Inside a Prison Outside the Law

Mother Jones {MoJo} Drumbeat brings the link to the site for the book The Guantanamo Lawyers: Inside a Prison Outside the Law

Read exclusive excerpts from narratives by the attorneys who have represented Guantanamo Detainees, at above link

About The Guantanamo Lawyers

This new book contains over 100 personal narratives from attorneys who have represented detainees held at “Gitmo” as well as at other “black sites” such as Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan.

“One of the most inspiring features of the post-9/11 world has been the willingness of lawyers from all walks of life to volunteer to represent those condemned to indefinite detention at Guantánamo. This book provides an invaluable birds-eye view of what it’s like to fight for justice in a law-free zone, representing men who the government has labeled the worst of the worst.”—David Cole

“This is a fascinating and revealing behind-the-scenes account of the human stories inside Guantánamo, told candidly by some of America’s best, and most public-spirited, lawyers.”—Jane Mayer

Review: "The Guantanamo Lawyers: Inside a Prison Outside the Law"

"This collection of stirring narrative, government data and testimony, edited by two of the lawyers for those detained by the Bush administration as unlawful combatants at Guantnamo, puts America on notice about the issues of civil liberties and constitutional freedoms. Denbeaux and Hafetz have edited together accounts from 100 other detainee advocates into a chronological narrative of legal battles: to gain access to their clients, to establish the detainees' right to habeas corpus, to describe the occupants of 'Gitmo' (at its peak, 750 from 40 countries) and the torture and mistreatment of detainees. They describe their clients as underlings, working stiffs and not the high officials of any terrorist group. Plowing through legal red tape, bureaucratic mumbo jumbo and political maneuvering, Denbeaux and Hafetz fight for the men who are isolated without diversions or outside contact. The desperate words, quoted here, of Gitmo detainees on torture grab the heart and do not let go. This compelling book on the American penal colony and its residents is a cautionary tale of overzealous executive wartime power and the awful mess it sometimes leaves behind." Publishers Weekly

Justice as Paradox: Civilian Trials for 9/11 Suspects

Jonathan Hafetz has a blog post up at Balkinization. A Short excerpt is below.

Attorney General Eric Holder’s announcement Friday that Khaled Sheikh Mohammed and four other individuals allegedly responsible for the 9/11 attacks would be brought to trial in federal court takes an important—if long overdue—step towards restoring the rule of law. No longer are these men “high value detainees,” a label invented out of whole cloth to sanction their previous disappearance into a secret CIA prison and torture. After resurfacing at Guantánamo in September 2006, they are now, finally, defendants in the U.S. criminal justice system, which has shown repeatedly that it is well-equipped to handle terrorism cases while protecting legitimate national security concerns. This was the result advocated by the ACLU’s John Adams Project, and it is a welcome one.

You can also listen to a radio interview Jonathan did at The Takeaway about civilian trials for terrorists.

Or listen here:

The Book: "The Guantanamo Lawyers: Inside a Prison Outside the Law"

The Site: The Guantanamo Lawyers: Inside a Prison Outside the Law

What Is So Patriotic About Hysteria?

The loudest voices on the right never tire of telling us that they are the truest patriots. They claim to be the deepest believers in our system, the strongest defenders of our Constitution, the most upbeat, bold and courageous Americans anywhere. But now that the government is finally prepared to put the perpetrators of the Sept. 11 terror attacks on trial, these same patriots are the first to spread doubt, instigate anxiety and abandon constitutional principles.

When did fear-mongering in a time of war become an act of patriotism?...>>>>>

'Crime of the Century'

Military Oath

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.

The above says it All, whether policy of orders given to invade and occupy others are wrong or right, service in our Military means just what is said by those taking the oath of Military Service to Support and Defend the Constitution of the United States!

Terror on Trial

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In the above video report they play a clip from the limbaugh radio show. First I would like to say, I agree with this limbaugh statement.

Second I would like to pass along a "Thank You rush for admitting, On Air to your so called mass audience, even with the video provided, very publicly that which most of the world, especially most in this country, already know, Crimes Were Committed By The Previous Administration, Thank You!" For you also, with that short statement stated what the reality of yours, and those like you, Fear Actually Is!!

The World still waits for this Country to be what we say we are and not act and do what we condemn others for, and that wait means to adhere to our Constitution and Our Laws as well as the International Laws we helped to write and prosecute!

On 11.13.09, the evening of the decision by the Attorney General he was interviewed on the PBS News Hour, just below is the opening segment to the interview.

Part 1: Alleged 9/11 Mastermind Among Detainees to Face Trial in N.Y.

The Justice Department on Friday announced plans to try suspected 9/11 mastermind, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, and four other Guantanamo Bay detainees, in federal court. Ray Suarez reports.

JIM LEHRER: The self-proclaimed mastermind of the 9/11 attacks will face trial in federal court in New York City. That announcement came from the Justice Department today. Four other detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, will also be tried in New York.

And five more will face military tribunals.

Ray Suarez has our lead story report.

RAY SUAREZ: Khalid Sheikh Mohammed topped the list today. He has claimed direct credit for organizing the airliner attacks of September 11.

