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The blatant obfuscation and chicanery that were hallmarks of the Bush Era (or any Presidential reign) continues to taint America and her armed forces. More evidence of torture, abuse and human rights violations against the US have been uncovered via Wikileaks. The mythological barrier that separates “us” and “them” grows ever thinner. The war mongers hide the facts from the people because they know that the population of the US would not permit these acts to be carried out in their name if they knew about them.
“Americans turned a blind eye to hundreds of reports of abuse, torture and murder by Iraqi police and soldiers, according to reports in nearly 392,000 documents related to the Iraq war and released Friday by WikiLeaks.
The documents say the detainees were whipped, punched, kicked or subjected to electric shocks. Six reports end with a detainee’s apparent death.”
The idea that we have some sort of moral superiority or higher ethical calling will still go on, it always does, but hopefully less people will believe the mendacity that is so kindly spun for them everyday.
“The Times said the reports indicate that while some abuse cases were investigated by the Americans, most were ignored. The reports released by WikiLeaks and dubbed “The Iraq War Logs,” cover the period from Jan. 1, 2004, to Dec. 31, 2009. WikiLeaks said the files detail more than 109,000 deaths in Iraq, including 66,081 civilians. The reports also document the deaths of almost 24,000 people labelled as insurgents, more than 15,000 Iraqi government troops and almost 3,800 coalition forces.”
The death tolls for Iraq civilians were kept. One of the more egregious ‘oversights’ of the American military during their illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq. When humanity is stripped from an enemy, so much easier it is to do horrendous things to them. For instance:
“In one case, Americans suspected Iraqi army officers of cutting off a detainee’s fingers and burning him with acid, the New York Times reported. Two other cases produced accounts of the executions of bound detainees.”
Embracing torture is yet another important milestone in unravelling of the rule of law and civilized society. How can we accuse others of gross violations of international law when we (all along) violate those same laws with such impunity?
“The documents, according to the Times, also claim that Americans sometimes used the threat of abuse by Iraqi authorities to get information out of prisoners. For example, one report said an American threatened to send a detainee to the notorious Wolf Brigade if he did not supply information.
But the report also said Americans often intervened when Iraqis were being tortured”
Is there any way to deny culpability now? The various departments of defense and state are now in their beset PR mode attempting to ameliorate the effects of these rather perverse revelations.
“U.S. Secretary of States Hillary Clinton slammed the release of the files.
“We should condemn in the most clear terms the disclosure of any classified information by individuals and organizations which puts the lives of United States and partner service members and civilians at risk,” she said in Washington, D.C.”
Thanks Hillary. Nothing said toward what the reports actually say, or the actions of the people we are responsible for. Just the wagging finger giving us the ‘secrets of the state’ lecture and how this may negatively effect people as a result. How about standing up for what is right and condemning the apparatus that has allowed such egregious actions to happen in the first place.
No, that would be entirely too much to expect from an elected official as the state as opposed to the people are the interests that count.
Man, what do I do after denial stops working?
The Canadian occupation of Afghanistan is an international shame. We are killing innocent people and torturing people. The Geneva Convention needs to be dusted off and read 100 times by our military leaders and political drones so they get the idea of human rights are not just for “us” but extend to everyone in the world.
“A parliamentary committee has heard stunning allegations from a former translator who claims the Canadian military tried to cover up the fatal shooting of an Afghan man in October 2007.
Ahmadshah Malgarai also alleged to MPs in Ottawa that the Canadian military “panicked” and rounded up a half a dozen Afghans between the age of 10 and 90 after the shooting of a man sleeping on the roof of a compound in southern Afghanistan.”
Fantastic, murder someone and then round up possible witnesses for intimidation interrogation.
Apparently though Mr.Malgarai did not actually witness the execution.
“Malgarai testified he was not at the compound during the alleged incident, although he was allowed to see the intelligence report and took part in the interrogation of the detained men. He alleged a member of the military personally described it to him as “murder.”
Of course Conservative MP Laurie Hawn was there sowing confusion. Best to muddy the waters in defence of aberrant government policy.
“When Hawn then asked if Malgarai was calling Hillier a liar, Ahmadshad became agitated and accused the Tory MP of trying to put words in his mouth.”
What did happen that night? Something significant, the ripples are to big just to be a false allegation in my opinion.
Alfred Mccoy was right in his book A Question about Torture: using torture as official policy has serious corrosive effects on both the victims and the abusers. The effect is evident already in Afghanistan as the Canadian Armed Forces torture scandal continues to unfold.
We in the Western world are merrily two-stepping toward authoritarian government. Appeasement of vested interests and distinct lack of judicial fortitude on behalf of the current American administration are tacitly condoning the use of torture by the security forces of the US. Al-Jazeera reports on the failure of justice in the US.
“Two Bush administration lawyers who authorised harsh interrogation techniques on terrorism suspects will not face punishment, according to a US justice department report.”
Yes, expecting justice apparently is a little too much to expect within the context of the current American body politic.
“The report, released on Friday by the department’s office of professional responsibility, originally found that John Yoo and Jay Bybee had engaged in professional misconduct.
The report also urged that criminal prosecution be considered for interrogators who relied on their advice.
The harsh techniques Yoo and Bybee authorised included waterboarding of terrorism suspects as the Bush administration tried to elicit intelligence after the September 11, 2001 attacks for capturing or killing anti-American al-Qaeda fighters.” [hyperlinks added by me]
Oh…so they were responsible and will be prosecuted….hurrah US Justice department! (please note the statement that we need to go after the actual interrogators, because those damn bastards made the policy that gave them the mandate to torture in the first place)
Oh wait.
