Iraq War Inquiry, Day 14 {With an Article Change Note}

Drip, drip, drip............... more from the faucet of recent history coming out from across the pond. When following this Inquiry, especially in viewing, insert American faces of those known from the cheney/bush administration and multiply the known and unknown ten, twenty, thirty..........times as they were the ringleaders and intelligence manipulators seeking justification to invade and destroy an innocent people and their country.

Just think how long before the Brits found out about the following did our administration and probably many in the 'lockstep rubber stamping congress' know:

Brits 'knew of abuse at Abu Ghraib', says MI6 boss

Britain knew about abuse of Iraqi prisoners, the MI6 boss said yesterday.

Sir John Sawers told the Iraq inquiry UK officials learned of "difficulties" at Abu Ghraib jail in mid-2003. But he said the scale of mistreatment by US troops was "way beyond" what they expected.

He added: "The revelations were definitely a shock to us, as they were to everybody on the American side as well as across the world....>>>>>

MI6 chief reveals advance warning of Abu Ghraib problems

British officials were aware of possible violence against Iraqi detainees in Abu Ghraib prison almost a year before revelations of torture and abuse finally emerged, the head of MI6 has revealed.

Sir John Sawers said that poor conditions and possible violent mistreatment of inmates by the US troops running the prison were known within months of the invasion in March 2003. It was not until the Spring of 2004 that cases of physical, psychological and sexual abuse were exposed publicly.

Snip

However, he insisted that the extent of the abuses that eventually came to light were “way beyond” anything that British officials in Iraq had imagined. “We knew of difficulties in the conditions for detainees dating back to June, July of 2003,” said Sir John, who arrived in Baghdad in May 2003 to represent Tony Blair in the Iraqi capital. “But the revelations at Abu Ghraib were definitely a shock to us, as they were to everybody on the American side as well as across the world.”

He added: “We thought the basic problems were about poor conditions and possibly unnecessary violence, but Abu Ghraib was an extra dimension.” Eleven US soldiers were convicted of committing abuses against prisoners within the facility. Two soldiers were sentenced to ten years and three years in prison.

Sir John said that the high-profile inquiry in 2004 into the torture claims at Abu Ghraib marked the low point for the British team working to try to rebuild Iraq after the invasion. “It was then that we realised the scale of the task that was ahead of us and the need to really put our heads down and be in it for the longer term because the insurgency and the violence was clearly not at a peak,” he said. “The Abu Ghraib issues just added another nasty twist to the difficulties that we faced.”...>>>>>

This was already known, and spreading, in Iraq! Any atrocity, any perceived atrocity is known about and word spreading quickly in any occupied country. This not only causes some in these occupied countries to pick up arms and join the fight but it raises the support of the population to that fight keeping an insurgency against an invading occupying force alive and growing. These incidents, while hawks and especially those not willing to serve cheer them on, they bring on devastating blowback of killing and maiming of the soldiers ordered into these theaters and most trying to stabilize and help the innocent people. One incident causes any steps forward to be quickly erased and not forgotten moving any good back into the negatives, many incidents greatly compound the death and destruction.

Every decade or so it seems a few come along and think they're going to do War and Occupation better then any previous actions carried on by megalomaniacs of power and wealth:

Tony Blair might have been put off Iraq war by violent aftermath, says adviser

{Note From the Guardian: This article contained a mistake by the Guardian, which they have now corrected. It attributed incorrectly a quotation to Nigel Sheinwald. As the Guardian explain on their website: "This article was amended on Thursday 17 December 2009. We quoted Sir Nigel Sheinwald as saying Britain was concerned about the prospect of "US marines going in with all guns blazing". In fact he did not use that phrase: it came from a question posed to him by Sir Lawrence Freedman, a member of the Chilcot inquiry. This has been corrected." See Here}

• Government shocked by level of post-war violence

• Inquiry asks if invasion hurt Britain's reputation

The Blair government might not have invaded Iraq had it envisaged the scale of violence it might provoke, Sir John Sawers, the head of MI6 and former adviser to the prime minister, said today.

Very few observers predicted the violence produced by a combination of jihadists, former Ba'athist officials who had melted away immediately after the invasion, and Shia extremists supported by Iraq, he told the Chilcot inquiry.

"Frankly, had we known the scale of the violence, it might well have led to second thoughts about the entire project," said Sawers. "It was not thought through."

Sawers, who was an adviser to Tony Blair and spent three months as Britain's special envoy in Baghdad in 2003, said the only person he could think of who got it right was Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, who warned the conflict would create "100 new Bin Ladens".

Snip

There was concern that the US would exacerbate Sunni and Shia insurgencies in both the centre and south of Iraq. The issue was "one of the key things" on the agenda of Blair's agenda at a meeting with George Bush in the US in April that year, Sheinwald told the Chilcot inquiry. It was known, and reported, at the time, that defence chiefs urged Blair to warn Bush of the consequences of US attacks on Falluja, including the use of white phosphorus {my highlight}.

According to previously leaked documents about the April 2004 White House meeting between the two leaders, Bush was so angry about attacks on US soldiers that he allegedly suggested that the offices of the Arabic satellite TV station al-Jazeera should be bombed.