In Washington, Attorney General Eric Holder said Mohammed and four co-conspirators will be tried just blocks from where the Twin Towers fell.

ERIC HOLDER, U.S. Attorney General: The Justice Department has a long and a successful history of prosecuting terrorists for their crimes against our nation, particularly in New York. Although these cases can often be complex and challenging, federal prosecutors have successfully met these challenges and have convicted a number of terrorists who are now serving lengthy sentences in our prisons...>>>>Rest of Transcript Here

The discussion with Jim Lehrer and Attorney General Eric Holder.

Part 2: Holder: 9/11 Trials Will Weigh 'Crime of the Century'

"This is a case that will be treated as any other criminal case."

In an interview with Jim Lehrer, Attorney General Eric Holder discusses the decision to prosecute the alleged Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other Guantanamo Bay detainees in civilian federal court in New York, calling the stakes "enormous."

JIM LEHRER: I talked with the attorney general this afternoon at the Justice Department.

Mr. Attorney General, welcome.

ERIC HOLDER: U.S. Attorney General: Thanks for having me.

JIM LEHRER: You said this morning that deciding to prosecute these five 9/11 detainees in civilian federal court was a very tough decision for you to make.

Why so?

ERIC HOLDER: The stakes are so enormous. We're talking about what literally is the crime of the century.

Where should this case properly be housed? How do I deal with the concerns of the victims? Am I placing it in a jurisdiction where we can handle the security? There were a whole series of questions that I had to ask, and answer, before I was able to say that this was the right decision to make.

JIM LEHRER: Who did you consult while making this decision?

ERIC HOLDER: I talked to the prosecutors in the Justice Department, prosecutors from the Department of Defense, people on the staff here at the Justice Department, people at Defense, a whole variety of people, who shared ideas, thoughts, gave cautionary ideas as well, and, using all of that, came up with the decision that we announced just earlier today.

JIM LEHRER: Did you run it by President Obama?

ERIC HOLDER: Just informed him of the decision...>>>>Rest of Trascript Here

9/11 widow Kristen Breitweiser

9/11 Trial, Healing or Reopened Wound

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This is a start, but the Country needs to look deep within and bring forth all the charges against our own who with their extremely failed policies, and outright crimes, created the next generations of criminal terrorist, know no borders.

Editorial: 'Unalienable rights'? No more

The foundational document of the United States of America, the Declaration of Independence, declares it to be "self-evident" that "all men ... are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights." Governments, it says, are instituted "to secure these rights." The Second Circuit Court of Appeals has now amended that to read "unless the government claims national security, in which case it can do pretty much whatever it wants."

If this is how the government "protects" us from terrorism, we have lost more than we have gained...>>>>

That is our legacy we are leaving to those who come after us, our children's children and theirs!!

The World Still Waits!!

Some History of 28th July

The Bonus Army

Bonus Marchers on the Capitol Steps
July 28, 1932 Federal troops, under command of General Douglas MacArthur, forcibly dispersed the so-called “Bonus Expeditionary Force,” or Bonus Army. They were World War I veterans who had gathered in Washington, D.C., to demand money they had been promised but weren't scheduled to receive until 1945. Most of the marchers were unemployed veterans in desperate financial straits during the Great Depression........Rest Here

Film of the confrontation in Washington



From Wikipedia

The self-named Bonus Expeditionary Force was an assemblage of some 43,000 marchers — 17,000 World War I veterans, their families, and affiliated groups, who protested in Washington, D.C., in spring and summer of 1932....................

********************

Pres. Lyndon Johnson: Vietnam

July 28, 1965 President Lyndon Johnson ordered 50,000 troops to Vietnam to join the 75,000 already there. By the end of the year 180,000 U.S. troops will have been sent to Vietnam; in 1966 the figure doubled. In addition to countless Vietnamese deaths, close to 1900 Americans were killed in 1965; the following year the number more than tripled. President Johnson explained: “We intend to convince the communists that we cannot be defeated by force of arms or by superior power.”

Part of a Tom Paxton’s anti-Vietnam-war song, “Lyndon Johnson Told the Nation”

Lyndon Johnson told the nation
Have no fear of escalation

I am trying everyone to please
Though it isn’t really
war

We’re sending fifty thousand more

To help save Vietnam from Vietnamese

Full lyrics of the song

“Lyndon Johnson Told the Nation” written and performed by Tom Paxton (1965)


********************

Fourteenth Amendment

July 28, 1868

Passed in the wake of the Civil War, the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, guaranteeing due process, equal protection of the law, and full citizenship to all males over 21, including former slaves, went into effect.

Booklet {PDF} on the 14th Amendment from the Damon Keith Collection of African-American Legal History at Wayne State University Law School.

ceney/bush Quit al Qaeda Hunt

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And now Liz Cheney has been coming out trying to explain this potential illegal issue and misuse of executive power. Now that she opened her mouth, prior to today, about this issue, It Would Behoove Us To Add Her Name To Any Investigation!

What did daddy's little girl know, she was trying to explain it yesterday, especially not being an employee of nor attached to the CIA, and when did she know it, and if she knows enough to be the spokesperson for this then why does she know Anything while our Representatives don't and it took a few months later before the new Director of the CIA found out, is she Now playing the dangerous coverup game and thus another possible witness to a possible crime against our Laws!!!!

