Detainee Faced 'Abusive' Methods, Official Says
The Page by Mark Halperin — ... Wash Post's Woodward on Bush's Gitmo trial overseer concluding the U.S. military used torture in interrogation of a Saudi national who allegedly planned to participate in 9/11 attacks.       ...

War and Piece — Bob Woodward : The top Bush administration official in charge of deciding whether to bring Guantanamo Bay detainees to trial has concluded that the U.S. military tortured a Saudi national who allegedly planned to participate in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, interrogating him with techniques that included sustained isolation, sleep deprivation, nudity and prolonged exposure to cold, leaving him in a "life-threatening condition." "We tortured [Mohammed al-]Qahtani," said Susan J. Crawford, in her first interview since being named convening authority of military commissions by ...

Bush Administration Official Admits Detainee Was Tortured
TalkLeft — For the first time, a Bush Administration official has admitted a Guantanamo detainee was tortured. The top Bush administration official in charge of deciding whether to bring Guantanamo Bay detainees to trial has concluded that the U.S. military tortured a Saudi national who allegedly planned to participate in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, interrogating him with techniques that included sustained isolation, sleep deprivation, nudity and prolonged exposure to cold, leaving him in a "life-threatening condition." ...

Detainee Tortured, Says U.S. Official
Democratic Underground Latest Breaking News — ... all authorized, but the manner in which they applied them was overly aggressive and too persistent. . . . You think of torture, you think of some horrendous physical act done to an individual. This was not any one particular act; this was just a combination of things that had a medical impact on him, that hurt his health. It was abusive and uncalled for. And coercive. Clearly coercive. It was that medical impact that pushed me over the edge" to call it torture, she said. Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/20...

Detainee Faced "Abusive" Methods, Official Says
The Page by Mark Halperin — ... WashPost's Woodward: A top Bush official concludes the military tortured a Saudi man who allegedly planned to participate in the 9/11 attacks.       ...

US Official Says G’itmo Vacationer Joined A Fraternity
Pirate's Cove — Oh, the horror!!!!!!!!!!! Detainee Tortured, Says U.S. Official The top Bush administration official in charge of deciding whether to bring Guantanamo Bay detainees to trial has concluded that the U.S. military tortured a Saudi national who allegedly planned to participate in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, interrogating him with techniques that included sustained isolation, sleep deprivation, nudity and prolonged exposure to cold, leaving him in a “life-threatening ...

US Official Says G’itmo Vacationer Joined A Fraternity
Stop The ACLU — Oh, the horror!!!!!!!!!!! Detainee Tortured, Says U.S. Official The top Bush administration official in charge of deciding whether to bring ...

About That Torture Thing
Jules Crittenden — ... . Now a Guantanamo judge comes forward, says she barred a trial for one terror suspect because his unkind treatment was torture . By that definition, the United States military has been torturing its own soldiers for decades, but never mind that. Anyone foolish enough to sign their life away and commit war crimes for the military-industrial complex or whatever they call it these days probably has it coming. Quite apart, it turns out large numbers of former guests of the United States ...

Honest military judge uses the word "torture," but the Village?
Corrente — Woodward's got an interview in Pravda with military judge Susan Crawford. She says: "We tortured [Mohammed al-]Qahtani," said Susan J. Crawford, in her first interview since being named convening authority of military commissions by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates in February 2007. "His treatment met the legal definition of torture. And that's why I did not refer the case" for prosecution. But the headline on the main page reads: Detainee Faced 'Abusive' Methods [torture], Official Says ...

Was Blind But Now I See
N/A — Bush may have a blind eye to torture, but the woman who decided who would get prosecuted at Gitmo didn’t. “We tortured [Mohammed al-]Qahtani,” said Susan J. Crawford, in her first interview since being named convening authority of military commissions by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates in February 2007. “His treatment met the legal definition of torture. And that’s why I did not refer the case” for prosecution. It gets worse.  “Evidence in terror cases said to ...

Defining Torture Down
The Jawa Report — January 14, 2009 Defining Torture Down The new definition of " torture: " "For 160 days his only contact was with the interrogators," said Crawford, who personally reviewed Qahtani's interrogation records and other military documents. "Forty-eight of 54 consecutive days of 18-to-20-hour interrogations. Standing naked in front of a female agent. Subject to strip searches. And insults to his mother and sister. " At one point he was threatened with a military working dog named Zeus, according to a military report. Qahtani "was forced to wear a woman's bra and had a thong placed ...

