What is torture? According to the dictionary it is defined as: “The action or practice of inflicting severe pain on someone as a punishment or to force them to do or say something. Great physical or mental suffering or anxiety.” With regards to torture, the 17th Article of the Geneva Conventions states: “No physical or mental torture, nor any other form of coercion, may be inflicted on prisoners of war to secure from them information of any kind whatever. Prisoners of war who refuse to answer may not ...More »

First, from Keith Olbermann... Second, regarding what is and is not deemed torture. Last night I revisited the film In The Name Of The Father, the true story of Gerry Conlon and the Guildford Four and Maguire Seven. The film is based on Conlon's autobiography entitled Proved Innocent, which I highly recommend. For those of you that don't know the story, the Guildford Four were the first people detained under the prevention of terrorism act. This act allowed the British government to detain suspects for seven days ...More »

You know, I’ve been doing this long enough to know better than to link to right leaning blogs. By doing so initially in this entry I broke the golden rule, which is to stay on topic and not invite negative attention. Thus, I have amended this entry to correct my own ignorant oversight. One can only imagine what it must be like for an adult prisoner to endure US treatment at Guantanamo. But for Omar Khadr, who was sent to the facility when he was ...More »

The reaction by many US conservatives, including Republican Presidential hopeful John McCain, to the recent US Supreme Court decision to grant detainees held at Guantanamo the right of Habeas Corpus has been, dare I say, rather un-American. In fact, McCain has even gone so far as to call the decision the worst in the history of the Supreme Court. One wonders if Mr. McCain, and those who share his view, have read Thomas Paine’s Rights Of Man? Of those detained at Guantanamo, how many are innocent? ...More »

McClatchy’s eight-month investigation into the US detention system post 9/11 and wrongful imprisonments is, in my opinion, a must read. McClatchy describes the journalistic investigation as follows… “An eight-month McClatchy investigation of the detention system created after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks has found that the U.S. imprisoned innocent men, subjected them to abuse, stripped them of their legal rights and allowed Islamic militants to turn the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba into a school for jihad.” The following is an excerpt from Guantanamo: Beyond The ...More »

First, McClatchy Newspapers has conducted an eight-month investigation of the US detention system created in the aftermath of 9/11. Guantanamo: Beyond the Law is an unprecedented examination of the detention system, one which every free thinking person should seriously examine. It is a five part series that will begin publication on the 15th of this month. “Reporter Tom Lasseter, with help from Matt Schofield, conducted in-person interviews with 66 former detainees now living mostly in the Middle East and South Asia. No other news organization has ...More »

Superman is fictional. So is the rule of law as it pertains to the Bush Administration… “The Pentagon urged interrogators at Guantanamo Bay to destroy handwritten notes in case they were called to testify about potentially harsh treatment of detainees, a military defense lawyer said Sunday. The lawyer for Toronto-born Omar Khadr, Lt. Cmdr. William Kuebler, said the instructions were included in an operations manual shown to him by prosecutors and suggest the U.S. deliberately thwarted evidence that could help terror suspects defend themselves at trial. Kuebler said ...More »

What can you expect from American politicians when you’re addressing them as an individual that was held captive at Guantanamo for almost five years of your life despite the fact that you did nothing wrong and were eventually released without charge? Very little. First, you can expect less than half a dozen of those that sit on the House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs to actually show up to hear you speak. Second, you can be assured that most of them won’t even be able ...More »

New reports out of Burma have placed deaths caused by the cyclone that recently hit the country at upwards of 10,000 people, far greater than figures initially released. Some 24 million people live in the five regions of the country that were hit. There have also been reports that that 80% of Laputta has been completely destroyed. If this doesn’t make you throw up in your mouth, nothing will. It is utterly fucking sick. A piece by Chomsky from February of this year entitled ...More »

Yesterday’s Congressional testimony by FBI Director Robert Mueller was one of the most blatant examples of doubletalk that you will ever come across. During his testimony, Mueller verified that numerous FBI agents had complained about the conduct of CIA interrogators and their use of harsh techniques. Given that, according to Mueller’s testimony, when questioned by Rep. Robert Wexler… “Robert Mueller: I can go so far sir as to tell you that a protocol in the FBI is not to use coercion in any of our interrogations ...More »