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Embedded Torture

Investigative journalist Dahr Jamail, who spent eight months in Iraq, has a long article today in Mother Jones on how the Bush Administration has embedded torture as policy in Iraq and Guantanamo.

Testimony from Afghan prisons and Guantanamo, the photos and video from Abu Ghraib, evidence of extraordinary renditions to the far corners of the planet -- all of this doesn't even encompass the full reach of Bush administration torture policies or the degree to which they have been set in motion at the highest levels of the American government. But what simply can't be clearer is this: horrific methods of torture have been used regularly against detainees in U.S. custody in countries around the globe, while an American President, Vice President and Secretary of Defense, among others, openly advocated policies that, until recently, would have been considered torture in any democratic country.

In the meantime, the Bush Administration has twisted the law just enough to allow authorities to potentially pick up more or less anyone they desire at any time they want to be held wherever the government decides for as long as its officials desire with no access to lawyer or trial -- and now, for the first time, the possibility has arisen, at least in the military trials in Guantanamo, that testimony obtained by torture will be admissible.

The techniques used at different facilities in different countries were remarkably similar. Jamail writes:

When I interviewed Ali Abbas in Iraq, his descriptions from Abu Ghraib bore a remarkable similarity to those given by detainees released from the American prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and from the little noticed American mini-gulag in Afghanistan.

"They sh*t on us, used dogs against us, used electricity and starved us," he told me. "They cut my hair into strips like an Indian. They shaved my mustache, put a plate in my hand, and made me go beg from the prisoners, as if I was a beggar."

Lawyers at the Center for Constitutional Rights in New York in a statement on the detention experiences of three men they represent who were held in both Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay reveal, for example, similarly over-the-top treatment. And such treatment long preceded anything recorded at Abu Ghraib. Starvation rations were common and, in Sherbegan Prison in Afghanistan in December, 2001, one of the detainees, Shafiq Rasul, described the situation as follows:

"We all had body and hair lice. We got dysentery and the toilets were disgusting. It was just a hole in the ground with sh*t everywhere. The whole prison stank of shit and unwashed bodies."

He would not be allowed to wash for at least six weeks. He would be transferred to a U.S. base in Kandahar and endure a "forced cavity search" while he was hooded, then go on to suffer countless beatings. When he was later transferred to Guantanamo Bay, he would witness the "Guantanamo haircut" where men would either have their heads shaved completely or have a cross shaved into their head in order to insult their faith. Denial of medical care and long stays in solitary confinement, along with sleep deprivation tactics, were the norm.

Jamail also reports on statements by former Brigadier Janis Karpinski (who believes the torture was authorized by Rumsfeld) and Criag Murray, British Ambassador to Uzbekistan from 2002 to 2004. Murray publicized information on CIA extraordinary renditions to Uzbekistan and the torture the detainees were subjected to by the Uzbek Secret Service, for which he was fired.

Murray describes the close connection between Bush and Uzbek "strong man" Islam Karimov. They go way back to Bush's days as Governor. Rumsfeld is close with Karimov as well and Karimov was Bush's guest at the White House in 2004. Jamail says Murray and many others describe Karimov as "one of the most vicious dictators on the planet, a man personally responsible for the death of thousands."

The ambassador helped uncover evidence of one detainee who "had had his fingernails extracted, he had been severely beaten, particularly about the face, and he died of immersion in boiling liquid. And it was immersion, rather than splashing, because there is a clear tide mark around the upper torso and arms, which gives you some idea of the level of brutality of this regime."

That detainee may or may not have been one turned over to the Uzbeks by the CIA. But, Murray says:

"There is no doubt that George Bush and Condoleezza Rice have been lying through their teeth about extraordinary rendition for some time." As he put it, "The United States, as a matter of policy, is willing to accept intelligence got by torture by foreign agencies. I can give direct firsthand evidence of that and back it up with documents."