Snip

Referring to the abuse of Iraqi detainees by US soldiers, he added: "The Abu Ghraib issues just added another nasty twist to the difficulties that we faced." As for Britain's role in occupying southern Iraq, Sawers told the inquiry: "We had no plan for handling Basra when we went in"....>>>>>

One needn't have gone back in history to far of the powerful against weaker thought of foes, the Afghan/Soviet debacle, to see what results when invading and not quickly stabilizing and working towards re-building to see what develops. And as the leading power of might bringing in others to be the backups, us here in the United States, have our own very recent history who's lessons were ignored and those welding the push to war this time didn't serve in with many of us. We saw what was to come why didn't they!

Iraq inquiry – live

Two of Tony Blair's foreign policy advisers and the former Ministry of Defence policy director give evidence to the Chilcot inquiry

5.27pm: There are a couple of other quotes that are worth putting up in full. They are from the exchange at 3.41pm. At one point Sawers read out a passage listing the objectives the government had set itself for Iraq in early 2003.

A stable, united and law-abiding Iraq, within its present borders, cooperating with the international community, no longer posing a threat to its neighbours or international security, abiding by all its international obligations and providing effective, representative government, sustainable economic growth and rising living standards for all its peoples.

Sawers said Iraq had achieved those goals.

But Chilcot disagreed. He told Sawers:

The picture that is painted in that statement of objectives is not, I think, what you would find in Iraq today.

5.19pm: Here's what Chilcot said at the very end of the hearing.

I think we have talked a lot about potential, if not final judgements, at any rate provisional judgements about the whole six years. And I think the committee itself is extremely ... aware of the casualty list, the blood. Treasure you can rebuild. Blood you can't get back. I don't know whether at this stage we shall come to the kind of final judgement that these last questions have raised. This may be the first draft of history. But we are conscious throughout of that cost that has been incurred by humankind. I think I'll close with that.

Very curious. What does he mean by that? It didn't sound like a ringing endorsement of the war to me ....>>>>>

Scarlett accused of misleading inquiry

Former MoD expert contradicts claim that Iraq evidence was reliable

Britain's former spy chief has misled the Iraq inquiry by exaggerating the reliability of crucial claims about Saddam Hussein's ability to launch weapons of mass destruction, according to the leading Ministry of Defence expert who assessed the intelligence behind the decision to go to war.

Sir John Scarlett, who was responsible for drafting the Government's controversial 2002 dossier outlining the case for invading Iraq, claimed last week that intelligence indicating Iraq possessed missiles that could be launched within 45 minutes was "reliable and authoritative". But Scarlett's evidence is contradicted by the most senior WMD analyst who saw the original intelligence. Brian Jones said that it was vague, inconclusive and unreliable....>>>>>

Now Blair's key Iraq war aides desert him: Spy chief and top envoy tell inquiry of their doubts

The head of MI6 and Britain's top diplomat yesterday refused to back Tony Blair's assertion that the war in Iraq was worth the human and financial cost.

In testimony to the Chilcot Inquiry, spymaster Sir John Sawers and Sir Nigel Sheinwald, Britain's ambassador in Washington, both admitted they now agonise over whether the UK should have joined the invasion.

They warned that, in doing so, Britain had damaged its reputation around the world.

Snip

Sir John was forced to correct evidence that he gave last week after the panel made clear that his claims were disputed by official documents.

He admitted that the Department for International Development was 'not substantially involved' in Iraq policy in the two years before the war after denying claims from aid officials on Friday....>>>>>

Civil servants intent on evading all responsibility

Chilcot has heard a litany of excuses. Officials are out to blame others

Whatever else the Chilcot inquiry does – and I still believe it won't be much – it will at least have served to remind people just what a disastrous exercise the whole invasion of Iraq was and how Tony Blair must carry the personal responsibility for it. In overall terms the evidence so far has changed little of the picture we already knew. But in testimony after testimony of the players involved it has filled out the picture of war that was fought on the flimsiest of excuses, conducted with the minimum of preparation and pursued in blithe disregard for its consequences.

Which is why, of course, Tony Blair is apparently so furious that Chilcot has rained on his parade just as he was hoping to become President of Europe. And it is why presumably he has chosen to come out and say in a BBC interview last Sunday what we had all suspected but never quite believed would come out in the open – that he was determined on regime change in Baghdad come what may and that, if he hadn't had weapons of mass destruction as a reason, he would have found another....>>>>>

Scarlett will be asked to justify reliability of 45-minute claim

John Scarlett's evidence to the Iraq inquiry has been questioned by a WMD analyst

Pressure on inquiry witness after Independent revealed doubts about his evidence

The Iraq inquiry committee has come under pressure to recall Britain's former spy chief to give further public evidence after allegations that he misled them over Saddam Hussein's ability to use weapons of mass destruction.

Sir John Scarlett, who oversaw the drafting of the government's controversial 2002 dossier outlining the case for invading Iraq, had claimed that intelligence indicating that Iraq could launch missiles within 45 minutes was "reliable and authoritative". But Dr Brian Jones, the most senior WMD analyst who saw the original intelligence, told The Independent that it was vague, inconclusive and unreliable.

MPs from all parties raised concerns about the evidence given by Sir John....>>>>>

Nailing the Iraq Lie

How right Edward Gibbon was when he said history is little more than the register of crimes, follies and misfortunes of mankind. But perhaps no register is enough to chronicle the crimes double-speaking and double-dealing politicians routinely commit against humanity.

