ThinkFast: September 21, 2006
ThinkFast: September 21, 2006
Attorney General Gonzales defended U.S. actions that led to a Canadian citizen being falsely imprisoned, rendered to Syria, and tortured. “Well, we were not responsible for his removal to Syria,” Gonzales said. “I’m not aware that he was tortured.” In an “embarrassing turnabout,” a Justice Dept. official later “backed away” from Gonzales’ remarks.
“The number of civilians slain in Iraq reached an unprecedented level in July and August, which saw 6,599 violent deaths,” a new U.N. report shows. Researchers also noted “the growth of sectarian militias and death squads, and a rise in ‘honor killings’ of women.”
25: Percentage of Americans who approve of the job Congress is doing. “[M]ost said they could not name a single major piece of legislation that cleared this Congress.”
Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH), who has pled guilty to selling his votes for tens of thousands of dollars, “will be eligible to receive his congressional pension after he serves his prison sentence.” Congress has failed to pass a measure proposed this summer to deny pensions to members convicted of a felony.
“Despite the firm opposition of the Pentagon and ecumenical chaplain groups,” right-wing members of Congress are trying to include a provision in a defense spending bill that would “license zealot chaplains to violate policies of religious tolerance at secular ceremonies.”
“An Army of None”: Senior Army and Marine Corps officers are warning “that without a reduction in Iraq, the present schedule of combat tours would be difficult to sustain without an increase in the number of forces.” “You can start seeing the [effect of deployments] on the leadership of the active force,” one official said.
CIA officials say President Bush had to empty the agency’s secret prison network this month “because interrogators had refused to continue their work until the legal situation was clarified because they were concerned they could be prosecuted for using illegal techniques.”
“Four government auditors who monitor leases for oil and gas on federal property say the Interior Department suppressed their efforts” to recover more than $30 million from energy companies they said were cheating the government.
And finally: Everyone’s a critic, including the FBI. A new documentary reveals FBI informants who conducted extensive surveillance on John Lennon often took notes on the “artistic merits” of his new music. “Lacking Lennon’s usual standards,” one agent reported. “Yoko can’t even remain on key.”
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Attorney General Gonzales defended U.S. actions that led to a Canadian citizen being falsely imprisoned, rendered to Syria, and tortured. “Well, we were not responsible for his removal to Syria,†Gonzales said. “I’m not aware that he was tortured.â€
So a 20 page report given to Amenesty Intl and the government but the Justice Dept and Gonzalez don’t know about it….What the hell are they wiretapping reruns of 24?
Below is the testimony (only a small segment here) of Jumah al-Dossari, which he wrote in July 2005 in the US detention facility at Guantánamo Bay naval base, Cuba. The hand written testimony was given to Amnesty International by Jumah al-Dossari’s civilian lawyer.
There was a group of soldiers whose emblem and badge was 9/4. These soldiers were the most detestable and abusive and abused our rights…There were other groups as well who all had the same hate for us. They would deploy the ERFs for the most trivial matter so that there was an excuse to attack us and vent their secret hate with the blessing of their officers in charge. If they went into the cage of a detainee, his blood would be sure to flow or they would break his bones; seldom would they exit without injuring the defenceless detainee. Perhaps I will mention some of the incidents I saw myself here. They went to a detainee and put his head in the toilet. The toilets in Camp Delta are iron, Turkish-style toilets and then they flushed his head down the toilet until he almost died. They went to a detainee and started beating his head against the toilet rim until he lost consciousness and he could not see for more than 10 hours. He suffered facial spasms as a result. They went to a detainee when he was praying the maghrib (sunset) prayer and beat him severely. That was in isolation block I India. On that same day, they came and beat me. At that time, we were angry because the duty chief supervisor cursed Allah and banged on the doors of our cells and said, “Merry Christmas”; that was on Christmas day 2002. There were many, many attempts to gouge the eyes of the detainees and to hit them in their private parts. They would beat them when they were ill and would hit them on their injuries. One detainee, called Abdul Aziz Al-Masri, was ill and was asleep in the hospital. These soldiers went and beat him very badly in the hospital in front of the doctors and nurses. His injuries were excessive and caused his spine to break. He is now hemiplegic. They are now trying to operate on him but he is refusing out of fear that they will play with his back and make it worse rather than make it better as their operations often do. These kinds of incidents happen often. They would make sending them to the detainees an excuse for incidents in which we would suffer extensive injuries, severe disfiguration and fractures as there was no one monitoring or following up their actions. Rather, their officers and officials gave them the orders. They tortured the detainees in the name of the law. There are too many incidents to mention or even count. Perhaps those I have mentioned are enough because many of these incidents have been mentioned in the media.