Michael Ratner, President of the Center for Constitutional Rights, testifed at an Inquiry on Torture (as did Karpinski.) Ratner said,

"Let there be no doubt this administration is engaged in massive violations of the law. Torture is an international crime. What [George Bush] has done is basically lay the plan for what has to be called a coup-d'état in America. [His Presidential Signing Statement attached to the McCain anti-torture amendment] makes three points... First, speaking as the President, my authority as commander in chief allows me to do whatever I think is necessary in the war on terror including use torture. Second, the Commander in Chief cannot be checked by Congress. Third, the Commander in Chief cannot be checked by the courts. In other words... George Bush is the law."

More on the embedding of torture into CIA and Bush Administration policy can be found in Alfred McCoy's new book, A Question of Torture:

"Since the start of the war on terror, the intelligence community, led by the CIA, has revived the use of torture, making it Washington's weapon of choice," writes Alfred McCoy in his new book, A Question of Torture.

Remember this photo? McCoy says:

"In that photograph you can see the entire 50-year history of CIA torture," McCoy told Amy Goodman in a Democracy Now! interview. "It's very simple. He's hooded for sensory disorientation, and his arms are extended for self-inflicted pain. And those are the two very simple fundamental techniques" that, as his book makes vividly clear, the CIA pioneered in breakthrough research on torture, funded to the tune of billions of dollars in the 1950s. In his book, he adds: "The photographs from Iraq illustrate standard interrogation practice inside the global gulag of secret CIA prisons that have operated, on executive authority, since the start of the war on terror."

McCoy, a professor of history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, also explains his theory in this 2004 San Francisco Chronicle op-ed and in the somewhat longer article, The CIA's Road to Abu Ghraib. Also check out How Not to Ban Torture in Congress.

Bottom line according to Karpinski, McCoy, Murray, Ratner and others in a position to know: Torture is not only acceptable but engrained policy that has been authorized at the highest levels of our Government.

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    Re: Embedded Torture (none / 0) (#1)
    by squeaky on Mon Mar 06, 2006 at 08:27:26 PM EST
    ....at the highest levels of our Government. Well of course.... his last word is the signing statement on the McCain anti-torture bill. Signing Statements reflect, not the law, but the way we do things round chere.

    Re: Embedded Torture (none / 0) (#2)
    by Edger on Mon Mar 06, 2006 at 10:23:41 PM EST
    I have tried for twenty minutes to write a reasonable cogent emotionally detached comment on this post, but find that I cannot. The revulsion it raises in my makes me want to vomit. It absolutely and thoroughly sickens me and disgusts me to the core of my being, and causes an cold fury to crawl up my spine at the thought that anyone, anyone, could support this kind of behavior by a so called leader. The chain of command, of accountability, and of ultimate responsibility for these horrors rests on the shoulders of one man: george w bush. But he is not responsible alone. Every single person who, in the knowledge of these inhuman acts of his administration, supports this pathetic disgusting deceitful lying inhuman shriveled little excuse for a human being is equally responsible and deserves along with bush punishments equally as horrible as these crimes. I have never been one before this to, and will likely never again over any other issue, advocate the death penalty or "an eye for an eye" justice. But it is deserved by bush and his supporters. They have demanded it be applied to others, and they cannot by any moral standard exempt themselves from it. They are not human. They are less than animals. They deserve no human consideration. They deserve no respect of any kind. They simply deserve to die, and painfully, for what they do. And I am disgusted with the fact that I want that for them. I did not think I had it in me...

    Re: Embedded Torture (none / 0) (#3)
    by Steven Sanderson on Tue Mar 07, 2006 at 04:10:50 AM EST
    I'm saddened, but not surprised, that far too many Americans feel no outrage at what's being done in our name. After three decades of the GOP's incessant destruction of the social fabric that holds us together (solidarity, the commonweal, etc.) it's promotion of rugged individualism in it's stead has helped spawn a divisiveness that nothing's a problem as long as it happens to "them" and whatever happens to "them" is permissable. Besides, "they" probably deserve(d) it. Our country's social, moral, legal, ethical devolution is on the fast track.

