Rabiah’s interrogators apparently believed these allegations at the time they were made, and therefore sought to have al-Rabiah confess to them” — despite the well-chronicled unreliability of the first two supposed witnesses, the withdrawing of the statement made by the third, and the fact, easily perceived by the judge, that the fourth made his statement only after being subjected to sleep deprivation that exceeded established guidelines and that was, therefore, not only unreliable, but also abusive.

So, first we get people to lie about what someone has done, then we torture that person until they confess to the details the other people have lied about. Then, threaten that person with more torture if they try to tell the truth. You still don’t care?

al-Rabiah “did not know what to admit” when his interrogators explained that his “full confession did not incorporate a description concerning a suitcase full of money that he allegedly gave bin Laden”; they “began to question the truthfulness of his confessions almost immediately”; they “began ‘grilling’ al-Rabiah concerning [redacted]“; al-Rabiah “was interrogated [redacted] during which he made a full confession regarding his activities at Tora Bora”; interrogators “pressed for additional details concerning Tora Bora”; they “became increasingly convinced that his confessions [redacted]“; they “concluded in one interrogation report [redacted]“; “One week later, his interrogator concluded [redacted]“; “After several additional interrogation sessions, al-Rabiah’s interrogators concluded simply [redacted].”

Still not worried?

She then moved on to al-Rabiah’s own explanations of how he came to make false confessions, noting that he had stated that, shortly after his arrival at Guantánamo, “a senior [redacted] interrogator came to me and said, ‘There is nothing against you. But there is no innocent person here. So, you should confess to something so you can be charged and sentenced and serve your sentence and then go back to your family and country, because you will not leave this place innocent.”

You should be

Tags: Criminal, Evil, Torture, bloodstar by bloodstar
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I’m not sure what to think about this except to say that at least someone gets it, even if Gonzales did a lot of politicizing of the AG at least he recognizes now the need for independence in the AG department

n stark contrast to former Vice President Dick Cheney’s vigorous criticisms over the weekend of Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.’s reopening of investigations of CIA employees, Mr. Gonzales said Tuesday that Mr. Holder was correct to pay no heed to President Obama’s often-stated desire to look forward on the issue and instead to make a legal decision based on the facts.

A pity Gonzales didn’t believe that when it could have made a difference.

Tags: Criminal, Law, Political, Torture, bloodstar by bloodstar
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Joe Klein:

Dick Cheney has now accused the Obama Administration of politicizing the Justice Department…after his Administration criminalized the Justice Department.

Tags: Criminal, Political, Torture, bloodstar by bloodstar
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And this is what we do to people that in many cases had not committed a crime or were involved in activities against the United States, In otherwords, this is what we did to innocent people:

(1) mock executions; (2) threatened rape of family members; (3) threatened murder of children; (4) kicking and beating a detainee with a metal flashlight to death; (5) threatening naked hooded detainees with power drills; (6) blowing cigar smoke in detainees’ faces until they got sick; (7) waterboarding with massive volumes of water far beyond what OLC authorized (to make it “poignant”); (8) stress positions that nearly caused shoulder dislocations; (9) scraping detainees with stiff brushes; (10) choking a detainee with one’s bare hands until they nearly pass out; (11) subjecting detainees to extremely cold temperatures and water dousing; (12) “hard takedowns” (sometimes in diapers); and (13) beating detainees with butts of rifles (followed by kicking them).

Greenwald has more detailed information. But one thing that also struck me, is the idea that somehow the operatives doing this thought that they were just following orders is a meme going around, when in fact according to the CIA IG report, there were repeated concerns about being prosecuted later or being tried for War Crimes at some point down the road. We beat people to death, We drowned people, and they died, because they wouldn’t give up information. Information they didn’t have, because they didn’t know anything.

That so much of America doesn’t care, is an indication of how deep the cancer has spread. We must become better than this. and we must find a way to become better than this.

Tags: Criminal, Evil, Law, Torture, bloodstar by bloodstar
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And once again, Holder and crew miss the point. Torture should not happen under any circumstances, no matter how much we might *want* to do it. However satisfying it may be to torture. There is no gain made that can’t be done in other ways and the damage done to the soul of our country simply isn’t worth it. Don’t screw around with going after the excesses. Go after the people who twisted and lied to claim torture was a reasonable idea in the first place:

If U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder needs justification to follow his instincts and prosecute cases of alleged prisoner abuse during the Bush administration, the experts are saying today’s court-ordered release of a long-suppressed Inspector General report, coupled with a recommendation from Holder’s own ethics division, could push him over that edge.

The disclosures have been appearing in dribs and drabs for the last several days, with the papers-of-record highlighting dueling leaks. The New York Times was first to report that the Justice Department Office of Professional Responsibility has formally advised Holder he should open or reopen cases where illegal torture has been alleged against interrogators working for the CIA or its contractors.