September 21st, 2006 at 9:10 amCongress has failed to pass a measure proposed this summer to deny pensions to members convicted of a felony.
Well of course Congress failed to pass this measure — this is just the repukelican Congress protecting all the felons and soon-to-be felons that they sit next to every day on their side of the aisle…
September 21st, 2006 at 9:24 amCalif. sues over auto emissions
…Lockyer said he filed the suit because the automakers and the federal government have failed to address global warming.
“We can’t wait another 10 years,” he said. “It is time to hold these companies responsible for their contribution to this crisis.”
…
The Alliance for Automotive Manufacturers, a trade group…blasted the lawsuit.
“We take exception with the argument that the automakers aren’t doing enough,”… “Nothing could be further from the truth.”
…
we shall see…
September 21st, 2006 at 9:26 amRE: Ney. Why is it that no one seems to know that Bob Ney served as best man when GOP Rep. Steve Latourette married his former chief of staff/lobbyist girlfriend? Seems to me this should have come out at the time of the nuptials.
September 21st, 2006 at 9:30 amAhmadinejad Talks to U.S. Think Tank
NEW YORK — Iran’s hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad broke away from events at the U.N. General Assembly to hold an informal question-and-answer session with high-powered members of America’s most prestigious foreign policy think tank _ despite objections from some Jewish groups and the Bush administration.
…
why would they object? SOMEBODY needs to talk with him…
September 21st, 2006 at 9:39 am“because interrogators had refused to continue their work until the legal situation was clarified because they were concerned they could be prosecuted for using illegal techniques.â€
Ha! Imagine the hooded guy with an axe in the medieval times not wanting to chop the head of the prisoner due to its labor uncertainty.
September 21st, 2006 at 9:45 amTorturers, not Interrogators, should be under trial. All of them. What is the face they do when their kids ask them whats their work?
Time Magazine Says War On Iran Soon
Thursday 21st of September 2006
by Jay Randal
The Time magazine cover article this week: “WHAT WAR WITH IRAN WOULD LOOK LIKE (And how to avoid it)” claims a US attack on Iran is imminent.
The article claims that 6 US Naval vessels have been given “Prepare To Deploy Order,” for October 1st, to steam to the Persian Gulf region for classified mission.
An Aegis-class Destroyer, a nuclear Submarine, and 4 support vessels capable of mine sweeping operations, so are they being sent to take part in attack on Iran?
US Aircraft Carriers, and other misc. vessels, are in the region already on standby, which means either the ships are there for a high stakes bluff or war on Iran?
Pres. George W. Bush believes he has authorization to attack Iran, whenever he so chooses, hence no need to go to the Congress for approval, nor condemnation?
Will anyone in the House, and Senate, try to prevent this grotesque folly from taking place this October?
Everyone must call or fax their Representatives and Senators to demand an end to Bush aggression!
( Jay Randal, political activist and writer in Stone Mountain, Georgia.)
September 21st, 2006 at 9:49 am“Well, we were not responsible for his removal to Syria,†Gonzales said. “I’m not aware that he was tortured.â€
Sounds a lot like Cheney’s “I haven’t seen the report.” response.
Whenever there’s documented evidence of Administration wrongdoing, they bury their head in the sand and refuse to look.
‘Nobody could have foreseen the levies breaking…’
‘Nobody could have predicted sectarian violence…’
‘I said they acted in concert, but I didn’t say it was an operational connection.’
‘The facts were being fixed around the policy of going to war.’
September 21st, 2006 at 9:58 amWell said, Juan, on this and the previous thread.