    Re: Embedded Torture (none / 0) (#4)
    by Edger on Tue Mar 07, 2006 at 04:36:12 AM EST
    Burton J. Lee III is another along with Karpinski, McCoy, Murray, Ratner and others who is in a position to know. Lee was presidential physician to George H.W. Bush for four years. As Lee wrote last July in a Washington Post article titles "The Stain of Torture":
    ...it seems as though our government and the military have slipped into Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness." When it comes to torture, the military's traditional leadership and discipline have been severely compromised up and down the chain of command. Why? I fear it is because the military has bowed to errant civilian leadership. Reports of torture by U.S. forces have been accompanied by evidence that military medical personnel have played a role in this abuse and by new military ethical guidelines that in effect authorize complicity by health professionals in ill-treatment of detainees. America cannot continue down this road. Torture demonstrates weakness, not strength. It does not show understanding, power or magnanimity. It is not leadership. It is a reaction of government officials overwhelmed by fear who succumb to conduct unworthy of them and of the citizens of the United States.
    The stain is an indelible mark, a festering gangrenous flesh eating stinking infected sore on the soul of bush and his supporters.

    Re: Embedded Torture (none / 0) (#5)
    by Edger on Tue Mar 07, 2006 at 04:48:44 AM EST
    "The War Crimes Act of 1996" This relatively obscure statute makes it a federal crime to violate certain provisions of the Geneva Conventions. The Act punishes any US national, military or civilian, who commits a "grave breach" of the Geneva Conventions. A grave breach, as defined by the Geneva Conventions, includes the deliberate "killing, torture or inhuman treatment" of detainees. Violations of the War Crimes Act that result in death carry the death penalty. President Bush followed the advice given by his White House counsel and his Attorney General with some slight modifications. It remains to be seen whether the gimmick of "opting out" of the Geneva Conventions for the war in Afghanistan will provide Gonzales's promised "solid defense" to any War Crimes Act prosecution.
    Torture and Accountability Elizabeth Holtzman The Nation, June 28, 2005

    Re: Embedded Torture (none / 0) (#6)
    by Edger on Tue Mar 07, 2006 at 04:53:35 AM EST
    Anyone who sees the photographs of the victims of the Nazi concentration camps must wonder how human beings could ever have allowed such things to happen. They must wonder how people of good will could have stood by while their government committed atrocities in their name. In the wake of that nightmarish era, people often asked, "Where were the good Germans?" America has fashioned its own nightmare. We now must ask ourselves, "Where are the good Americans?" Jeremy Brecher & Brendan Smith The Nation, February 28, 2006

    Re: Embedded Torture (none / 0) (#7)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Mar 07, 2006 at 05:06:47 AM EST
    I agree completely. This administration is a complete and utter embarrassment. They should be in the on-deck circle in the Hague waiting for Milosevic to go down on war crimes charges. Better still, Dylan has some thoughts on the subject. They were written for the nitwits who almost got us killed during the Cuban Missile Crisis in '62 but they're equally apt today. Thankfully, JFK told Lemay to go to Hell. None of us would be here if he hadn't. And I hope that you die And your death will come soon I'll follow your casket On a pale afternoon I'll watch why you're lowered Down to your death bed And I'll stand over you're grave 'Til I'm sure that you're dead. Or they could just go huntin' with cheney. I'm flex.

    Re: Embedded Torture (none / 0) (#8)
    by jen on Tue Mar 07, 2006 at 05:44:21 AM EST
    No, they are not an embarassment. They have brought shame on our nation, shame and dishonor on our military. There's a difference.

    Re: Embedded Torture (none / 0) (#9)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Mar 07, 2006 at 05:58:13 AM EST
    I stand corrected. You're absolutely right. Embarrassment is nowhere near strong enough a word to capture the utter depravity of this illegitimate trash administration. Mea Culpa. However, I don't think Dylan needs to apologize. He nailed it.

