To the contrary, it was the policies signed by Bush, and assurances provided to the CIA by officials such as Chertoff, that were responsible for the atrocities at Abu Ghraib and prisoner abuse at Guantanamo.
A 2004 report on the prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib prepared by a panel led by James Schlesinger determined that an action memorandum dated Feb. 7, 2002 that was signed by President Bush stating that the Geneva Convention did not apply to members of al-Qaeda or the Taliban led Lt. Ricardo S. Sanchez, the top commander in Iraq to institute a “dozen interrogation methods beyond” the Army’s standard practice under the convention.
Sanchez said he based his decision on reasoning “from the President's Memorandum of February 7, 2002," which he said had justified "additional, tougher measures" against detainees, the Schlesigner report said.
And the abuses that took place at Guantanamo, according to a separate report issued by Army Maj. Gen. George R. Fay, were the result of Rumsfeld’s verbal and written authorization in December 2002 that said interrogators could use “stress positions, isolation for up to thirty days, removal of clothing and the use of detainees' phobias (such as the use of dogs).”
“From December 2002, interrogators in Afghanistan were removing clothing, isolating people for long periods of time, using stress positions, exploiting fear of dogs and implementing sleep and light deprivation,” the Fay report says.
Rumsfeld’s approval of certain interrogation methods outlined in a December 2002 action memorandum was criticized by Alberto Mora, the former general counsel of the Navy.
“The interrogation techniques approved by the Secretary [of Defense] should not have been authorized because some (but not all) of them, whether applied singly or in combination, could produce effects reaching the level of torture, a degree of mistreatment not otherwise proscribed by the memo because it did not articulate any bright-line standard for prohibited detainee treatment, a necessary element in any such document,” Mora wrote in a 14-page letter to the Navy’s inspector general.
Additionally, a Dec. 20, 2005 Army Inspector General Report relating to the capture and interrogation of Mohammad al Qahtani includes a a sworn statement by Lt. Gen. Randall M. Schmidt that Secretary Rumsfeld was “personally involved” in the interrogation of al Qahtani and spoke “weekly” with Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller, the commander at Guantanamo, about the status of the interrogations between late 2002 and early 2003. Gitanjali S. Gutierrez, an attorney with the Center for Constitutional Rights, who represents al Qahtani, said in a sworn declaration that his client, who is imprisoned at Guantanamo, was subjected to months of torture based on verbal and written authorization’s from Rumsfeld.
“At Guantánamo, Mr. al Qahtani was subjected to a regime of aggressive interrogation techniques, known as the “First Special Interrogation Plan,” that were authorized by U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld,” Gutierrez said. “Those techniques were implemented under the supervision and guidance of Secretary Rumsfeld and the commander of Guantánamo, Major General Geoffrey Miller. These methods included, but were not limited to, forty-eight days of severe sleep deprivation and 20-hour interrogations, forced nudity, sexual humiliation, religious humiliation, physical force, prolonged stress positions and prolonged sensory overstimulation, and threats with military dogs.”
Gutierrez’s claims about the type of interrogation al-Qahtani endured have since been borne out with the release of hundreds of pages of internal Pentagon documents describing interrogation methods at Guantanamo and at least two independent reports about prisoner abuse.
All told, the Schlesinger report says, orders signed by Bush and Rumsfeld in 2002 and 2003 authorizing brutal interrogations “became policy” at Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib, the Schlesinger report says.
In February, the Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) confirmed that it launched a formal investigation to determine, among other issues, whether agency attorneys, including Chertoff, provided the White House and the CIA with poor legal advice when it said CIA interrogators could use harsh interrogation methods against detainees
Jason Leopold is editor of the online investigative news magazine The Public Record, http://www.pubrecord.org, and the author of the National Bestseller, "News Junkie," a memoir. Visit www.newsjunkiebook.com for a preview. He is also a two-time winner of the Project Censored award, most recently, in 2007, for an investigative story related to Halliburton's work in Iran. He was recently named the recipient of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation's Thomas Jefferson Award for a series of stories he wrote that exposed how soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan have been pressured to accept fundamentalist Christianity.
Blowing Smoke - Instead of Broomsticks - Up Lizzie Borden's
All of this is quite interesting. By the way, "Lizzie Borden took an axe and killed her mama with 40 whacks. Just to have a little more fun, she killed her daddy with 41." The point?
None of these stories means a (expletive deleted) thing without indictments. Who could be as bad a person as Bush and Cheney? Accomplice Nancy Pelosi. The problem we have faced for the last 10 years is a lack of respect en masse for the laws of our land and the Constitution by top elected leaders.
Before Bush, I never heard of Chertoff, nor will anyone ever again. If these gangsters don't go to prison, we, the people, are setting a precedent for further heinous behavior.
All these ancillaries are for amusement only. What counts are indictments in the House of Representatives.
by
Dusty Nathan (16 articles, 0 quicklinks, 7 diaries, 50 comments)
on Saturday, April 19, 2008 at 7:41:04 AM
Some of the hardest questions (indictments are hard) make investigative reporting so tough. I think a lot of well-meaning persons in government are more afraid of making mistakes than they are of prosecuting outrageous official conduct. As I commiserate with you reporters, I also beseech you to understand what "fear factor" has done to legislative courage. Who breaks the impasse?
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Margaret Bassett (19 articles, 1124 quicklinks, 24 diaries, 622 comments)
on Saturday, April 19, 2008 at 8:17:29 AM
Fix whatever the problem seems to be with 'immigration', and get the borders attended to. Period. Let there be no misunderstanding in the future, etc. The only reason that the whole stupid waterboard thing could have happened to begin with is because of pressure on the legal system.