Tags: Criminal, Evil, Law, Torture, bloodstar by bloodstar
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Now, what’s going to be the next move for Obama, Let the suit go forward, Invoke State Secrets, or Appeal?

In 2002, Justice Department lawyer John Yoo wrote a memo recommending that Jose Padilla, arrested in Chicago in the wake of 9/11 and held on suspicion of plotting a dirty-bomb attack, be classified as an enemy combatant. Yoo also wrote memos arguing that American law does not prevent the president from ordering such enemy combatants tortured. This January, after enduring years of abuse in prison, Padilla sued Yoo for violating his constitutional rights.

And a week ago, Judge Jeffrey White ruled that Padilla’s allegations were plausible enough to justify denying Yoo’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit. White was appointed by George W. Bush the year Yoo was writing his memos.

How much is Padilla suing for? $1.00

Tags: Criminal, Evil, Law, Torture, bloodstar by bloodstar
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just how bad things became, just how far down into the abyss things went with detainees and prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan, just not yet:

Congressional efforts to pass a new law that would bar the court-ordered public release of an array of U.S. Army photos apparently showing severe abuse of terrorist detainees appears to have broken down. That may clear the way for the Obama Administration to go ahead with plans to seek the same result through an appeal to the Supreme Court — an effort that probably would not get the Court’s attention until its next Term starting Oct. 5.

The timing has been stretched out in the wake of an order Thursday by the Second Circuit Court putting on hold its earlier ruling requiring disclosure of the photos under the federal Freedom of Information Act.

The Second Circuit Court ruled last September that the photos, showing images of mistreating detainees in Iraq and Afghanistan, must be released. President Obama had initially agreed to let the photos emerge publicly, but changed his mind on the advice of military leaders who said release would inflame passions in those two countries and endanger U.S. troops there.

While I understand the need to protect the troops and yadda yadda, I think it’s a weak argument. Giving in and saying that our troops, our people, behaved so abhorrently that we must hide the evidence of their abuse lest it really upset people is to encourage future episodes of mistreatment and abuse. Covering up evil only encourages more evil to occur.

I hope the Supreme Court understands and recognizes the importance of openness and permits the photos to be released so America can look at itself and ask, “Is this what we want to become?”

Tags: Criminal, Evil, Political, Torture, bloodstar by bloodstar
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… Like to take things to their logical extreme:

Metropolitan Police officers subjected suspects to waterboarding, according to allegations at the centre of a major anti-corruption inquiry, The Times has learnt.

The torture claims are part of a wide-ranging investigation which also includes accusations that officers fabricated evidence and stole suspects’ property. It has already led to the abandonment of a drug trial and the suspension of several police officers.

At least the Times is calling it torture.

Tags: Criminal, Torture, bloodstar by bloodstar
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Greenwald tells us:

House leaders and the White House were forced to remove the Graham-Lieberman photo suppression amendment from the war supplemental spending bill, because widespread opposition to that amendment among progressive House Democrats was jeopardizing passage of the spending bill.

Maybe they will find a way to sneak it in through another back door, but they only thing Obama, Graham and Lieberman are doing with this is weakening the fabric that makes America exceptional. Don’t let evil remain hidden under the guise of security.

Tags: Evil, Political, Torture, bloodstar by bloodstar
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Matthew Yglesias Has it dead on in his column:

But in their zeal to score a tactical win, the right has made a truth commission more likely not less likely. Obama wanted to avoid a backward-looking focus on torture in part because it distracted from his legislative agenda. But if we’re going to be looking backward anyway, thanks to conservatives’ insistence on complaining about Pelosi, then the move forward strategy lacks a rationale. And far from forcing a standoff in which Pelosi will abandon her support for an investigation, the right has forced her into a corner from which she can’t give in to moderate Democrats’ opposition to such a move without looking like she’s cravenly attempting to save her own skin.

So, yes, please keep hammering on Pelosi, If she’s guilty, nail her to the wall, but I also want to make sure all the guilty parties are nailed to the wall for betraying the fabric of our country in such a fundamental way.

Tags: Criminal, Evil, Political, Torture, bloodstar by bloodstar
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Nah, because we all know only Democrats do:

My investigations have revealed to me–vividly and clearly–that once the Abu Ghraib photographs were made public in the Spring of 2004, the CIA, its contractors, and everyone else involved in administering “the Cheney methods of interrogation”, simply shut down. Nada. Nothing. No torture or harsh techniques were employed by any U.S. interrogator. Period. People were too frightened by what might happen to them if they continued.

After all, if stopping torture now is such a great danger according to Cheney himself, then what does that imply about their public posturing now?

Tags: Criminal, Evil, Torture, bloodstar by bloodstar
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