    Re: Embedded Torture (none / 0) (#10)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Mar 07, 2006 at 06:03:38 AM EST
    It really is long past time for these clowns to follow the Japanese example upon loss in battle or similar disgrace and to go in the other room and do the right thing.

    Re: Embedded Torture (none / 0) (#11)
    by Darryl Pearce on Tue Mar 07, 2006 at 07:21:15 AM EST
    Well... there are two types of people in this world: those with power those without.

    Re: Embedded Torture (none / 0) (#12)
    by Edger on Tue Mar 07, 2006 at 07:45:56 AM EST
    there are two types of people in this world: those with power those without. I'm sure george w bush would also agree. I'm sure Saddam Hussein agreed. So did Adolph Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Jefferson Davis, and Richard Nixon. They all know that it is an illusion to think they can keep it, that it really rests with the people.

    Re: Embedded Torture (none / 0) (#13)
    by Lora on Tue Mar 07, 2006 at 09:06:33 AM EST
    I googled Dahr Jamail March 2006 and I searched Yahoo news for Dahr Jamail and sorted by date. "Scoop" was about it. It is unfair to say Americans accept torture without seeing how thoroughly brainwashed they are by the Mouthpiece Media. They are being utterly manipulated. It stems from the premise that the government of this country is basically "good" and upright, and that even good people sometimes have to do infrequent but necessary bad things. It stems from the premise that enemies of our government will capitalize on anything bad that is found and exaggerate and manipulate it to further their ends, and we must resist buying into their propaganda. This isn't uncaring or apathy, or acceptance of torture, this is total psyops. Fight it!

    Re: Embedded Torture (none / 0) (#14)
    by theologicus on Tue Mar 07, 2006 at 11:21:14 AM EST
    Torture is ... [an] engrained policy that has been authorized at the highest levels of our Government. If this is not a rallying cry, what is? Help build a national grassroots constituency against torture: National Religious Campaign Against Torture

    Re: Embedded Torture (none / 0) (#15)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Mar 07, 2006 at 02:11:02 PM EST
    Not meaning to go OT, but much has been posted lately to the effect that exceptions regarding rape and incest show that anti-abortion types lie about their motivations. But a much more obvious demonstration is their support of Bush. How could anyone who thought life was precious support torture? How could they support going to war for no reason? How could they support . . . . [fill in the blank]--there are so many callous things, intentionally cruel things this administration has done that result in death, pain and degradation, of the Americans they're sworn to protect, and the rest of the world. Only a baldfaced liar would support them while claiming to hold human life in high regard.

    Re: Embedded Torture (none / 0) (#16)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Mar 07, 2006 at 02:49:33 PM EST
    But a much more obvious demonstration is their support of Bush. How could anyone who thought life was precious support torture? How could they support going to war for no reason? How could they support . . . . [fill in the blank]--there are so many callous things, intentionally cruel things this administration has done that result in death, pain and degradation, of the Americans they're sworn to protect, and the rest of the world. Only a baldfaced liar would support them while claiming to hold human life in high regard.
    I'm sitting here listening to VPR as they just finished up a segment on Shrub's continually shrinking poll numbers. All segments of the public have deserted him but the so-called social conservatives. They interviewed a group of Women in Plant City, Fla. who just adored the putz. They disagreed with him on illegal immigrants, but one woman admitted that while she wanted them gone, her family needed them to harvest their crops because "Americans wouldn't work long hours in the hot Sun or cold mornings for minimum wage." Another lamented the fact ever since he got into office "it'd been one disaster after another and it's not fair that they blame it on him because he prays for help so it's not his fault." Yeah, I kid you not, she was that clueless. These are some of the most dishonest, selfish, narrow minded, sanctimonious, despicable people you'll ever see coming down the pike. It's high time they stopped getting a pass because of their so-called flat-earth values and their intolerance and disrespect for anyone and everyone who doesn't want them forcing these values down their throats. The puritans didn't leave England to escape Religious Persecution. England couldn't wait to see the back of 'em because they kept trying to force their beliefs on everyone else, they never shut up and they were a stone drag. They're no better than the Taliban. The only reason they don't lop off people's heads is because we've got a military to blow 'em up for 'em. Besides, they've always been more of a lynch mob, burn 'em at the stake kinda crowd.