White Supremacy in the Military {UpDated}

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.

Previous Report: Watchdog group says dozens of active-duty troops found on neo-Nazi site

It is Facebook for the fascist set, and the typical online profiles of its members reveal expected tastes.

Favorite book: “Mein Kampf.”

Favorite movie: the Nazi propaganda film “Triumph of the Will.”

Interests: “white women.”

Dislikes: “anyone who opposes the master race.”

Where in the Military Oath of Enlistment above does it say anything related to the quote from the previous article taken from a Neo-Nazi website! Nazi's, and Hitler's leadership especially, once and still considered one of the Worlds Extreme Enemies now relegated to Hero Worship, as are those who parrot his beliefs, by those who arrogantly, in their own fears, seek to destroy others as they espouse Hitlers and Nazi Ideology of a superior race of the human being. Even throwing in what they consider christian religious ideology, if military they say it in the oath So help me God, just like the extremist, i.e. al Qaeda and Taliban, of other religious ideologies, just two of the groups they hate. And of course they hate everyone who differ with their extremism, everyone is their enemy.

SPLC: Southern Poverty Law Center's recent report on military {supposedly} personal, registered as, on Neo-Nazi and White Supermists websites and posting their thoughts on others, which means most of those they serve with or have served with, soldiers watching their backs, protecting them as they hope these same soldiers would seek to protect them.

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; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.

Again, see anything that points towards an extremist ideology of hating all others not affiliated with your beliefs or of your skin color in the above Military Officers Oath of Service, officers that lead many assigned under their command, watching over all, who's main responsibility is the safety of all of the military brothers and sisters.

Or how about the closer to home States National Guard, many no longer just weekend warriors, now hardened by combat duties and duties in theaters of occupations, and not just for one tour but many, and not just one theater now but two.

I, [name], do solemly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State (Commonwealth, District, Territory) of ___ against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the Governor of the State (Commonwealth, District, Territory) of ___, that I make this obligation freely, without any mental reservations or purpose of evasion, and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the Office of [grade] in the Army/Air National Guard of the State (Commonwealth, District, Territory) of ___ upon which I am about to enter, so help me God.

White supremacist leader says half of his group has served in the military

The leader of the white supremacist National Socialist Movement estimated Friday that half of his group’s membership has at one time served in the military.

A day earlier, the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups, identified 40 profiles of individuals claiming to be active members of the military on newsaxon.org, a social networking Web site run by the NSM. A review of the site by Stars and Stripes found at least 130 profiles of members who claim to be in the military, though none of their identities and military affiliations has been confirmed.

I'm sure there are a few who were either members of these groups prior to joining or joined after but while serving or after discharge, but does this leader?, Jeff Schoep, check the papers of these military? or veterans? to see just who has served. Or is this like many small radical groups, founded on so called patriotism, nationalism and flag waving, and affiliated to their radical extreme political views, that if someone says they are, wears patches and shows ribbons and medals, and tells tales, they are! Or are they like many, little 'kombat keyboard chickenhawks' who wouldn't think of serving their country but just really enjoy posting up their fears and hatreds in mocho rambo style, in this day, on radical extremist websites and anyplace they think they can stay hidden behind patriotic user names, much like they're breathern we now label as 'Terrorist', who like themselves carry out Criminal Terror against others they hate or just to make their point of being superior in ideology!

How about you Jeff Schoep, have you served, if so did you keep your mouth shut when taking the oath with your brothers and sisters, of all colors, creeds, religious ideologies, most you say you hate, or are you a 'kombat keyboarder' wearing desert cammies and playing rambo?

“I think it’s an extreme left-wing scare tactic, and I think white soldiers have the same right to be in the military as everyone else does,” said Jeff Schoep, leader of the National Socialist Movement. “I think the SPLC is trying to pressure the military to throw these people out, and there is no basis for it. I think its un-American. I think it’s seditious.”

"I think white soldiers have the same right to be in the military as everyone else does". You're right Schoep, and all that think? like you, they do, and they make up the majority of our military, enlisted to officers. But why would someone who thinks? like you want to join one of the most Inclusive Groups in our society, the Total Opposite of your Ideologies of Nazi Supremacy and White Rule, the Master Race!

The military is made up of every color of our Human American Rainbow, every religious ideology found on these shores, every personal lifestyle as well, they train together, live together, eat together, work together, fight together, serve together and Most Importantly Protect Each Other In Combat Theaters when sent into War and Occupations, whether Wars of Choice or of Real Need, in Defense of our Country and Constitution, that's not only their Oath that's their Beliefs, Heartfelt, for their Country, their Whole Country and All Within!

If your members, who say they're military, are serving and carrying on their hate filled beliefs, beliefs they may even post up to show others on your websites, what they do in theaters of operations Endangers not only themselves but Every Soldier they're serving with as well as the Retaliations on other Soldiers, and civilians of their country, from their Atrocities Committed!

And when do you call on these ex-military to rise up and carry out acts of Criminal Terrorism against their own Country men and women, some being soldiers they served with or just veterans of, like themselves, to reach your Stated Goals of this "Master Race!"?????