The Legal Cost of Torture
Matthew Yglesias — ... One of the big problems with the Bush administration’s decision to break the law constantly in pursuit of counterterrorism is that once you’re doing a bunch of illegal stuff, it’s very hard to stop. For example, Muhammed al-Qahtani is someone who it seems like you’d like to prosecute for terrorism-related crimes but it seems we can’t since he was tortured, ruining the evidence: ...

The Rude Pundit — ... With President Bush, it's all about the torture. 'Cause, you know, now that a Bush-appointed judge has declared that a Gitmo detainee can't be put on trial even by the bullshit military tribunals, because information was tortured out of him, well, then it oughta be time for George and Laura to gas up the jet and tell Dubai they're comin' to stay. On last night's Larry King Undead, Bush ...

A Bushie Says The T-Word
The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan — A Bush official finally says what no objective individual could at this point deny: "We tortured [Mohammed al-]Qahtani," said Susan J. Crawford, in her first interview since being named convening authority of military commissions by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates in February 2007. "His treatment met the legal definition of torture. And that's why I did not refer the case" for prosecution. Notice that torture renders bringing terror suspects to justice legally impossible. So we get bad information; and they get to ...

'We tortured Qathani'
Political Animal — ... knew that Mohammed al-Qahtani -- perhaps best known as known as "Detainee 063" after the Time cover story detailing his interrogation -- had been tortured. Attempts to prosecute him have repeatedly been delayed after officials were forced to concede that the evidence against him had been gleaned through "coercive interrogation." But for all of the White House talk about how the United States "does not torture," it's occasionally helpful to learn that Bush, Cheney, and others have been lying , and it's precisely why al-Qahtani can't be charged. The top Bush administration ...

Man Who Wanted To Slit The Throats Of Airline Passengers And Burn People To Death In Their Office Was Tortured Roughed Up A Bit
Ace of Spades HQ — Man Who Wanted To Slit The Throats Of Airline Passengers And Burn People To Death In Their Office Was Tortured Roughed Up A Bit Since they won't have George Bush to kick around much longer (though you know they will try), the left has a newly minted hero today . Susan Crawford, who is the person appointed by the administration with charging Gitmo detainees, used the 'T' word. There will be much rejoicing in across the leftyshpere today no doubt. The top Bush administration official in charge of deciding whether to bring Guantanamo Bay detainees to trial has concluded that the ...

Top Military Official: We Tortured
TPMMuckraker — ... "We tortured [Mohammed al-] Qahtani," the convening authority of military commissions, Susan Crawford, told the Washington Post's Bob Woodward. "His treatment met the legal definition of torture. And that's why I did not refer the case" (for prosecution). ...

"His Treatment Met The Legal Definition of Torture"
Obsidian Wings — ... Big story from Bob Woodward today in the Post.  Susan Crawford, the top administration official in charge of detainee trials, went on record to explain why she halted the prosecution of Qahtani (the 20th hijacker turned back at border).  The reason was that she concluded that he had been tortured.  That part’s not exactly news, but it's still very significant that an official at this level would publicly admit that torture tainted an important prosecution. ...

Pentagon Pushes Debunked "Returning To Terror" Hype
Newshoggers.com — ... , and Susan J. Crawford, convening authority of military commissions, coming forward to say that some cases cannot be prosecuted because the evidence is indelibly stained by torture, the timing of this Pentagon "just believe us" statement is a little too pat. It is undoubtably true that some dangerous people will likely be freed because of the Bush administration's arrogant belief in its own ability to re-write law to suit itself, although the number is far lower than the Pentagon is trying to suggest. Even so, any failure to keep the public safe should be blamed on Bush and his ...

Good news: More “unfairly imprisoned” Gitmo detainees are now back on the battlefield
Sister Toldjah — ... There’s a story out today (written by Bob Woodward, I should note) making waves about a Gitmo “trial overseer” who said we “tortured” a Saudi national back in 2007 and that’s why she didn’t refer his case for prosecution. Some of the ...

DOD official: Gitmo detainee tortured
SquareState.net - Quick Hits's RSS Feed — Bob Woodward: The top Bush administration official in charge of deciding whether to bring Guantanamo Bay detainees to trial has concluded that the U.S. military tortured a Saudi national who allegedly planned to participate in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, interrogating him with techniques that included sustained isolation, sleep deprivation, nudity and prolonged exposure to cold, leaving him in a "life-threatening condition." "We tortured [Mohammed al-]Qahtani," said Susan J. Crawford, in her first interview since being named convening authority of military ...