Look at Tony Blair. You would think two years out of power would have narrowed down the gap between the former British prime minister and what is commonly known as common sense. But then there’s no antidote to hubris.

In the countdown to the Iraq invasion and long since, Blair insisted ad nauseam that Saddam Hussein had stockpiles of Weapons of Mass Destruction. Speaking in the world’s oldest parliament, a grim faced Blair solemnly warned the British public — and the world — that Saddam had the capability and the intent to launch a WMD attack against Britain “within 40 minutes.”

In fact, with his gift of the gab the man once known as Britain’s most successful politician played a crucial role in building the case for Iraq war, and gifting the much-needed legitimacy to with-us-or-against-us Bush and his cowboy coalition....>>>>>

Replace the names and faces of the British Inquiry with those from here, the ringleaders of war, and multiply by whatever high number as to involvement and guilt and we're watching our own Inquiry we fear to hold!!

Watch the Inquiry Live when in Session

Written Transcripts by Date

Oral: The Video's by Date

See how the Inquiry is unfolding on the Sky News Timeline

BBC Iraq inquiry - day by day timeline of evidence given

April 28, 2004: Abu Ghraib

The first photos of the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal were shown on CBS's ''60 Minutes II.'' The photos had been taken by U.S. military personnel responsible for detaining and interrogating Iraqi prisoners arrested following the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

Article by investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, Torture at Abu Ghraib
American soldiers brutalized Iraqis. How far up does the responsibility go?, who helped break the story.

About Standard Operating Procedure, a new documentary by Erroll Morris on Abu Ghraib

A transcript follows.

Morris directed the Oscar-winning "The Fog of War," " Fast, Cheap and Out of Control," "The Thin Blue Line" and other noted documentaries.

About Standard Procedure - Trailer


Mary Mapes: Looking Back at Abu Ghraib 5 Years Later

We had gathered interviews, anecdotes and documents that indicated American soldiers there were regularly committing acts that violated military law, international treaties and moral boundaries. More ominously, there were signs that these men and women were acting on orders from higher ups.

All we needed to prove the story were the awful pictures we'd heard so much about.

Atrocities In Theaters of Occupations get your brothers and sisters killed, long before the outside world learns of them!!

Mother Jones: Abu Ghraib Level 1

Inside the Secret Cellblocks of Abu Ghraib
A soldier-narrated tour of the detainee camp during its final days.

With the recent release of new torture memos, and the news that Obama isn't entirely ruling out prosecutions, it's important to remember just how widespread America's use of torture has been. This video footage was taken of Abu Ghraib during its final days in 2006, after the prisoners left but before it was torn down, and evidence of the camp was buried and burned. >>>>>Rest Here

Infamous Iraqi Prison Set to Reopen

They say a picture speaks a thousand words.

Well we got rid of all those Saddam pictures around the country, now didn't we!!

Abu Ghraib Prison To Reopen

Infamous Iraqi Prison Set to Reopen

Iraq's most notorious prison is almost ready to reopen for business.

Iraqi justice officials say Saturday the Abu Ghraib prison will start holding prisoners again in February.

Deputy Justice Minister Busho Ibrahim says the renovated facility will be renamed the Baghdad Central Prison and that it will eventually house up to about 14,000 prisoners.

How long will the memories last, and how many will be carrying the rage that may just grow inside of them!!

"enemy combatant" being held on the US mainland.

Brother campaigns for 'enemy combatant'

Mr al-Marri, a Qatari national, was arrested in the US in December 2001. He was charged with credit card fraud and lying to the FBI, but before his trial was due to start he was declared an "enemy combatant" and accused of being an al-Qaeda sleeper agent tasked with hacking into computers to disrupt the financial system.

"There was no contact with the outside world, no contact with lawyers, no contact with family, no contact even with the Red Cross and that's when the worst abuses went on.

"He was subjected to a barrage of interrogation techniques that bordered on, if not amounted to torture - painful stress positions, extreme sensory deprivation, extreme isolation, threats of violence or death."

Mr al-Marri's brother Jarallah is now campaigning for his release. Jarallah al-Marri was himself held at Guantanamo Bay for almost seven years. He says his brother's predicament is much worse.

"I think my brother has a really hard time. In Guantanamo I can contact anybody. I can yell at some people close to me, some detainees. My brother cannot yell to the other detainees at all. He's just by himself," he said.

He said his brother should either be charged or released.

Read this than think, Well if he wasn't before, Would he now be after 'Retaliation', if he is now even in a right mind after little to no contact and possible torture or gross mistreatment!

I Would Be!!

Torture, Not Acceptable!!!

I'm Still Tortured by What I Saw in Iraq

I learned in Iraq that the No. 1 reason foreign fighters flocked there to fight were the abuses carried out at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo. Our policy of torture was directly and swiftly recruiting fighters for al-Qaeda in Iraq. The large majority of suicide bombings in Iraq are still carried out by these foreigners. They are also involved in most of the attacks on U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq. It's no exaggeration to say that at least half of our losses and casualties in that country have come at the hands of foreigners who joined the fray because of our program of detainee abuse. The number of U.S. soldiers who have died because of our torture policy will never be definitively known, but it is fair to say that it is close to the number of lives lost on Sept. 11, 2001. How anyone can say that torture keeps Americans safe is beyond me -- unless you don't count American soldiers as Americans.