Good morning!
September 21st, 2006 at 9:59 amSorry, Juan, I meant the thread above. :}
September 21st, 2006 at 10:00 amJay, Bush can commit troops for up to 90 days before having to report to Congress. All Congress can do is cut military appropriations. Think this Republican controlled congress is going to take any serious action against the fuhrer? They’re moving his wiretapping bill through, and the bill on Military Commissions is still alive….
September 21st, 2006 at 10:01 am#5 we do not want to talk with anybody, and we do nto want anybody to talk with anyone we determine to be a foe. We simply want to dictate our terms and have them be accepted sight unseen. That is our new diplomatic negotiating style.
September 21st, 2006 at 10:11 amPost 11 Faire > Bush is treading on thin ice, if he attacks Iran, but Dubya no longer seems to care what the Congress thinks about it! The House and Senate should impeach him immediately, but they most likely do NOT have the guts to do it, so be prepared for WWIII to begin soon?!
September 21st, 2006 at 10:13 amBriseadh na Faire,
Somebody had to sign a paper getting that guy over to Syria, and I’ll bet you $1,000,000 it wasn’t Gonzales, he would have made sure of that. It’s disgusting.
September 21st, 2006 at 10:17 amhuh… i’ll try this again, third time, this time no links… wonder if/why TP doesn’t like this story?
U.S. Health-Care System Gets a “D”
A new report from the Commonwealth Fund points out shameful inconsistencies and inadequacies in the care given in the richest nation
The U.S. health-care system is doing poorly by virtually every measure. That’s the conclusion of a national report card on the U.S. health-care system, released Sept. 20. Although there are pockets of excellence…
…
this from businessweek.com, also forbes, others… from google news…
September 21st, 2006 at 10:17 amThe Republicans know damn well what is going to happen once the Democrats get in power: Impeachment hearings and prosecutions. Unless the Republicans can change the law quickly, they will be dead as a party, people will be bringing up Clinton, but as an example of trumped up charges, bias in the media will be covered, at about the same time that the pundits’ bank accounts start getting looked at a little more closely, it will be two years of scandal after scandal after scandal as each crooked deal, each war crime and each act of immorality gets served up to the American people.
And the Republicans are scared. They know everything they did, they know every insult they launched, every time they tried to make out that they were the “Party of responsibility” or the “Party of god.” They know that they are not clean, and that after all they have done to the Democrats in the way of lying, cheating and mudslinging comes out, that a lot of them are going to be spending a lot of time in jail.
And they know they are going to lose the midterms, and not just in the places the press is telling you are heavily contested. They need to change some laws quick, or there will never be another Republican President in America.
September 21st, 2006 at 10:22 am“It reported that based on inaccurate information from Canada about Mr. Arar’s supposed terrorist ties, American officials ordered him taken to Syria … In September 2002, as he changed planes at Kennedy International Airport in New York on his way home to Canada, he was detained because his name was on a terrorist watch list. His name was included on the basis of incorrect information from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police that he was linked to Al Qaeda,”
Terrible story….But clearly it was the Canadian’s fault.
September 21st, 2006 at 10:27 amExley
Canada was at fault for the guy’s capture. America, for what happened next. Click the link and read the article.
September 21st, 2006 at 10:30 amTerrible story….But clearly it was the Canadian’s fault.
Comment by Exley
Who was torturing him…?
Anyone playing baseball today? Maybe there’s a game you could watch.
September 21st, 2006 at 10:31 am“Despite the firm opposition of the Pentagon and ecumenical chaplain groups,†right-wing members of Congress are trying to include a provision in a defense spending bill that would “license zealot chaplains to violate policies of religious tolerance at secular ceremonies.â€
Could it be any more obvious: you become what you hate.
September 21st, 2006 at 10:37 amZooey,
The Syrians were torturing him….
Nah, Mets don’t play until 7:00 tonight…You have me for the whole day until then!
September 21st, 2006 at 10:40 amCIA officials say President Bush had to empty the agency’s secret prison network this month “because interrogators had refused to continue their work until the legal situation was clarified because they were concerned they could be prosecuted for using illegal techniques.â€
I guess they’d gotten wise after seeing a few soldiers and marines get convicted.