    Re: Embedded Torture (none / 0) (#17)
    by kdog on Tue Mar 07, 2006 at 03:49:48 PM EST
    I skipped this post at first because it gets to the point where you feel so powerless, everyday contributing to the machine that tortures human beings. Aside from torches and pitchforks on the White House lawn...what can you do? The vast majority of us, for whatever reason, don't care. Out of sight, out of mind I guess. Somehow, the whole nation got desensitized.

    Re: Embedded Torture (none / 0) (#18)
    by Edger on Tue Mar 07, 2006 at 05:29:01 PM EST
    Charlie: These are some of the most dishonest, selfish, narrow minded, sanctimonious, despicable people you'll ever see coming down the pike. It's high time they stopped getting a pass because of their so-called flat-earth values and their intolerance and disrespect for anyone and everyone who doesn't want them forcing these values down their throats. Truer words have not been spoken for too long, Charlie. It's long overdue for the average person to start seeing through the "total psyops" that Lora talked about and realize that most of the MSM under the pressure of this adminstration is engaged continually in exactly that and nothing else. They are the American Taliban. kdog: I skipped this post at first because it gets to the point where you feel so powerless I know what you mean. It makes you feel sometimes that there is no hope and that all effort is fruitless. But that is part of the effect they try to achieve. The most effective way to fight it I think is to teach others what is happening, one at a time. Each one who sees through it will in turn teach someone else. Eventually the effect will become viral, and unstoppable. It is already beginning to threaten them - hence the stepped up attacks and push to silence reporters of leaks and threaten them with imprisonment. That more than anything else shows us the fear and insecurity of bushco - the cowards are terrified of truth.

    Re: Embedded Torture (none / 0) (#19)
    by Lora on Tue Mar 07, 2006 at 06:17:18 PM EST
    People have to be deprogrammed.

    Re: Embedded Torture (none / 0) (#20)
    by Edger on Tue Mar 07, 2006 at 06:34:37 PM EST
    People have to be deprogrammed. You've nailed it there, Lora. James Taylor wrote a thought in a song a long time ago in an entirely different context, but his words apply to this situation very well, I think, when you hear or read the propaganda:
    Go away then, damn you, Go on and do as you please, You ain't gonna see me gettin' down on my knees.
    --Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight Associate with people who can see through the psyops, and who are learning to. Eventually the effect will become viral, and unstoppable.

    Re: Embedded Torture (none / 0) (#21)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Mar 07, 2006 at 09:15:55 PM EST
    Thanks, Edge. You've been in good form today yourself as usual. These meshugganah mopes are dealin' their usual dreck and down the stretch they come, neck and neck for the nightly photo finish to see who prevails in the battle to see if they're more dishonest or dumb. Another photo finish. It's ground hog day. I got you babe and Here's Jimmy! Oy! I've gotta go to apologize to BB I was wrong, he was right. Spelling is the least of his worries. Kid's gotta point.

    Re: Embedded Torture (none / 0) (#22)
    by Edger on Tue Mar 07, 2006 at 11:52:38 PM EST
    the nightly photo finish to see who prevails in the battle to see if they're more dishonest or dumb...and to as a matter of policy be more disgusting than they were in last nights photo finish. I always think they can't get any worse, then they prove me wrong again, and again. We have to keep calling them on it though, every time.

    Re: Embedded Torture (none / 0) (#23)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Wed Mar 08, 2006 at 04:10:10 AM EST
    Yeah, you're right. They won't know. No brain, no shame. But it's good for our karma.