Snip

Americans, including officers like myself, must fight to protect our values not only from al-Qaeda but also from those within our own country who would erode them. Other interrogators are also speaking out, including some former members of the military, the FBI and the CIA who met last summer to condemn torture and have spoken before Congress -- at considerable personal risk.

We're told that our only options are to persist in carrying out torture or to face another terrorist attack. But there truly is a better way to carry out interrogations -- and a way to get out of this false choice between torture and terror.

Snip

It Was Top Down, Stupid (And I Shall Add 'Criminal Terrorism'!)

The Bush administration's "bad apples" theory goes sour.

When the Abu Ghraib scandal hit in the summer of 2004, two of the administration's most senior lawyers—White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales and the Defense Department's General Counsel Jim Haynes—stood before the world's media and laid out the official explanation for newly aggressive interrogation within the U.S. military: It was the result of a bottom-up request from an aggressive combatant commander at Guantanamo; it was implemented within the law and on the basis of careful legal advice; and it produced useful and important results. These new techniques had been essential in getting vital security information from men they labeled "the worst of the worst."

Read the rest Here


Newt the Impaler

"Vlad" Gingrich is molesting the Constitution in the name of national security again. This time he's on a tirade about the recent Supreme Court decision that grants prisoners held at young Mr. Bush's pleasure in Guantanamo the right to a habeas corpus hearing.

Commander Jeff Huber, U.S. Navy (Retired) writes at Pen and Sword, Jeff's novel Bathtub Admirals

Read the rest Here


Clear Evidence of War Crimes: Stern Letters to Come?

After years of disclosures by government investigations, media accounts, and reports from human rights organizations, there is no longer any doubt as to whether the current administration has committed war crimes. The only question that remains to be answered is whether those who ordered the use of torture will be held to account.

Maj. General Antonio Taguba (Ret.), who led the Army’s 2004 investigation into the prison abuse scandal at Abu Ghraib. (From the foreword of Broken Laws, Broken Lives).US Army Report of Abuse of Prisoners In Iraq

Read the rest Here


WaPo: General Accuses WH of War Crimes (Update x2)

The story is blowing up, since AP published its story at midnight Eastern last night, and our own MeteorBlades became the first blogger to cover the breaking news. PHR's report was briefly featured as the top story on CNN's homepage this morning. CNN's "Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer" aired additional coverage from Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr tonight during the 5:00 p.m. Eastern time slot.

Read the rest Here


CIA Gave Torture Tips to Pentagon

Senior spook: "If the detainee dies, you're doing it wrong."

Read the rest Here


Blackwater is Still in Charge, Deadly, Above the Law and Out of Control

Think Blackwater's days are numbered? Think again. Jeremy Scahill explains why its slaughter of Iraqis has not stopped the notorious mercenary firm.

Jeremy Scahill's bestselling book: Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army

Read the rest Here


We are a nation that likes to pride itself on truth, justice, freedom and humanity. {NO MORE!}

Tell the world: My America Doesn't Torture!

Actions by Mercs - Blowback To Military Troops and Countries National Security!!

Iraqi alleges Abu Ghraib torture, sues US contractors

By GREG RISLING
Associated Press Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- An Iraqi man sued two U.S. military contractors Monday, claiming he was repeatedly tortured while being held at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison for more than 10 months.

Emad al-Janabi's federal lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles, claims that employees of CACI International Inc. and L-3 Communications punched him, slammed him into walls, hung from a bed frame and kept him naked and handcuffed in his cell beginning in September 2003.

Also named as a defendant is CACI interrogator Steven Stefanowicz, known as "Big Steve." The suit claims he directed some of the torture tactics.

Phone messages left for Arlington, Va.-based CACI and New York City-based L-3 Communications, formerly Titan Corp., were not immediately returned Monday. Stefanowicz could not immediately be reached for comment at a Los Angeles address.

The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles because Stefanowicz lives there, seeks unspecified monetary damages.

The firms provided interrogators or interpreters to assist U.S. military guards at Abu Ghraib, which became notorious when photos made public in early 2004 showing U.S. soldiers abusing and humiliating detainees. Military investigators later concluded that much of the abuse happened in late 2003 - when CACI and Titan's interrogators were at the prison.

CACI and L-3 were accused of abusing Abu Ghraib prisoners in earlier lawsuits. In November a federal judge in the District of Columbia dismissed the suit against L-3 but allowed the one against CACI to proceed.

In an interview with The Associated Press on Monday in Istanbul, Turkey, al-Janabi said he hopes the lawsuit sheds light on what happened to him and other detainees.

"God willing the righteousness will emerge and God willing the criminal will receive his punishment," al-Janabi said.

Al-Janabi, 43, said he was detained by U.S. troops during a late-night raid in which he and his family were beaten by their captors. He said he was taken to a military base where he was stripped naked, a hood was placed on his head and his hands and legs were chained.

"They (U.S. troops) did not tell me what was the reason behind my arrest ... during the interrogation, the American soldier told me I was a terrorist ... and I was preparing for an attack against the U.S. forces," said al-Janabi, who denied the accusation and claims he was forced to give confessions under "savage" intimidation.