Ray A. Letteer, head of Marine Corps cybersecurity, said the service blocks sites, such as newsaxon.org, that adversely affect good order and discipline.

“It’s one of the standards we take a look at” when blocking for content, he said.

Over the past year more of those types of sites have been blocked by Marine Corps, Letter said.

The Marine Corps manages its network centrally and can flag new sites that have inappropriate content. Anyone caught using them can be turned into their command for discipline, he said.

I suggest all of you need to take a trip to DC, not for violence, like one just did, nor to mass against our government seeking your master race, but to stand in front of Our Memorial, 'The Wall, or any of the Memorials to those who've served our Country and Constitution in our Conflicts, right or wrong. I suggest at "The Wall" you read Every Name, these are the names of our fallen brothers, whites who wouldn't follow nor serve with the likes of you, blacks and brown skin who served Honorably and were killed in combat, any other color of the human rainbow you can see around you and your community, immigrants many not even being citizens of the country they served yet, gays {they didn't tell even back then}, religious ideology, you name it {knowing it's really tough for the likes of you to think} and you'll find those that serve, The Total Opposite Of Your Hate, Racism and Rhetoric!!

UpDate:

Police: Suspects Charged in Murders of Florida Couple Trained for a Month to Rob Them

A band of men charged in the home-invasion killings of a wealthy Florida couple known for adopting special needs children trained for a month to rob them, investigators said Wednesday.........

Military mentality, attempts towards military precision, military tactics!!

And many are questioning the reports of the recruiting into our military, even when the military says they've discharged personal because of, professional military, of possible neo-nazi's, racist, and gang members!!

"HE KEPT US SAFE"

THE DECLINE OF AMERICAN CHARACTER

THE "CRINGING WIMP" GENERATION

For years we hear little else, "But he kept us safe." The "but" refers to bankrupting the country, stealing elections, suspending Constitutional Rights, poisoning the air and water and turning the country over to racketeers from oil, drug, insurance and crooked financial services..........

Gee, now who could Gordon be talkin about?

Our crimes are so heinous that our new government is fearful of allowing trials for the criminals, believing the entire world would rise against us if they knew what we had done. The process of declassification intended to bring the truth to the world has stopped as we are faced with unimaginable acts of cowardice, brutality and greed, all hidden behind the words, "But he kept us safe." ...........>>>>>Rest Here

Still wondering, well read the rest of what he writes. As I add my meager two cents, and that's not even worth what it used to be, below.

Oh and on this: "believing the entire world would rise against us if they knew what we had done", they already know, a few have participated, but more important in the two theaters of occupations they knew long before us here on the "homeland?", and not just in the occupation zones but the whole region. They had already started growing their ranks, taking to retaliation and the knowing blowback, these acts only adding to those committed against them in the invasions and now long running occupations. Killing and maiming the U.S. and other nations soldiers, anyone working with the occupation, and the citizens, women and children included, who we also killed, not joining them in their brutal attempts to rid their countries of the occupiers and puppet regimes!

These last years only enhanced, greatly, the already growing hatreds from our past failed foreign policies in meddling in their countries, resources, and politics. They have greatly increased the numbers of those we label as al Qaeda or Taliban and especially the new 21st century label, for all who oppose us and our actions, similar to theirs, "Terrorist", as we wage our Terror! Only ours is High Tech terror,, with greater destruction and death, theirs low tech, so ours is righteous, it cost more, and well we're the supreme power and leader of freedom? and democracy?!! "God Bless America"?!!

Gordon just lays out what many others have in a justifiable rant, he does that often, of a society of "cringing wimps" that still exists, as it fears holding those Responsible to the Accountability for their crimes committed, In Our Names!

Accountable for Torture

The rule of law demands accountability. Will we hold accountable those who sanctioned torture in the name of the United States? Watch what some in the military have to say about it. Learn more at ACLU: Rule of Law Produced for the ACLU by Joel Engardio

For "Flag Day"!!

Put this together a few years ago, and Still with No Accountability and a Collapsed Economy, done so by Greed, Extreme Corruption and Continued Incompetence, The Song and Thoughts Still Stand!!!!!



We have a failed Federal Government! No oversite, checks and balances, investigations, opposition, now for over Six Long and Ugly Partisan Years! Will the change in power, coming to the Peoples Congress change things, We'll Be Watching! But there Must Be 'Investigations', in Many Area's, but Especially as to this so called 'War on Terrorism', Iraq, War Profiteering......! Much Proof already in Public Domain, if investigations lead to 'Impeachment' so be it, than Indictments of ALL Involved!!

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!!

Torture-Related Documents Listing

Thanks to David Swanson who has these posted at AfterDowningStreet

May 10, 2005, Bradbury memo to the CIA on legality of specific interrogation techniques

May 30, 2005, Bradbury memo to the CIA on whether interrogation techniques violate U.N. Convention Against Torture (Part 1)

May 30, 2005, Bradbury memo to the CIA on whether interrogation techniques violate U.N. Convention against Torture (Part 2)

CIA Inspector General report 2004

Aug. 1, 2002, Bybee memo to CIA regarding treatment of Abu Zubaydah

Much More Here

And this from KO's MSNBC Show 4.24.09

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As well as this

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Guantanamo

The video is a combination of three BBC News reports on Guantanamo from Dec. '08 to Jan '09, it's about 141/2 minutes long, the links to each individual video at their site found below.