I think that the people whose business it is to enforce and uphold the law(s) should also be in the business of learning as much as they can about them, and respecting them, too.
by
truthtruffle (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 4 diaries, 91 comments)
on Saturday, April 19, 2008 at 10:34:17 AM
"The Washington Post published a story that first exposed the CIA's use of so-called "black site" prisons overseas to interrogate terror suspects, using methods that were not legal in the United States."
So we exported illegal acts. Our laws, especially as it relates to torture, selective rendition and other dark operations ought to carry stronger punishments if committed by our citizens outside of our own borders.
We are violating International Law, which is supposed to be the supreme law of the land.
And Chertoff, while apparently knowing better, became a "yes" man for the President and wrote the opinion to fit his will. And with our judicial system so corrupted by partisan politics will we ever be able to trust their opinions again?
Seems few within the US have the courage to educate themselves, independently verify and evaluate and then take action by doing the right thing.
And where is the International Community on these outrageous acts? Has the US been condemned? If not, why?
by
August Adams (10 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 389 comments)
on Saturday, April 19, 2008 at 11:08:31 AM
No matter how you sugar coat, camouflage, or paint lipstick on it, these interrogations are high crimes and misdemeanors. They violate THEIR constitutional oath. I know a took a similar oath once to serve/volunteer for America. I know what my oath said about upholding ALL laws of the land.
I don't care who said he said she said, they said and all this buck passing. The buck stops at the President and he will sing like a birdie, IMO. The total disregard for subpoenas is a crime in itself (e.g., Harriet).
So what are the politicians waiting for? Arrest those criminals. Oh that's right, the politicians don't care either because you see, they like the "passing down" of the new Tyranny. The servitude to the Corporate King pleases them and their pocket book. So who CAN arrest Mister Chertoff(mr. dual citizen of Russia)? Who can arrest the Prez?
They are laughing so hard at all of us. They are spitting on our names as they enter them into the world data bank.
Those walls built to keep the "illegals out", keep us in as well. They are laughing about that I am totally sure. Can you hear them say, " hey, they begged us to build the walls that shut them in! Like a dog in the yard!".
Jokes on us, but I'm not laughing.
As always, Mister Leopold's journalism is top notch reporting. I'm a faithful reader and was on the "TO" as well.
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shirley reese (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 213 comments)
on Saturday, April 19, 2008 at 12:16:06 PM
Chertoff is a dual citizen with Israel, not Russia. But I agree with what you're saying and also welcome Mr. Leopold to Oped.
Another thing worth mentioning were the Palmer-esque raids that were carried out by Chertoff after 9/11, where many people were rounded up, deported or jailed without charge or trial. Also perplexing, the list of domestic terrorist groups posted on the Department of Homeland Security website that were topped by animal activist groups while they completely ignored right wing extremist groups. Why does PETA get a top rating when Aryan Nation didn't even make the list? Although they've burned down a few buildings, PETA never killed anyone and we all know the opposite to be true when it comes to skinheads and the KKK. You would think in this case a person with dual citizenship to Israel would be far more diligent wouldn't you?
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Michael Shaw (7 articles, 1 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 306 comments)
on Saturday, April 19, 2008 at 1:55:57 PM
ms justice is blind as a bat-ter facing sandy k in 1963. we need hercules, or at least perry mason to right the wrongs. who you gonna call/ buszh busters!
get pappy buszh, his aleister crowley looking spouse, laura the car killer, jenna and lil' barbsy all in the same room with the shrub and lets have a counciling session for these huckleberries. could there be a more dis-functional family in all the kingdom? i think they could all be taken to the funny farm and never heard from again. even karl rogue said he has been frightened of alis in wonder-land mammy for 37 years.
uncle dicky and his playmates donny, ashy, condi, and colley can all be admitted as well.
by
Wolfie (8 articles, 0 quicklinks, 9 diaries, 984 comments)
on Saturday, April 19, 2008 at 6:11:33 PM
I have to say that I believe the comments about Chertoff and Israel are misplaced. One need not be from Israel or hold citizenship there to be an a-hole or just a plain old rotten human being.
If Chertoff held citizenship in France, Germany, etc., he would still be a rotten person and his acts would be equally as deplorable. The fact that he has ties to Israel makes no difference.
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Jason Leopold (104 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 8 comments)
on Saturday, April 19, 2008 at 2:25:49 PM
I was informed wrong by another person on the Chertoff citizenship. His name sure is Russian. Chertoff is guilty of treason and spying as well. Chertoff and Cheney make Satan look good. Heh heh. Actually Israeli ties are worse, IMO.
Will anyone hold these thugs accountable...ever? It's obvious Britain isn't going to do such.
ALmighty Apophus, come our way! The asteroid is traveling 280,000,000 miles per hour. Said to enter our atmosphere in 2012(originally it was 2017). You know where I am hoping it hits, don't you? LOL.
I predict my state(MT) will burn heavy this summer. We had a fire early, just yesterday.....a civil warning and then canceled. I said last summer this would be the year that MT goes up in flames. We burn millions of acres every year due to our drought, but this year...I think will be the killer fire. In the event, we will see what Chertoff(HSec) does to us...keep a watch.
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shirley reese (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 213 comments)
on Saturday, April 19, 2008 at 3:41:30 PM
If my earlier comment seems to be confusing that is because I intended to post it on buzzflash.net in response to a reader's comment about Chertoff being a torturer b/c he was from Israel.
How I ended up posting my response here I am not sure. But that's what I get for reading and commenting before I've had my coffee.
;)
by
Jason Leopold (104 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 8 comments)
on Sunday, April 20, 2008 at 1:18:33 AM