September 21st, 2006 at 10:49 amTerrible story….But clearly it was the Canadian’s fault.
“Blame Canada.” See what happens when you watch too much South Park, Exley?
September 21st, 2006 at 10:52 am#23,
Actually more a “Family Guy” / “Futurama” fan, Zippy…
September 21st, 2006 at 11:04 amRiddle me this:
Who is the man wanted in connection with the bombing of a passenger plane, killing 73 people?
September 21st, 2006 at 11:37 amHe was detained making an illegal border crossing from Mexico in 2005
His request for extradition form the US, supported by three countries who lost citizens in the bombing (and at least one who didn’t) appears to have been denied by the US. What was the reason given by the Texas court?
Terrible story….But clearly it was the Canadian’s fault.
Comment by Exley — September 21, 2006 @ 10:27 am
you can make a comment like that if you arrest and detain the guy, you can’t make that statement if you beat him daily, transfer himn to a country you know will electrofy his balls. The statement you can make if you send him to a country that tortures is the Administration TORTURES people and will face justice, in November, which is why Bush is running to get retroactive pardoning for the felonies he has commited.
September 21st, 2006 at 11:39 am“Attorney General Gonzales defended U.S. actions that led to a Canadian citizen being falsely imprisoned, rendered to Syria, and tortured. “Well, we were not responsible for his removal to Syria,†Gonzales said. “I’m not aware that he was tortured.†In an “embarrassing turnabout,†a Justice Dept. official later “backed away†from Gonzales’ remarks.”
Last night I saw these quotes from Gonzales on the News Hour and could not believe how easily they can lie. To Lehrer’s credit, he did follow this with statements from a Canadian offical that clearly contradicted Gonzales.
September 21st, 2006 at 11:57 amTerry, isn’t that guy’s name Padilla or something like that and the U.S. is blocking his extradiction ?. Why I don’t know… Not enough coffee this morning….Blessings
September 21st, 2006 at 12:05 pm#28, jackpot Sharon. Good morning to you. Here is your prize – the BBC news story from September 11th – great day to bury a story like that. And yes, the US refused to extradite a suspected terrorist, identified by several countries because they thought he ‘might be tortured’. One country’s terrorist is another country’s CIA agent, eh?
September 21st, 2006 at 12:11 pm“A DAY IN THE LIFE OF JOE REPUBLICANâ€
Joe gets up at 6 a.m. and fills his coffeepot with water to prepare his morning coffee. The water is clean and good because some tree-hugging liberal fought for minimum water-quality standards. With his first swallow of water, he takes his daily medication. His medications are safe to take because some stupid commie liberal fought to ensure their safety and that they work as advertised.
All but $10 of his medications are paid for by his employer’s medical plan because some liberal union workers fought their employers for paid medical insurance – now Joe gets it too.
He prepares his morning breakfast, bacon and eggs. Joe’s bacon is safe to eat because some girly- man liberal fought for laws to regulate the meat packing industry.
In the morning shower, Joe reaches for his shampoo. His bottle is properly labeled with each ingredient and its amount in the total contents because some crybaby liberal fought for his right to know what he was putting on his body and how much it contained.
Joe dresses, walks outside and takes a deep breath. The air he breathes is clean because some environmentalist wacko liberal fought for the laws to stop industries from polluting our air.
He walks on the government-provided sidewalk to the subway station for his government-subsidized ride to work. It saves him considerable money in parking and transportation costs because some fancy-pants liberal fought for affordable public transportation, which gives everyone the opportunity to be a contributor.
Joe begins his work day. He has a good job with excellent pay, medical benefits, retirement, paid holidays and vacation because some lazy liberal union members fought and died for these working standards. Joe’s employer pays these standards because Joe’s employer doesn’t want his employees to call the union.
If Joe is hurt on the job or becomes unemployed, he’ll get a worker compensation or an unemployment check because some stupid liberal didn’t think he should lose his home because of his temporary misfortune.