Guantanamo "Abandoned Our Values and Defiled Our Constitution!"


Guantanamo 'a stain on US military' Dec 3rd '08

Guantanamo closure plan ordered Dec 19th '08

Former guard on Guantanamo 'torture' Jan 9th '09

The Special Prosecutor Petition

In the bush Exit Speech 1-12-09

"The most urgent threat that he'll have to deal with and other presidents after him will have to deal with is an attack on our homeland," Bush said. "You know, I wish I could report that's not the case, but there's still an enemy out there that would like to inflict damage on America."

For once I agree with this incompetent,immoral, unrepentant little man, he's created tens of thousands that didn't exist before, who now wish this Country and It's Citizens Harm, "Mission Accomplished"!!

Hmm, American Citizen, 147yrs., Torture, Human Rights Abuses Committed Oversea's, Hmmmm!

Looks like we have the conclusion, coming sometime today, of a bush administration justice? department trial for 'Torture' and 'Human Rights Violations' committed by an American Citizen, Overseas, as laid out in Our Laws, under Our Constitution!

Son of Liberian despot to be sentenced in US after torture trial

American citizen "Chucky Taylor" facing 147years on Human Rights Violations Committed Abroad, today, 1-09-09!!

The son of former Liberian dictator Charles Taylor was to be sentenced Friday on torture charges, under a law allowing US prosecution for human rights abuses committed abroad.

Taylor, who faces a maximum sentence of life in prison, was convicted of five counts of torture, one count of conspiracy to torture, one count of using a firearm during the commission of a violent crime and one count of conspiracy to use a firearm during the commission of a violent crime.

His trial was the first under a 1994 US law allowing prosecution of American nationals charged with torture outside the United States.

One victim was allegedly placed naked in a pit as stinging fire ants were shoveled over his body.

He was also alleged to have tormented his victims with melted plastic, electric shocks, scalding water and beatings with "sharp metal rods."

His father, the notorious dictator Charles Taylor, is on trial for war crimes by the UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone in The Hague, Netherlands.

“No Safe Haven: Accountability for Human Rights Violators in the United States"
Hearing before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law

Human Rights Watch appreciates the invitation to submit a statement for the record on this important subject. On December 6, 2006, the US Department of Justice took an unprecedented step to ensure accountability for human rights violators who are in or come to the United States. The department brought the first-ever criminal charges for torture committed abroad. The charges are against Charles “Chuckie” Taylor, Jr., the son of the former Liberian president Charles Taylor and also a US citizen, who entered the United States in March 2006. The charges relate to Taylor, Jr.’s role in committing torture as head of a security unit under his father’s presidency in Liberia.

CHAPTER 113C—TORTURE 18 USC - 2340A

War crimes 18 USC - 2441


Genocide 18 USC - 1091

Related Material
U.S.: Investigate Taylor’s Son for Torture, War Crimes

The U.S. Department of Justice should investigate with a view to prosecuting Charles “Chuckie” Taylor, Jr., the son of former Liberian President Charles Taylor, for torture and war crimes, Human Rights Watch said today. The younger Taylor is implicated in committing such abuses while he served as the commander of an elite pro-government military unit in Liberia.

The former Liberian president’s son is scheduled to be arraigned on Tuesday, May 30 at 10 a.m. in Miami before Judge Barry L. Garber in the New North Courtroom of the Dyer Building. He is indicted for falsely stating his father’s name in a U.S. passport application. He was taken into U.S. custody on March 30 when he attempted to enter the United States at Miami International Airport.

Gee it makes one Think, now doesn't it!!!!


Sign On To The Petition, and use other means to bring about Accountability for the sake of this Country and Constitution!!

UpDate
They gave him a break, Knocked Off 50

Taylor's son jailed for 97 years

"Chuckie" Taylor, the son of former Liberian President Charles Taylor has been sentenced by a US court to 97 years in prison for torture.

A Former POW Speaks......

A Former POW's Open Letter to Congress

Here is the Oath of Office I took on July 1, 1957:

I, Phillip Neal Butler, having been appointed a Midshipman in the United States Navy, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign or domestic, and to bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office upon which I am about to enter, so help me God.

Upon graduation from the United States Naval Academy in 1961, I repeated this oath to be commissioned an ensign in the United States Navy. I served 20 years as an active duty commissioned officer. During that time I became a Naval Aviator, flew combat in Vietnam, was downed over North Vietnam on April 20, 1965 and became a prisoner of war. I was repatriated on February 12, 1973, having served 2,855 days and nights as a POW – just short of 8 years. The Vietnamese were not signatory to any international treaties on treatment of prisoners. They pronounced us "criminals" and freely used torture, harassment, malnutrition, isolation, lack of medical care and other degradations during our captivity. I was tortured dozens of times during my captivity. But I often thought of our Constitution and the higher purpose we served – a purpose that helped me resist beyond what I thought I’d ever be capable of. Ironically, we POWs often reminded each other that our country would never stoop to torture and the low level of treatment we were experiencing at the hands of our captors.