“The two lawyers “exercised poor judgment by overstating the certainty of their conclusions and underexposing countervailing arguments,” Margolis said.
While he declined to refer concerns about the conduct by Yoo and Bybee to the state bar associations for possible disciplinary action, Margolis said they “can choose to take up the matter.”
Ah, so they were mendacious and the arguments they made were of questionably spurious logic, but we won’t do a damn thing about it.
So to summarize, torture, including the crushing of childrens’ testicles, is a-okay in the U-S-A.
We are heading to into the next decade of the 21st century. My question is when will women be invited to join our so called advanced civilization? Follow the link back to the Feministe eZine for the whole article. One picture below the fold shows a woman being prepared for gang rape, be forewarned.
The Conservative government is handling our alleged abuse of Afghan detainees with an sublime air of stupidity that George Bush made (in)famous. It seems that outright lying has not worked. We are now own to indignant posturing and appeals to patriotism. Allow me to illustrate.
Richard Colvin, a senior intelligence officer brought to light Canadian misdeeds:
“According to our information, the likelihood is that all the Afghans we handed over were tortured,” Colvin told a parliamentary committee on Nov. 18.
Canadian Defence Minister War Propagandist Peter Mackay said:
“The member is suggesting by implication that the military did something wrong, that somehow they did not do the right thing. That is what is so despicable,” MacKay said on Dec. 10.”
What? How dare anyone question the character of our troops and our mission in Afghanistan! Especially when their allegations are false…
“The documents reveal that in 2008, military police launched six separate investigations into allegations of abuse involving Canadian troops.”
Errr….whoops! It seems like something is going on over there. However, so far we’re clean according to our military:
“The military police determined that the allegations were unfounded in five of the six cases, and the remaining investigation is ongoing,” said Maj. Paule Poulin, a spokesperson for the Canadian Forces Provost Marshall.
One can always trust the military to police itself.
And now the sour flourish:
“However, MacKay apparently never told the House there were allegations against Canadian troops, at least one of which is still being investigated.”
We can always trust politicians to act unethically. It is nice that Mr.Mackay provides such a clear example (via his briefing notes) of his dedication to the service and maintenance of power, justice be damned.
I’ve been keeping an eye on what has been happening recently with the Canadian Armed Forces and their handling of the detainee situation. The prognosis has been rather bleak. We are most likely responsible for people being abused and tortured while under our aegis. The Harper government has been doing backflips as of late to keep a lid on the story. Intransigentia has forwarded this article to my attention.
“The Harper government has effectively suspended parliamentary hearings on allegations that Afghan detainees were transferred to torture – boycotting attempts by opposition MPs to continue a Commons probe of the matter.”
Why are the Conservatives engaged in what seems to be a full on exercise in damage control if in fact, there is no substance to the allegations raised by Richard Colvin?
The Conservatives are blocking parliamentary inquiries saying insipid tidbits like this:
“It’s not the time to be having meetings that are implying, intentioned or not, that Canadians are somehow guilty of war crimes,” Laurie Hawn, the parliamentary secretary for the Defence Minister, said on CTV’s Power Play after the aborted meeting.
Well Mr.Hawn when exactly is the time to investigate possible war crimes perpetrated by our forces? The optics do not improve by stalling and delaying the House of Commons about the issue.
What is happening is that the Conservatives know they have a situation that will bring down their government. Delaying parliament is only the first step in the three ring circus that is forming around this issue. I guarantee this is only going to get worse.
The justice system in Canada moves slowly but this just in from the CBC:
“The girl, whom Kennedy identified as “Miss X” in his report, was a 15-year-old inmate at the Arctic Tern Young Offenders Facility in Inuvik when on March 13, 2007, she was subdued with an RCMP Taser while she was handcuffed and held face-down on the floor by jail staff.”
Well isn’t that nice. Yet another case of a taser being misused by police.
“Kennedy said the officer who used the stun gun, Const. Noella Cockney, had been called to the youth facility by staff who said the girl was not co-operating with their orders to go into a segregated area.
After Cockney gave Miss X several warnings, the girl swore at her and told her to go ahead and use the electric stun gun. The officer “deployed the Taser for a full five-second cycle, causing Miss X to co-operate,” according to the report.”
Here is what gets me. According to the above report the girl swore at her and told her to go ahead and zap her. I have personal experience in working with highly charged situations with youth. One must always remember to remain in control of your own emotions and thought processes despite the fact your heart is beat a million beats per minute and your nervous system has you jacked up and ready to react to the presented stimulus.
Was Miss X asking for it? Should that even enter into the equation? Especially after being handcuffed and restrained by two other individuals. As the chairman of the Commission for the Complaints against the RCMP, Paul Kennedy, states:
“You’re in a custodial situation; you’re not going to go very far. You’re handcuffed — that’s a problem — [and] you’re lying on your stomach and with three people holding you down. So obviously there’s no need for it.”
Kids have a knack for getting under your skin, and if you let them, you give them control of the situation. I would like to put forth the assumption that this is what happened in this case. The Miss X, the youth, pissed off the constable off and she reacted with more force than was necessary to subdue her. Something was amiss as later in the news story it was reported that there was two versions of the incident:
“Cockney [the constable involved with Miss X] filed a report after the incident, but it was undated and printed nine months later. Kennedy said that report did not provide any detail on what Miss X was doing to justify using the Taser.
Cockney was not certified to use a Taser at the time, as her qualifications had expired about a year before, Kennedy found.”
Huh. Two versions of the truth, again. This particular case seems to have a fair amount of CYA involved, but still the two reports are indicative the incident was not handled ‘by the book’.
I wonder how many more people will have to be subjected to electro-torture before we realize that stun-guns should not be in the hands of our police forces.
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