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Bush Administration Engaged in a Conscious Policy of Torture
By Jason Leopold (about the author) Page 1 of 3 page(s)
For OpEdNews: Jason Leopold - Writer
As more pieces of a very ugly mosaic fall into place – including new details from a confidential 2007 report by the International Committee of the Red Cross about interrogations at CIA “black sites” – any remaining doubt that the Bush administration engaged in a conscious policy of torture is disappearing.
Former Vice President Dick Cheney may continue to say, as he did on Sunday, that the interrogation of “war on terror” suspects was “done legally; it was done in accordance with our constitutional practices and principles.” But those assurances ring hollow.
The true story is coming into ever-sharper focus: high-ranking U.S. officials turning to what Cheney called “the dark side” after the 9/11 attacks and ordering the CIA to create a network of secret prisons. Determined to extract information from suspected terrorists, the White House then collaborated with Justice Department lawyers to find ways around anti-torture laws and American traditions.
Though the outlines of this story have been sketched out over several years, many chilling details are now getting filled in, including an article by author Mark Danner in the New York Review of Books about an ICRC report concluding that the abuse of 14 “high-value” detainees “constituted torture.”
“In addition, many other elements of the ill treatment, either singly or in combination, constituted cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment,” according to the ICRC report cited by Danner. Since the ICRC’s responsibilities involve ensuring compliance with the Geneva Conventions and supervising the treatment of prisoners of war, the organization’s findings carry legal weight.
The ICRC report also found that there was a consistency in many details from the detainees who were interviewed separately and that the first “high-value” detainee to be captured, Abu Zubaydah, appeared to have been used as something of a test case by his interrogators. According to various accounts, he was transferred to a secret prison in Thailand and possibly elsewhere to be brutally questioned.
According to Zubaydah’s account to the ICRC:
“Two black wooden boxes were brought into the room outside my cell. One was tall, slightly higher than me and narrow. Measuring perhaps in area [3 1/2 by 2 1/2 feet by 6 1/2 feet high]. The other was shorter, perhaps only [3 1/2 feet] in height. I was taken out of my cell and one of the interrogators wrapped a towel around my neck, they then used it to swing me around and smash me repeatedly against the hard walls of the room. I was also repeatedly slapped in the face....
“I was then put into the tall black box for what I think was about one and a half to two hours. The box was totally black on the inside as well as the outside.... They put a cloth or cover over the outside of the box to cut out the light and restrict my air supply. It was difficult to breathe.
“When I was let out of the box I saw that one of the walls of the room had been covered with plywood sheeting. From now on it was against this wall that I was then smashed with the towel around my neck. I think that the plywood was put there to provide some absorption of the impact of my body. The interrogators realized that smashing me against the hard wall would probably quickly result in physical injury."
Zubaydah told the ICRC that CIA interrogators told him he was the first prisoner to be tortured in this way, "so no rules applied. It felt like they were experimenting and trying out techniques to be used later on other people."
Zubaydah also told the ICRC representatives that he was subjected to the drowning sensation of waterboarding, a practice that has been considered torture since the Inquisition. Zubaydah and other detainees added that they were kept naked, placed in frigid rooms and forced to spend long hours in painful “stress” positions.
Danner said the chapter headings of the ICRC report listed some of the torture techniques reported by the detainees to ICRC personnel: “suffocation by water,” “prolonged stress standing,” “beatings by use of a collar,” “confinement in a box.”
Some of these techniques, such as the use of waterboarding on three detainees, have been acknowledged by senior Bush administration officials, including Cheney who has said he approved of specific harsh tactics applied during the interrogations.
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Sad, pathetic, disgusting
Worst of all is my own representative's, Bill Delahunt, (D-Ma) total lack of response. The more they hold out with no response to crimninality at the top, the more it implicates them of either knowing themselves in advance and/or actually approving of these sick policies. Obama included. Why else would they be so quiet? This will come back to haunt them, sooner than later. We must never give up. My personal goal is to get Cheney imprisoned before he has a heart attack as a free man. What a loser and pathetic human being. by Nick van Nes (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 773 comments [270 recommended, 3 rejected]) on Wednesday, Mar 18, 2009 at 10:52:35 PM  (1+)
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Reply: cc: william.delahunt@mail.house.gov (D-MA)
Hey Bill, Say something. The country and world is waiting to hear from our "leaders". Ignoring this isn't going to make it go away. by Nick van Nes (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 773 comments [270 recommended, 3 rejected]) on Wednesday, Mar 18, 2009 at 10:57:11 PM (1+)
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Reply: yes, "Obama included."
Obama is essentially carrying on the same policies. But done under a much 'nicer' smilely face..... Will deserve the same fate as the one you wish for Cheney. Or very likely much worse, if the perspective of somebody tortured or a loved one of that person is considered. And could you blame them? by richard (0 articles, 5 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 1482 comments [514 recommended, 13 rejected]) on Thursday, Mar 19, 2009 at 11:00:08 AM (2+)
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blue blood to red
Let me rephrase the prime assertion here; The Federal "Government" has and IS engaged in a conscious policy of torture. The whole game of "politics" is a ruse. The "Two Party System" is a scam. The so-called "government" is a criminal syndicate fronting for a permanent oligarchy...an international oligarchy. We should always keep this perspective in mind as we try to parse what is really happening in this world, to our lives, our precious Liberty. It is long past time for prattle and wringing of hands. "The Blood of Tyrants" is what is needed at this late stage of the game. Blue blood spilt is as red as yours or mine. by William Whitten (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 4880 comments [1711 recommended, 28 rejected]) on Thursday, Mar 19, 2009 at 2:59:45 PM (1+)
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Yoo Hooey
Even under the narrow and absurd definition of Yoo/Bybee regarding torture, the US military and the CIA tortured several (and perhaps many) captives (most, if not all innocent) to death. No accountability. And while two illegal and immoral wars were being fought, 9/11 truth was being swept under the rug, and the economy was beginning its bankster induced collapse, Justice Department types were deciding whether the Unitary Executive had the power to order the crushing of a child's testicles in front of his parents in the conduct of the 'war on terror'. Affirmative, of course. If President Obama tries to let all this pass, then he's part of the madness America has become. It's a disgrace. by John S. Hatch (14 articles, 12 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 216 comments [295 recommended, 2 rejected]) on Thursday, Mar 19, 2009 at 5:45:16 PM (2+)
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