SNIP

So what in the world has happened during the past 8 years of the Bush administration? The only defensible answer is that he and his subordinates have trampled our precious Constitution and the Rule of Law into the ground while our elected members of Congress have stood idly and complicitly by. Our highest elected officials have utterly failed with their greatest responsibility.

During these years we have seen gross attempts to institutionalize torture. Our Constitution, Article VI, (2) commonly known as the "Supremacy" clause clearly states that treaties made shall become "the supreme law of the land," thus elevating them to the level of Constitutional law.

SNIP

I suggest a visit to read the rest.

You might also take a look at the comments, most at military.com come from little 'chickenhawks' playing online soldiers!!

Warrantless Surveillance

For Immediate Release:
October 31, 2008

Court Orders Government to Submit Warrantless Surveillance Legal Opinions for Judicial Review


Court refuses to accept blanket assertions of secrecy regarding DOJ surveillance opinions

For more information contact:
Meredith Fuchs - 202/994-7000

Washington D.C., October 31, 2008 - In an opinion issued today in a case brought by the National Security Archive, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Privacy Information Center, the United States District Court for the District of the Columbia ordered the Department of Justice to submit several legal opinions issued by the Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel for in camera review. The court explained that the “[Department of Justice] has now had two opportunities to provide this court with sufficiently detailed affidavits to describe why the documents at issue are subject to the claimed exemptions, and why many documents must be withheld in full.” Finding the Justice Department explanations insufficient, the court is now ordering the records submitted for the court’s review. The opinion is available here - in PDF.

The 'chubby' little Voter Felon!!

was arrested on voter fraud charges.

And I would say this little chubby 25yr old is a true blue 'chickenhawk' along with being of criminal mind, or why isn't he in the military defending the 'homeland'!!

Ontario police arrest man in voter fraud case

Signature-Gatherer Arrested In Voter Fraud
Calif. GOP Contractor Accused In Registration Scam Charged With Falsely Registering Own Address

Video link for LA Times Story above


As I'm sure he uses his computer to keep tabs on, and receive his talking points, I offer his Medal, a military one seems not what he would look for while trying to create havoc in our Democratic Voting process and Right!


And as there will be no Military Patches for our brave little Voter Registration and his own possible Voter Fraud I feel it's my duty to embellish this tool of Democracy destruction the following patch, to wear Proudly!!


From all of us older Veterans but Especially from the Soldiers of todays Multiple Tours Extremely Dangerous Occupations and Veterans of same who served their Multiple Tours and Survived, we hope you wear this with pride!!

And because you've chosen a different route, not to defend country, but to destroy the citizens rights to participate the way they choose by Registering to Vote and Registering to a Party of their choice, plus make this post really worthwhile let me bring the Reality!

Afghanistan:

Fighting In A "Hornet's Nest"

There is a reason the base 60 Minutes and correspondent Lara Logan traveled to is called "Wilderness." It's in the middle of nowhere, with nothing but desolate mountains stretching endlessly into the distance, until you drop onto a tiny patch of ground not much bigger than a football field in the heart of enemy territory.

"I thought it was gonna be a little bit quieter here. But we landed in a hornet's nest when we got here," explains Staff Sgt. Jake Schlereth.

When Schlereth, 27, and 33-year-old Sgt. First Class Anthony Barnes were sent to Afghanistan, they thought the fight was mostly over.

When he arrived in Afghanistan, Sgt. Schlereth didn't think he'd be landing in a hornet's nest. "I guess I really didn't know what to expect when I got here. I'd never been here before, I'd only been to Iraq. And you didn't hear too much about Afghanistan on the news. It was all about Iraq."

"Iraq, yeah. … Roles are reversed," Sgt. Barnes comments.

"Yeah. Reversed. And now it's all about here," Schlereth agrees.

It's all about "here" because the fight in Afghanistan is worse than ever. The tiny base has been hit by rockets and mortars at least 30 times since these soldiers arrived in March.

And that's only part of it: Barnes, Schlereth and their fellow soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division have survived 20 ambushes on their patrols.

Combat In Afghanistan

Oct. 19, 2008 Enemy combatants for U.S. troops are on the rise in Afghanistan. Lara Logan reports from a forward operating base near Pakistan.

Frontlines Of Al Qaeda

02/11/2004: Lara Logan reported from the frontline of the War on Terror in Afghanistan

Ambush In Afghanistan

U.S. Army Special Forces say they were shocked by military tactics used by Taliban fighters who ambushed them near Kandahar, Afghanistan, in their first account of the unreported battle. Lara Logan reports.

And NPR Diane Rehm Show this morning - ACORN

The Allegations against ACORN

John McCain and other Republicans accuse the grass roots community organization ACORN of attempting to steal next month’s presidential election. The organization says it has helped register one-point-three million low-income, minority and young voters. A look at ACORN and the allegations against it
Guests

Bertha Lewis, Interim Chief Organizer of ACORN.

Greg Gordon, National Correspondent for McClatchy Newspapers Washington Bureau.

Ken Klukowski, Legal Analyst for the American Civil Rights Union.