The lawsuit also claims the contractors conspired in a cover-up by destroying documents and other information, hid prisoners during periodic checks by the International Red Cross and misled military and government officials about what was happening at Abu Ghraib.

The Abu Ghraib photos drew international criticism about the way detainees were treated and damaged the U.S. military's image in Arab countries. Eleven U.S. soldiers were convicted of crimes at the prison, which was closed and transferred to Iraqi control.

The Dark Side

Lets see Saddam, even though we installed and supported him, Had To Go. Because he Arrested the Innocent and his 'Henchmen' Tortured and Killed many of those arrested, as well as Killing and Maiming Tens of Thousands of Iraqi's. Those are only a Couple of the many 'Nobel Cause' Reasons for the Righteousness of Invading, Destroying, and Occupying Iraq for our National Security!

But the true subject of the movie is the mentality and the atmosphere that produced sadistic conduct, both at Bagram and at Guantánamo

We are a country that speaks on principle, morality, religious ideologies of Human Caring and Rights, the shining house on the hill that condemns others to shame on their actions!

and such figures as John Yoo, the Department of Justice attorney who redefined the practices permitted by the Bush Administration in such a way that they couldn’t be deemed war crimes

We are a country of Law that holds those Responsible that Break the Laws of this Land and on the World Stage!

The prisoners—cut off from any possible counsel, harassed, stripped, hooded, bound, and, in many cases, threatened with attack dogs or abused physically—were locked into a system of punishment before any guilt was established

We are a country that Treats others as we wish them to Treat our own, giving us the right to Condemn others for their Immorality against fellow Human Beings!

>It is not known why Dilawar was accused, but, as his tormentors admit, it became clear before the end of the interrogation—during which he was hung up by his arms and repeatedly struck on the legs—that he was innocent. They kept hitting him, however. They all took turns.

The New Yorker Review Above

Taxi to the Darkside - The Movie

Above, and below, is Now the Ideology of this Country as seen and understood by others on this planet, National Security Was Never A Factor, No more!

Creating Enemies with more Hatreds and want for Retribution is more apt, Perpetual Conflict!

Exposure
The woman behind the camera at Abu Ghraib

All that the soldiers of the 372nd Military Police Company, a Reserve unit out of Cresaptown, Maryland, knew about America’s biggest military prison in Iraq, when they arrived there in early October of 2003, was that it was on the front lines. Its official name was Forward Operating Base Abu Ghraib. Never mind that military doctrine and the Geneva Conventions forbid holding prisoners in a combat zone, and require that they be sped to the rear; you had to make the opposite sort of journey to get to Abu Ghraib. You had to travel along some of the deadliest roads in the country, constantly bombed and frequently ambushed, into the Sunni Triangle. The prison squatted on the desert, a wall of sheer concrete traced with barbed wire, picketed by watchtowers. “Like something from a Mad Max movie,” Sergeant Javal Davis, of the 372nd, said. “Just like that—like, medieval.” There were more than two and a half miles of wall with twenty-four towers, enclosing two hundred and eighty acres of prison ground. And inside, Davis said, “it’s nothing but rubble, blown-up buildings, dogs running all over the place, rabid dogs, burnt remains. The stench was unbearable: urine, feces, body rot.”
SNIP

This countries policies have never been perfect, now what went on somewhat quietly is completely out in the open!

Never again will we find a need to ask, "Why do others Hate us So?", the answer has come out into the open, Finally!!

“ Every war, when viewed from the undistorted perspective of life's sanctity, is a "civil war" waged by humanity against itself."

- Daisaku Ikeda

No Accountibility, No Democracy, No Constitution, No Country!!!!

“Taxi to the Dark Side,” - New Yorker Review‏

Lets see Saddam, even though we installed and supported him, Had To Go, because he Arrested the Innocent and his 'Henchmen' Tortured and Killed many of those arrested, as well as Killing and Maiming Tens of Thousands of Iraqi's, and those are only a Couple of the 'Nobel Cause' Reasons for the Righteousness of Invading, Destroying, and Occupying Iraq for a National Security that No Longer Exists!

*********

The narrative frame for Alex Gibney’s Oscar-winning documentary, “Taxi to the Dark Side,” is the story of the capture, interrogation by Army M.P.s, and death under torture of a young Afghan man, known only as Dilawar, in 2002, at the Bagram Air Base, north of Kabul. But the true subject of the movie is the mentality and the atmosphere that produced sadistic conduct, both at Bagram and at Guantánamo. Gibney interviewed some of the men who were later courtmartialled for criminal behavior; he also talked to some of their lawyers, an F.B.I. expert in interrogation, and such figures as John Yoo, the Department of Justice attorney who redefined the practices permitted by the Bush Administration in such a way that they couldn’t be deemed war crimes. Along with “No End in Sight,” this movie is one of the essential documentaries of the ongoing war.

Though no one says it in so many words, “Taxi” produces an uncanny impression of the fundamental logic at work in the interrogation process: the Army and C.I.A. interrogators who take control of prisoners in Afghanistan or at Guantánamo assume that they must be guilty of something. If they’re not, what are they doing in custody? The prisoners—cut off from any possible counsel, harassed, stripped, hooded, bound, and, in many cases, threatened with attack dogs or abused physically—were locked into a system of punishment before any guilt was established.

