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Politics : Impeach George W. Bush -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Thomas M. who wrote (26649)	5/4/2004 3:31:02 PM
From: Thomas M.	Respond to of 93284

<<< Bush "plans to 'unleash' the CIA to perpetrate political assassinations, torture and a string of human rights violations," writes Raymond Ker of Middle East News, "...'physical interrogation' (read: torture) is recommended by the venerable Newsweek magazine; and George W Bush orders the institution of military tribunals for suspected terrorists in camera and without a jury." It appears this is what happened at Abu Ghraib -- the CIA and military intelligence were "unleashed" on those in the Iraq resistance (or simply suspected of being associated with the Iraqi resistance or maybe insulting viceroy Bremer's intelligence). 9/11 provided the CIA with a custom-made excuse to continue its gratuitous use of torture, either directly or through proxy. After the Senate Intelligence Committee conducted hearings on terrorism in December 2002, several CIA officers told Alasdair Palmer of the UK Telegraph that "they were in no doubt about what they would have to do: they would have to torture people ... The unanimity in American law-enforcement circles is striking. Torture is no longer simply a topic for debate. The debate has been won." At the Bagram air force base in Afghanistan, this debate is ancient history -- and there is absolutely no worry about human rights or the Geneva Convention as it pertains to prisoners of war. As the Washington Post reported in December 2002, the CIA routinely tortured al-Qaeda and Taliban suspects at Bagram -- interrogations resulting in at least two deaths. Cofer Black, the former director of the CIA's counter-terrorist branch, told a congressional intelligence committee at the time: "All you need to know: there was a before 9/11, and there was an after 9/11... After 9/11 the gloves come off." According to US officials responsible for capturing and detaining terrorist suspects, the only problem with torture is that the CIA was prevented from using it by fence-straddling lawmakers and a public without stomach. "If you don't violate someone's human rights some of the time, you probably aren't doing your job," an official told the Washington Post. >>> counterpunch.org