Steve Ansolabehere, Professor of Government at Harvard University.

Listen with Real Player

Listen with Wondows Media Player

FIVE VFP MEMBERS OCCUPY NATIONAL ARCHIVES BUILDING

On Tuesday morning, September 23, 7:30am, at the front of the National Archives Building on Constitution Ave. in Washington, D.C., five military veterans will risk arrest as they climb a 9-foot retaining fence and occupy a 35-foot high ledge to raise a 22x8 foot banner stating, "DEFEND OUR CONSTITUTION. ARREST BUSH AND CHENEY: WAR CRIMINALS!"



Those participating are Veterans For Peace Board President Elliott Adams, Board Member Ellen Barfield, staff member Doug Zachary, Kim Carlyle, Diane Wilson, and Tarak Kauff.

"Executive Power and Its Constitutional Limitations"

The House Judiciary Committee today, Friday, July 25th, will put Impeachment squarely back "on the table" and restored to its prominent place in our Constitution.


Wednesday 07/25/2008 - 10:00 AM
2141 Rayburn House Office Building
Full Committee
By Direction of the Chairman


The first panel Friday morning will include Congressman Dennis Kucinich making a case for impeachment based on the articles of impeachment he has drafted against Cheney and Bush.


The Cheney/Bush links takes you to the pages over at After Downing Street.org where Diavid Swanson has the pertinant links to much more information.


The rest of that first panel will include: Hon. Maurice Hinchey U.S. House of Representatives 22nd District, NY, Hon. Walter Jones U.S. House of Representatives 3rd District, NC, And Hon. Brad Miller U.S. House of Representatives 13th District, NC.


Then the second panel convenes and will include: Hon. Elizabeth Holtzman Former U.S. House of Representatives 16th District, NY Department of Justice, Hon. Bob Barr Former U.S. House of Representatives U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement 7th District, GA, Hon. Ross C. "Rocky" Anderson Founder and President High Roads for Human Rights, Stephen Presser Raoul Berer Professor of Legal History Northwestern University School of Law, Bruce Fein Associate Deputy Attorney General, 1981-82 Chairman, American Freedom Agenda, Vincent Bugliosi Author and Former Los Angeles County Prosecutor, Jeremy A. Rabkin Professor of Law George Mason University School of Law, Elliott Adams President of the Board Veterans for Peace, Frederick A. O. Schwarz, Jr. Senior Counsel Brennan Center for Jutice at NYU School of Law.


The links above will give you each persons testimony, in PDF, after the hearings are over and they are posted to the House Judiciary Committee site.


Elliott Adams, President of Veterans for Peace, and a descendant of American revolutionary Sam Adams, will deliver this prepared testimony, in it he will tell America:

Upon leaving the Constitutional Convention of 1787 –
Ben Franklin was asked: “Well, Doctor, what have we got—a Republic or a Monarchy?”
Dr. Franklin replied: “A Republic, if you can keep it.”

He will tell them who Veterans For Peace are:

Veterans For Peace has members from every war our country has fought back to and including World War II. VFP is 23 years old, has over 120 chapters spread around the country, has an NGO seat in the UN, and a small share in the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize. Our members help 85,000 Iraqis get safe drinking water, gave 54,000 free phone cards to patients in 148 VA hospitals, help Agent Orange victims both US soldiers and Vietnamese civilians, aided Hurricane Katrina victims, supports schools and orphanages in Afghanistan & Vietnam, have worked extensively in Central American for freedom and fair elections, and bought appropriate body armor for soldiers in Iraq when the government could not supply it.

But many of our members have set aside all these other important works to defend our democracy by calling for impeachment.

He will also let America know:

"For us veterans, when our time came, we volunteered our very lives for this republic; for the principle of freedom for all, for equal opportunity for all, to defend the Constitution and the principles embodied in the Declaration of Independence, and to guarantee the opportunity for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Now, Congressmen, it is your time, and I hear there is not enough time! Now is your time, and I hear it will not be good for one party or the other party! Now is your time, and I hear there is not enough political will around you! When our founding fathers signed the Declaration of Independence they were not worried about political will, or how much time there was, or about any parties' political future, they were just worried they were going to be hanged by the neck. But they did what was right. Now it is your time to standup. Einstein said – 'The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.'"

Upon joining the United States Military Branches we take an Oath, and in that oath we say these words: "to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.", as veterans we still take oath very seriously!


Unless you came here as an immigrant from another country, the greater majority of the citizens of this country aren't required to take an oath, most will say the Pledge of Alligence to the flag, but even that is not a required oath. Your oath is the written Bill of Rights and the Constitution and in those it lays out the what this country was founded on and what it must do when these are violated.


We are supposed to be a Land of Law and when our Laws are Violated and Broken we must take the nessary actions to uphold the Constitution and the Qualities this Nation strives for and lead by the example we set for ourselves!