The story of Dilawar unfolds at the moment of maximum fear of strikes against the American homeland and against U.S. forces in Afghanistan. The M.P.s who performed the interrogations were under tremendous pressure to produce results, yet they were given only the vaguest guidelines as to how they should behave. They were told, however, that Al Qaeda trained its members to resist. If prisoners failed to give satisfactory answers to questions, it could mean that they had something to hide. And so the incarceration—and, in some cases, the abuse—went on. Dilawar, a taxi-driver, was arrested, along with three of his passengers, after he was accused of driving the getaway car in a raid against an American base. It later emerged that the Afghan who made the charge against him was actually the one involved in planning the raid. Gibney tells us that only seven per cent of the prisoners in Guantánamo were captured by American and Coalition forces. In Afghanistan, most of the detainees were turned over by Afghans friendly to the Americans—members of the Northern Alliance or local police and the like. Some of these people may have had grudges against those they named. It is not known why Dilawar was accused, but, as his tormentors admit, it became clear before the end of the interrogation—during which he was hung up by his arms and repeatedly struck on the legs—that he was innocent. They kept hitting him, however. They all took turns.

The Review Above

Taxi to the Darkside - The Movie



Above, and below, is Now the Ideology of this Country as seen and understood by others on this planet, National Security No more!
Hatreds and Retribution is more apt!

Exposure
The woman behind the camera at Abu Ghraib

All that the soldiers of the 372nd Military Police Company, a Reserve unit out of Cresaptown, Maryland, knew about America’s biggest military prison in Iraq, when they arrived there in early October of 2003, was that it was on the front lines. Its official name was Forward Operating Base Abu Ghraib. Never mind that military doctrine and the Geneva Conventions forbid holding prisoners in a combat zone, and require that they be sped to the rear; you had to make the opposite sort of journey to get to Abu Ghraib. You had to travel along some of the deadliest roads in the country, constantly bombed and frequently ambushed, into the Sunni Triangle. The prison squatted on the desert, a wall of sheer concrete traced with barbed wire, picketed by watchtowers. “Like something from a Mad Max movie,” Sergeant Javal Davis, of the 372nd, said. “Just like that—like, medieval.” There were more than two and a half miles of wall with twenty-four towers, enclosing two hundred and eighty acres of prison ground. And inside, Davis said, “it’s nothing but rubble, blown-up buildings, dogs running all over the place, rabid dogs, burnt remains. The stench was unbearable: urine, feces, body rot.”
SNIP

Bringing 'Freedom' and 'Democracy' to the Iraq People!

How many remember this:

"For the vast majority of Iraqi citizens who wish to live as free men and women, this event brings further assurance that the torture chambers and the secret police are gone forever." - George W. Bush upon capture of Saddam Hussein.

There was a post, early this morning, that I followed the links embedded before heading for work. And once again my Disgust at the Depths my Country has Sunk to left me in a Rage for the rest of the day, and is still there!

Wired online site has an updated report on Abu Ghraib, with more photo's not seen before, they also have a slideshow!

I would suggest only those with a Very Strong Constitution view the photo's and slideshow, but everyone should read the report.

The report is called: How Good People Turn Evil, From Stanford to Abu Ghraib

It is an interview with Psychologist Philip Zimbardo. His book, The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil, explores how a "perfect storm" of conditions can make ordinary people commit horrendous acts.

We hear an awfull lot about 'National Security' and how some think they are 'Stronger' on that issue.

Well when you wage Wars of Choice and Atrosities such as Abu Ghraib, and now known other Torture practices and sites are maintained, and you Kill and Maim tens of thousands of Innocent Citizens of a small country, you leave any and all nations 'National Security' wide open for the 'Blowback' from the Extreme Hatreds for what you've done!

And those who ordered the actions, as well as their supporters, are No Differant Than The Saddams Of The World, those same Saddams they once supported and in many cases, but differant countries, Still Support!!

They make us all the Terrorists, term so easily used, they Condemn!!

American Justice - To the Dark Side

We are all torturers now

4 Minute Video

This is the America that our leaders want us to be proud of? This is the America we have built. This is who we are.

Who is accountable?

You Are

This is who we are.

Clips from Academy Award Doc "Taxi to the Dark Side," produced by an independent filmmaker, for Information Clearing House.



"Taxi to the Dark Side", Trailer and Two Shorts

Click To Play

Above can also be viewed at Google Video
You can find further information about this Documentary At it's website

The Documentary started showing in Theaters on 1-25-08 you can find further theater openings here.

Conservative Idea of 'Strong on National Defense':
Enhance more Hatreds anywhere possible, through propaganda, destruction, mass death, in order to Continue threats against from similar Failed Policies of Past!

Those Hatreds lead to 'Blowback' by recipients of the many Failed Policies called 'Criminal Terrorism'!

Take the word 'Terrorism', while practising same, and paste it on any group needed to Enhance the Fear in Populations causing Perpetual Conflicts and Huge Profits for any Military Industrial Complex and Control by same for Further Policies setup to Fail!

And when 'Johnny and Jane' come Marching Home, Dump Them {that one cuts across all Political Ideology and Society }

It's Not 'Strong on National Defense', it Destroys 'National Defense' and brings about more and more 'Conflicts of Choice' for Greed and Power!