It is noontime and Joe needs to make a bank deposit so he can pay some bills. Joe’s deposit is federally insured by the FSLIC because some godless liberal wanted to protect Joe’s money from unscrupulous bankers who ruined the banking system before the Great Depression.
Joe has to pay his Fannie Mae-underwritten mortgage and his below-market federal student loan because some elitist liberal decided that Joe and the country would be better off if he was educated and earned more money over his lifetime. Joe also forgets that his in addition to his federally subsidized student loans, he attended a state-funded university.
Joe is home from work. He plans to visit his father this evening at his farm home in the country. He gets in his car for the drive. His car is among the safest in the world because some America-hating liberal fought for car safety standards to go along with the tax- payer funded roads.
He arrives at his boyhood home. His was the third generation to live in the house financed by Farmers’ Home Administration because bankers didn’t want to make rural loans.
The house didn’t have electricity until some big- government liberal stuck his nose where it didn’t belong and demanded rural electrification.
He is happy to see his father, who is now retired. His father lives on Social Security and a union pension because some wine-drinking, cheese-eating liberals made sure Dad could take care of himself so Joe wouldn’t have to.
Joe gets back in his car for the ride home, and turns on a radio talk show. The radio host keeps saying that liberals are bad and conservatives are good. He doesn’t mention that the beloved Republicans have fought against every protection and benefit Joe enjoys throughout his day. Joe agrees: “We don’t need those big-government liberals ruining our lives! After all, I’m a self-made man who believes everyone should take care of himself, just like I have.â€-
September 21st, 2006 at 12:21 pmYep! Terry, I got the name wrong I guess but not the person or event’s…..He was the guy a bunch of us were patitioning the U.S. to extradite to be held for his crimes in the countries he comitted the crimes against….Some times I sign and join in on so many thing’s I forget the name’s, never forget a face or issue though.. Geeees I just hit on something…Can we extradite bull shit and his bunch to Iraq so they can prosacute them all for war crimes.? I can only wish it were true….Blessings
September 21st, 2006 at 12:36 pmHey Exley:
It’s called “aiding and abetting,” you troll. If the U.S. knowingly sends someone they imprisoned to a country that regularly tortures, they are included in the criminal ramifactions of those actions.
See Extraordinary Rendition.
September 21st, 2006 at 12:41 pmWahooo, Madashell, Great post…..Blessings
September 21st, 2006 at 12:41 pm#31 Mind you, Jose Padilla – US citizen held without charge or access to counsel for 3 years in defiance of 800 years of habeas corpus common law…..that’s still a name to pay attention to. Unfortunately, the Iraqi government has no power to prosecute any of the Coalition forces, the soldiers, the ex-apartheid era South African mercenaries, Custer-Battles, Blackwater… so don’t expect any Iraqi trials for Haditha etc anytime soon. Come to think of it the US has no legal control over the mercenaries either…
September 21st, 2006 at 12:44 pmYep!, Now I remember….Need to keep a file to refer to….Padilla is the one we have been demanding get councel…Right.? Did some work on both these guy’s in the past…..Blessings
September 21st, 2006 at 12:52 pmMadashell, I think I am going to save that one.
September 21st, 2006 at 1:15 pmfrom the International Convention on Torture:
Article 3
From the Wikipedia article on Syria:
Human rights
Main article: Human rights in Syria
It looks like an arguable case against the United States for a violation of the International Convention on Torture.
September 21st, 2006 at 1:19 pmGonzales has a very convenient memory. When he doesn’t lie outright, he simply “mixes” up the time line. Or he “forgets.” Or he “didn’t read it.” He is a smart-aleck attorney who knows he has Bush at his back.
September 21st, 2006 at 2:28 pmA DAY IN THE LIFE…
kudos, madashell!
September 21st, 2006 at 3:23 pm[...] Think Progress [...]
September 21st, 2006 at 5:29 pmmadashell
September 21st, 2006 at 6:39 pmThat was one of the best teaching stories about political ideology I’ve ever seen. Bravo! Save it and launch it when the trolls hit the beaches. I don’t think any of us progressives would object to seeing it everyday.
Test
September 21st, 2006 at 11:51 pmPass
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