The Senate Intelligence Committee put out a massive and comprehensive report on the use of torture by the government, but no one outside the government has ever seen it because the CIA is afraid it will reveal too much. Vice President Joe Biden says he thinks it should be released:
Category Archive: Torture
Apr 22 2013
Torture and the New York Times
Andrew Sullivan has for years rightly blasted the New York Times for refusing to use the word ‘torture’ when describing what the Bush administration did to detainees. Now Bill Keller of the Times attempts to defend that reluctance. I say ‘attempts’ because he fails miserably. Bizarrely, he admits that it clearly was torture even though …
Apr 20 2013
Bush, Torture and Hypocrisy
One of the most damning aspects of the new report on torture put out by the Constitution Project is a comparison of what the Bush administration said about the techniques they authorized for use on detainees when those same things were done by other countries. From the report:
Apr 19 2013
Bipartisan Commission Confirms the Obvious
A bipartisan group of former legislators put together by the Constitution Project has concluded what was undeniable years ago, that the Bush administration engaged in torture and that the blame for it goes right to the top. I don’t know why we needed the report, but here it is.
Mar 08 2013
Report: Rumsfeld Set Up Secret Torture Centers in Iraq
In news that should surprise absolutely no one, the Guardian is reporting that a 15-month investigation has revealed that Donald Rumsfeld set up a number of secret detention facilities in Iraq where detainees were tortured, and appointed two veterans of the Latin American death squad wars to run the whole thing.
Mar 08 2013
U.N. Investigator: Prosecute for Bush Torture Policies
An investigator appointed by the U.N. Human Rights Council to look into the human rights abuses committed in counter-terrorism programs around the world has sent them his report, which calls on the United States to prosecute those who ordered and carried out torture on detainees.
Jan 22 2013
Obama Continues Anti-Whistleblower Crusade
One of the hallmarks of President Obama’s time in office has been a relentless crusade against those who have blown the whistle on illegal activity by the government. Now with a classic Bush-style signing statement, he has continued that pattern of ensuring that the public never knows what is really going on. Mother Jones has …
Jan 17 2013
The CIA Isn’t the Only Agency to Torture
With all the attention paid to the use of torture by the CIA and, to a lesser degree, by the military, many haven’t noticed that police departments have also engaged in torture to coerce confessions. In Illinois, it went on for decades until the lid was blown off it ten years ago. The Nation reports …
Jan 14 2013
Defining Torture
Paul Waldman has an important article at The American Prospect addressing the defenders of torture and their, yes, tortured reasoning in defending American actions in the war on terror. He asks a question that defenders of torture cannot answer without contradicting themselves:
Nov 09 2012
Romney Reaffirms Pro-Torture Stance
In case you had any doubts that a Mitt Romney president would have restarted the Bush administration’s torture regime, here’s the audio of him answering a question about it. He doesn’t think waterboarding is torture and he’s going to go back to the “enhanced interrogation” techniques.
Oct 29 2012
CIA Whistleblower Pleads Guilty
CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou has pleaded guilty to charges that he turned over material to a reporter about that agency’s program of torture under the Bush administration. This was done as part of a plea deal that will reduce his sentence down to two and a half years:
Oct 17 2012
Sean Hannity: Still a Hypocritical Coward
Newshounds points out something I’d forgotten: Sean Hannity a few years ago said he would be waterboarded to prove it isn’t torture — for charity, of course. Keith Olbermann offered to give $1000 for every second he lasts. It’s been three and a half years since then and — surprise, surprise — Hannity has yet …
Oct 08 2012
Romney Would Bring Back Torture
Last week, Charlie Savage, one of the best reporters in the country, wrote an article that revealed the existence of an internal memo from the Romney campaign that clearly states that, if elected, he would bring back torture — euphemistically called “enhanced interrogation techniques.”
Sep 06 2012
Only Whistleblowers Held Accountable for Torture
As a follow up to Glenn Greenwald’s article about the Obama administration officially closing the door on any prosecutions of Bush-era torture, Adam Serwer notes that the only ones being held responsible for anything that took place are those who blew the whistle on such crimes:
Sep 05 2012
Obama DOJ: No Justice for Torture Victims
Glenn Greenwald is settling in at his new home at the Guardian and he writes about the Obama DOJ closing the door for good on any possibility of justice for the victims of the Bush torture policies. This has been obvious from the very start, but now it seems to be official:
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