If we don't hold those Responsible for the Wrath of Failed Policies instituted than in the eyes of the World 'We Have Excepted All That Has Been Done In Our Names' and are thus Just As Guilty!!

Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan

Once Again, Our Country Needs Winter Soldiers



War crimes "encouraged?"
WATERTOWN, NY - "I was messed up in the head. It was okay for me. I laughed afterwards. We all did. It's just the way things go."
SNIP

But Turner says it wasn't his choice to be encouraged to do it from higher ranking officers. He and three other veterans speaking out Saturday at the Different Drummer Cafe in Watertown said committing war crimes is not only the way things go, but it's unofficial policy.
SNIP

You can read the rest at above link, along with catching the News 10 Video there as well.

Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan
IVAW - Iraq Veterans Against The War - Winter Soldiers

Winter Soldiers, according to founding father Thomas Paine, are those who stand up for the soul of their country, even in its darkest hours.

A group of Iraq war veterans are planning a gathering in Washington D.C. in March to talk about war crimes they've seen or committed during their tours of duty.

4543 people have signed the Statement of Support - Add Your Name Now

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Also, an Important 'Shout Out' for Action from Military Spouses For Change

Please contact both of your Senators regarding S38.
Veterans' Mental Health Outreach and Access Act of 2007
Ask them to co-sponsor this bill. At this time, it has 13 co-sponsors.

S38 - 'A bill to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a program for the provision of readjustment and mental health services to veterans who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom, and for other purposes.'

About This Legislation:

5/23/2007--Introduced.
Veterans' Mental Health Outreach and Access Act of 2007 - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a program to provide to veterans of Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom, particularly veterans who served in such Operations while in the National Guard and reserves: (1) peer outreach and support services; (2) readjustment counseling and related services; and (3) mental health services. Directs the Secretary to also provide to immediate family members of such veterans, during the three-year period following the return of the veterans from such a deployment, education, support, counseling, and mental health services to assist in: (1) readjustment to civilian life; (2) recovery from an injury or illness incurred during such deployment; and (3) readjustment of the family following the veteran's return.
Authorizes the Secretary to contract with community health centers and other qualified entities to provide such services in areas not adequately served by health care facilities of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
Requires the Secretary to: (1) contract for a program to train veterans to provide the peer outreach and support services; and (2) conduct a training program for clinicians of community health centers and entities contracted to provide such services.
Extends the eligibility for hospital care, medical services, and nursing home care for veterans who served on active duty in a theater of combat operations from two to five years after their discharge or release from such duty.

Congressional Legislation S38

The Sutras of Abu Ghraib

New book by Iraq veteran, objector Aidan Delgado

The Sutras of Abu Ghraib: Notes from a Conscientious Objector

'The Sutras of Abu Ghraib' is the story of a soldier who refused to succumb to violence. In chronicling the struggles of military life and the dehumanizing effects of war, Aidan Delgado examines the attitudes that make prisoner abuse possible and explores his own developing Buddhist beliefs against a brutal backdrop. It is a tale of physical bravery, moral courage, and the cost of holding on to your identity while everyone around you is losing theirs.

"Aidan Delgado is a powerful, eloquent writer. His description of how he was transformed by the horrors of Iraq is unforgettable. He is a diamond in the rough, sandblasted in the desert of Iraq." — Amy Goodman, Democracy Now

In explaining why he wrote the book, Aidan Delgado explained, "Throughout my career as an activist, I have always wanted to talk to people in depth, away from the politics and the rhetoric. I hope this book will finally allow me to speak to people in the way I always intended: person to person."

From Publishers Weekly
Delgado, one of the few soldiers to gain conscientious objector status during the Iraq War, paints a grim picture of an army suffused with casual racism and capricious violence. After signing up to become an army reserve mechanic—he completed the paperwork on September 11, 2001, minutes before the first tower was hit—Delgado found himself drawn to Buddhism, and his faith ultimately clashed with the military service he faced in Iraq. Having lived in Egypt as a teenager, Delgado was alarmed by the ignorance of Islam and xenophobia among his fellow soldiers. He attributes those attitudes to the abuses at Abu Ghraib, where he was stationed for much of his tour of duty. Delgado's commander, who did not look favorably upon applications for CO status, took his body armor away and didn't return it, even when the unit was under continual mortar bombardment. This slim and readable volume is best when recounting the author's conversations, altercations and adventures in Iraq; his meditations on pacifism are sometimes repetitive and tendentious. In the end, he offers a welcome corrective to much of the aggressive rhetoric that has pervaded the debate over the war in Iraq.

Reviews
Publishers Weekly : "he offers a welcome corrective to much of the aggressive rhetoric that has pervaded the debate over the war in Iraq."

Booklist, ALA : "an absorbing and worthy story that offers one man's perspective on a conflict that continues to divide our nation."

Available from Courage to Resist for a $25 donation.

Soldier of Conscience {Updated}

Truth has consequences for soldier of conscience

It is a sad day in American jurisprudence when a soldier of conscience is court-martialed not for lying but for telling the truth, not for breaking a covenant with the military but for upholding the rule of law in wartime.

Army 1st Lt. Ehren K. Watada was out of uniform on leave over a year ago when he delivered a moving address to a Veterans for Peace convention.

1st Lt. Ehren Watada at the 2006 {Video} Veterans For Peace National Convention in Seattle

Lt Watada was joined onstage by about 50 Iraq war veterans and other members of Iraq Veterans Against the War.


