Interrogation! Cheney, Rice...

The who's who ...
- Cheney, Rice, John Ashcroft, Alberto Gonzales
- Claims, such as that made by former Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz that detainee abuses could be chalked up to the unauthorized acts of a 'few bad apples,' were simply false," said Sen. Carl Levin in an April 21 floor statement introducing the report.

Document: Cheney, Rice signed off on interrogation techniques
Posted on Wednesday, April 22, 2009
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/66727.html

WASHINGTON — A newly declassified narrative (fas, pdf 17pp) of the Bush administration's advice to the CIA on harsh interrogations shows that the small group of Justice Department lawyers who wrote memos authorizing harsh interrogation techniques were operating not on their own but with direction from top administration officials, including then-Vice President Dick Cheney and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice.

The narrative, posted Wednesday on the Senate Intelligence Committee's Web site and released by its former chairman, Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., came as Attorney General Eric Holder told reporters that he'd "follow the evidence wherever it takes us" in deciding whether to prosecute any Bush administration officials who authorized harsh techniques that are widely considered torture.

In a statement (pdf 17pp) accompanying the narrative's release, Rockefeller said the task of declassifying interrogation and detention opinions "is not complete" and urged prompt declassification of other opinions from 2006 and 2007 that he said would show how Bush Justice Department officials interpreted laws governing torture and war crimes.

These developments come days after the Obama administration declassified four Justice Department memos from 2002 and 2005 that revealed in detail authorized interrogation methods, such as waterboarding, which simulates drowning, sleep deprivation and putting detainees in containers with insects.
...

Among other details, the narrative shows that:
...
_ The Director of Central Intelligence in the spring of 2003 sought a reaffirmation of the legality of the interrogation methods. Cheney, Rice, then-Attorney General John Ashcroft and White House counsel Alberto Gonzales were among those at a meeting where it was decided that the policies would continue. Rumsfeld and Powell weren't.

_ The CIA briefed the Rumsfeld and Powell on interrogation techniques in September 2003.

_ Administration officials had ongoing concerns about the legality of waterboarding as they continued to justify its legitimacy.

Cheney couldn't be reached for comment. Rice, through an aide, declined to comment. ...

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More breaking news:
Defense Chief Gates Says He Backed Releasing CIA Memos
By Ann Scott Tyson, Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, April 23, 2009; 12:22 PM

MORE DECLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS ON TORTURE
http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/
SECRECY NEWS from the FAS Project on Government Secrecy
Volume 2009, Issue No. 37 - April 23, 2009

Another newly declassified report [link below, pdf 263pp], from the Senate Armed Services Committee, does not shrink from drawing conclusions. "The report represents a condemnation of both the Bush administration's interrogation policies and of senior administration officials who attempted to shift the blame for abuse--such as that seen at Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay, and Afghanistan--to low ranking soldiers.

Claims, such as that made by former Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz that detainee abuses could be chalked up to the unauthorized acts of a 'few bad apples,' were simply false," said Sen. Carl Levin in an April 21 floor statement introducing the report (inquiry into the treatment of detainees in U.S. custody, fas pdf 263pp).

This is a CBC radio interview (Monday, Apr 27-09). Janis Karpinski was demoted to Colonel after the 'transition' from detention to interrogation centres occurred via the Bush Administration/ private contractors. She gets quite outraged that the abuses were blamed on soldiers ('bad apples,' as it was PR'ed by the Administration); some were trying to document with photographs.
Audio: http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/2009/200904/20090427.html
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Part 2: Abu Ghraib - Janis Karpinski

Over the weekend, the once secretive former US Vice-President Dick Cheney was pushing for the release of more CIA documents to try to bolster his arguments that interrogation tactics such as waterboarding thwarted terrorist plots.

This after the release of a report last week of the Senate Armed Services Committee. It made clear that senior Bush Administration officials approved the use of interrogation or torture tactics such as waterboarding. That contradicts former President George W. Bush's assertion that abuse or torture that may have happened was the result of rogue individuals and not government policy.