Bruce Fein, Associate Deputy Attorney General, 1981-82, in his testimony will than tell the American people:

"If President George W. Bush had knocked to enter the constitutional convention in Philadelphia in 1787, presiding convention president George Washington would have denied him admission. Thereby hangs an alarming tale. The executive branch has vandalized the Constitution every bit as much [sic] the barbarians vandalized Rome in 410 AD. The executive branch has destroyed the Constitution's time-honored checks and balances and raced the nation perilously close to executive despotism. The executive branch rejects the basic philosophical tenets of the United States. It does not accept that America was conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that sovereignty in a republican form of government lies with the people; that there are no vassals or serfs in the Constitution's landscape; that every man or woman is a king or queen but no one wears a crown; and, that the rule of law is the nation's civic religion. The Founding Fathers fashioned impeachment as a remedy for attacks against the constitutional order."

Many of you have been right along side those who threw Impeachment, that should have occurred long ago, off "the table", and the only reason is your fear that the political party letter you follow will not gain the control of power, for your hired representatives, you crave.


We Veterans have served this Country in times of relative Peace but especially in those times of War and Occupation, right or wrong, that you have sent us into.


Reason; We Took An Oath to Defend and Protect the Constitution of this Country and to serve Honorably, and we have, and once that Oath was taken it was never forgotten, like our experiances in service to.



It's long past time for the Citizens to stand up and Defend their Constitution and Country, it's time You Did Your Service and hold those destroying the Constitution and Country, from within, Accountable for the Laws Covered, and Broken, by that Extremely Important Document, the document we live by and leads us above others as to the example we should be setting for all to see!

The day before the hearing, some of those impeachment advocates gathered at the National Press Club, David Swanson, Ray McGovern, Bruce Fein, Cindy Sheehan, Cynthia Papermaster, and Crystal Kim. Videos of what they had to say, and their questions and answers with the media, are posted at YouTube

Over at After Downing Street

David has a post up now for Live Blogging from the Hearing on Impeachment!

You can go over and leave any comments, and he'll probably be giving updates from the hearing chamber when it begins!

Summer Reading: A Childrens Book for You Adults

As we wait for the many coming books, I'm sure more will be surfacing, as many try to cleanse their souls, of these last eight years plus, in seeking their higher kingdom, we might have the time to take this seemingly telling descriptive tale into the fold of good reading. We could even make the copies a collective item reminding us, in a comfortable way, of what we've been put through, us and the rest of the world. Comfortable because it might not enrage as we read and study the pictures, like the hard reality of the history will.

And I give you the title right off, Intriqued?

I didn't catch this when it aired, but while a visit to the NPR site, to relisten to another report, I caught this little tidbit in their list.

All Things Considered had it on yesterday, July 8.

The full title is: Goodnight Bush: A Parody.

It's a riff of the Margaret Wise Brown's classic children's book Goodnight Moon and satirizes the Bush administration.

But look closer and you'll see that the painting over the fireplace shows an oil derrick with stealth bombers flying around it.

In the fireplace, there's a ballot box burning that says, "Florida 2000."

And snaking around the side of the fireplace is a tiny microphone.

In place of the bunny rabbit character in the children's book, a childlike George Bush is tucked safely in bed "surrounded by toys that represent different facets of the Bush administration's legacy," Golan says.

A tiny Osama bin Laden peeks out from many of the pages, and a shotgun-toting Dick Cheney whispers, "Hush."

"The book obviously isn't for children," Origen says. "At the same time, it lets us look at the past eight years through the eyes of a child.

And it lets us see how far Bush's reality is from the reality anyone would want for their children."

The authors say the book is illustrated with "naked simplicity" to show respect and sensitivity.

You can take a listen in with this link to bring up their player

I just ordered my copy before writing this, I'm Intriqued, it looks like a fun, but serious, look at the state we find our country, and our world standing, today and for the forseeable future, at 59 that future should cover any time I have left, plus!!

CITIZEN’S IMPEACHMENT:

The Veterans for Peace has two missions. One is Peace and the other is working for Justice. If we don't have Justice; Peace may never have a chance. Therefore, the Veterans for Peace is working to impeach George W. Bush and Richard B. Cheney. We hope to impeach them for sake of Peace. I hope you will work with us for all our sake. Welcome to the VFP Impeachment Project. Now, Gung ho - pull together.

Semper pacificus,
Daniel I. Fearn,
Co-chair, VFP Impeachment Project
CITIZEN'S IMPEACHMENT

Veterans For Peace encourages it's members to take part in After Downing Street.org impeachment campaign.

Declaration of Impeachment

Issued by Veterans for Peace for July 4

Governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, and are instituted to secure the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. But

“…whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

…all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations…design(s) to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

…The history of the present King (George) of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny…To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
§ He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
§ He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
§ He has…deprive(ed) us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury…transport(ed) us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
§ He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us…
§ He is at this time transporting large Armies…to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
§ He has constrained our fellow Citizens…to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

A (President) whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
We, therefore…do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People…solemnly publish and declare, That these…Free and Independent (People)…are Absolved from all Allegiance to the (Bush Administration), and that all political connection between them and (this Administration), is and ought to be totally dissolved…And for the support of this Declaration…we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.”

(Note: Except for the first two lines above and words in parentheses, this Declaration is quoted directly from the original Declaration of Independence.) Veterans For Peace

If we don't hold Accountability we loose the Constitution, the Nation as it should be, and All Moral Values of a Society!