Video was taken with a digital camera by VFP Greater Atlanta Chapter 125 member, Debbie Clark, 'not a professional filmmaker, and is not of professional quality' {Debbies words}. Video was unfortunately taken in segments due to the limitations of the digital camera and cut a little short due to the memory card getting full before the end of the speech. However, most of the speech is there and the full text of the speech can be read HERE

All the major issues of imperial occupation - the fraudulent basis for the war, the absence of a formal declaration from Congress, the systematic nature of war crimes in Iraq, the flagrant violations of international treaties such as the U.N. Charter - are coming to a head in this historic battle between a soldier of conscience and an Army whose Abu Ghraib scandals shocked the world.

The legality of Lieutenant Watada's orders pursuant to a "war of choice" is the central issue of the trial.
No American soldier has any obligation to participate in military aggression, in "crimes against peace," or in any operations that violate the Geneva Conventions. Under constitutional government, the authority of military command derives not from one person alone but from the rule of law itself.
There are only two conditions in which a war is legal under international law: when force is authorized by the U.N. Security Council, or when the use of force is an act of national self-defense and survival. Apart from these conditions, war is an act of aggression. The U.N. Charter, based on the Nuremberg Conventions, prohibits war "as an instrument of policy." And the war in Iraq is just that - a war of choice.

Article VI, of the Constitution, states:

"All treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land, and the judges in every state shall be bound thereby."
There is no exception for the military, no wall between domestic and international law.

U.S. Army Field Manual

"Treaties relating to the law of war have a force equal to that of laws enacted by Congress. Their provisions must be observed by both military and civilian personnel with the same strict regard for both the letter and spirit of the law which is required with respect to the Constitution and statutes."

Oath of Enlistment
Military Oath: In the Armed Forces EXCEPT the National Guard (Army or Air)

I, (NAME), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
So help me God.

In the National Guard (Army or Air)

I, (NAME), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States and the State of (STATE NAME) against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the Governor of (STATE NAME) and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to law and regulations.
So help me God.

More information on the Oath and other Military related topics can be found at HERE

Lieutenant Watada is being persecuted because he is challenging the legality, not the political wisdom, of the war. The commander in chief is the final arbiter in foreign policy, but only so long as policies are in accordance with the law. Law trumps politics, not the other way around. The "political question doctrine," as attorneys call it, is nothing more than judicial abdication.

Lt. Watada is not the only one speaking out, but is the officer facing a Courts Martial and Prison time for doing so, a Soldier of Concious, understanding his role as a Leader, for the troops under him, as to the U. S. Military.

Thank You Lt Watada Website
This testimony is from the hearing regarding LT WATADA - Iraq War Tribunal: Iraq Veterans Against the War.

Darrell Anderson (purple heart, '04)- MP3 Download

and

Chanan Suarez-Diaz - MP3 Download


Appeal for Redress
Now with over 1200 signatures of Active Duty Military Personal!
The wording of the Appeal for Redress is short and simple. It is patriotic and respectful in tone.
As a patriotic American proud to serve the nation in uniform, I respectfully urge my political leaders in Congress to support the prompt withdrawal of all American military forces and bases from Iraq . Staying in Iraq will not work and is not worth the price. It is time for U.S. troops to come home.


Feb 5 National Day of Action
On Monday, February 5, 2007, when Lt. Watada goes on trial, supporters will rally outside the gates of Fort Lewis, Washington for a peaceful, non-violent demonstration.
Monday, February 5, 2007
9am - Lt. Watada’s Military Court Martial begins
11:30am - Student Rally with Iraq Veterans Against the War
1pm - Political Art Performance
3pm Rally and Vigil
Fort Lewis, WA. Exit 119, off I-5

National Event Listing
Transportation to Fort Lewis – Buses, Carpools and more!
Attend Lt. Watada’s Court Martial
Travel and Housing Information
Welcome Event Feb 4, 2007

This was just sent to me by a KOS reader:
Update:

The Citizens Hearing on the Legality of the Iraq War issued findings today. The Hearing Panel found the Iraq War to be illegal in both national and international law. In the findings the Panel has issued a Call to Conscience for Congress to hold hearings on the legality of both the war itself and the ways that the war is being conducted.”

In regards to Lt. Watada, the report presents findings on Disobeying Illegal Orders, in which they state:“The oath to support and defend the Constitution implies that if in conscience a person believes an order to be illegal, he or she has an obligation to refuse the order.” The panel was explicit in its support for Lt. Ehren Watada, the Army’s first commissioned officer to refuse deployment to Iraq based on his assertion that because the Iraq War is illegal, it is his duty to refuse orders to deploy.

Contact your Senators and Representatives Today and let them know you support Lt. Ehren Watada’s right to stand up and speak out for his principles and for the rule of international law and the U.S. Constitution. Call Congress to hold hearing on the legality of both the war itself and the ways the war is being conducted.

PRESS RELEASE
Subject: Preceding Watada Court Martial: Citizens’ Hearing Panel Declares Iraq War Illegal
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 2, 2007
War Tribunal

TRIBUNAL REPORT:
War Tribunal Report - PDF (65 pages; 31 MB)


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The Failed Policies will Haunt Us and the World for Decades!