Janis Karpinski paid a steep price for the Bush Administration's policies. She was a Brigadier General and the person in charge of more than a dozen detention facilities in Iraq after the U.S. military invasion including the now-notorious Abu Ghraib prison. She was demoted, one of only two high ranking officers to be punished over what happened. Janis Karpinski was in New York City.

See also: Janis Karpinski: Exclusive Interview, Aug 24-05
http://mwcnews.net/content/view/1130/26

"I just find it incredible that the system - the Pentagon and the Judicial System - can continue to keep those soldiers in jail when there are simply volumes of documents and information that is emerging, and continues to emerge, that says exactly what one, in particular, Graner, was saying all along: that he was ordered to do these things by the Military Intelligence people and the interrogators, the contract interrogators. And there's more and more information to support that. The recommendation was that General Miller from Gitmo be reprimanded and his four-star commander from SOUTHCOM said no, I don't agree with that."

There is an AVAAZ Petition circulating about this. It's very quick to sign, if you're inclined.

War on Terror: Demand the Truth
This week the US government is debating whether to set up a Commission of Inquiry to look into Bush's 'War on Terror' tactics. This could have major ramifications all the way up the chain of command.

Key US Senators, leading this call for justice, need a massive global endorsement to ensure that the Commission is set up and has real teeth. But there are powerful interests that want to cover up the truth about torture, secret detention and other unlawful abuse.

Sign this important petition below and we will present it to the Senate hearing before decisions are made this week:
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/end_the_war_on_terror/

From the indictbushnow.org newsletter, may 6-09.

When she was confronted by a student questioner last week, Condoleezza Rice defended torture with these words: “[By] definition, if it was authorized by the president, it did not violate our obligations under the Convention Against Torture.”

That argument will never hold up in court and it is not holding up with Stanford Alumni and students either. They nailed a petition to the door of the president of the university that read:

“We the undersigned students, faculty, staff, alumni, and other concerned members of the Stanford community, believe that high officials of the U.S. Government, including our former Provost, current Political Science Professor, and Hoover Institution Senior Fellow, Condoleezza Rice, should be held accountable for any serious violations of the Law (included ratified treaties, statutes, and/or the U.S. Constitution) through investigation and, if the facts warrant, prosecution, by appropriate legal authorities.”

George W. Bush raised $100 million in the 100 days since he left office for his presidential library. He and his cronies are racing to remake his legacy and fend off prosecution for his crimes. With your help, we will stop him.

This is part of the swelling grassroots movement for prosecution. The people, young and old, are taking action. This will create an irresistible political force.

IndictBushNow and others are holding demonstrations, rallies, press conferences, engaging in lobbying, taking out newspaper ads, and mass circulating the petition calling for the appointment of a Special Prosecutor. We are providing leaflets and petitions to people around the country.

We are printing 20,000 leaflets and posters for the upcoming June 25 demonstration at the Justice Department that will call on Eric Holder to appoint a Special Prosecutor. All of this takes money. Please make your donation today.

It was high Bush officials who ordered the torture. The Justice Department lawyers must be held accountable for their obscene and sadistic “legal memos,” but they are lower rung figures. They are the lawyerly equivalent of the guards who tortured and savagely humiliated the prisoners at Abu Ghraib. They too were following the orders of even bigger criminals.

Spain’s top investigative judge Baltazar Garzon has decided to pursue a new criminal investigation of those responsible for authorizing, planning and executing the U.S. torture program. The case could lead to arrest warrants in countries throughout Europe and it will put new pressure on the Obama administration to appoint a Special Prosecutor.

[orthodoxymoron]

Was the extended detaining without trial...and torture...intended to make Americans look bad to the rest of the world...and to set a precedent for detaining and torturing...which could be applied to American citizens(potential terrorists) in a suspension of Constitution, and Martial Law scenario? Are the American people and the Constitution under attack...in a cold war...which could become open war at a later date? Does our government have a choice in the matter? These questions are not rhetorical...I really don't know. All of this just seems very, very strange.