No More Mister Nice Blog — THE BUSH GENE Given George W. Bush's essential nature, it's no surprise to see these two stories together in The Washington Post. Story #1: The top Bush administration official in charge of deciding whether to bring Guantanamo Bay detainees to trial has concluded that the U.S. military tortured a Saudi national who allegedly planned to participate in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, interrogating him with techniques that included sustained isolation, sleep deprivation, nudity and prolonged exposure to cold, leaving him in a "life-threatening condition." "We tortured [Mohammed al-]Qahtani," said Susan J. Crawford, in her first interview ...

NSN Daily Update 1/14/09
democracyarsenal.org — See today's complete daily update, "Revive State," here. What We're Reading A key Bush administration official who was “in charge of deciding whether to bring Guantanamo Bay detainees to trial” confirms that a detainee was tortured at Guantanamo Bay. The Russia-Ukraine-EU gas dispute continues.  Though Russia resumed limited gas shipments to the Ukraine intended for Europe, the Ukraine says it will not send the fuel to Europe due to ...

We Did A “Bad-Bad Thing” To A Poor Filthy 9-11 Terrorist Bastard - With Video
Pat Dollard | Young Americans — WaPo: Detainee Tortured, Says U.S. Official Trial Overseer Cites ‘Abusive’ Methods Against 9/11 Suspect By Bob Woodward The top Bush administration official in charge of deciding whether to bring Guantanamo Bay detainees to trial has concluded that the U.S. military tortured a Saudi national who allegedly planned to participate in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, interrogating him with techniques that included sustained isolation, sleep deprivation, nudity and prolonged exposure to cold, leaving him in a ...

Top Bush Official Says Detainee Was Tortured
ACSBlog: The Blog of the American Constitution Society — ... A senior Bush administration official says a GuantánamoBay detainee was tortured, The Washington Post’s Bob Woodward reports. Susan J. Crawford, a top Pentagon official overseeing the military commissions told Woodward that interrogation methods used on Mohammed al-Qahtani, accused of helping to plot the 2001 terrorist attacks, amounted to torture. According to The Post, the techniques included “sustained isolation, sleep deprivation, nudity and prolonged exposure to cold ….” Crawford said, “We tortured Qahtani. ...

“We Don’t Torture”
Balloon Juice — What we already knew, finally said explicitly by someone in a position to know. The top Bush administration official in charge of deciding whether to bring Guantanamo Bay detainees to trial has concluded that the U.S. military tortured a Saudi national who allegedly planned to participate in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, interrogating him with techniques that included sustained isolation, sleep deprivation, nudity and prolonged exposure to cold, leaving him in a “life-threatening condition.” “We tortured [Mohammed ...

Brainster's Blog — 20th Hijacker 'Tortured' Says a judge. The top Bush administration official in charge of deciding whether to bring Guantanamo Bay detainees to trial has concluded that the U.S. military tortured a Saudi national who allegedly planned to participate in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, interrogating him with techniques that included sustained isolation, sleep deprivation, nudity and prolonged exposure to cold, leaving him in a "life-threatening condition." Jules Crittenden comes up with a good response; only use techniques which have been approved by liberal bloggers: Throwing heavy objects at people, ...

"We do not torture."
The Reaction — By Michael J.W. Stickings So said President Bush in 2005 (when asked about reports of secret CIA prisons). And yet, in truth, the U.S. does torture. So says Susan Crawford, the convening authority of the Guantanamo military commissions, a Gates appointee and Bush administration official: The top Bush administration official in charge of deciding whether to bring Guantanamo Bay detainees to trial has concluded that the U.S. military ...

Woodward in Washington Post: Judge Crawford Confirms US Tortured al-Qahtani
Firedoglake — ... shaving of his beard. As it happened, the following month I took a reporting trip to Guantanamo, where I was shepherded around the detention facility by three very nice soldiers. I was not allowed to interview any detainees. But I asked about the interrogation log. Oh, I was told, you can't trust Time magazine. Do you really think that someone could endure as much forced hydration as that story said? Really? You're that gullible? Come on. And now, Bob Woodward reports, the convening authority for U.S. military commissions, Judge Susan ...

Hullabaloo — ... I'm baffled as to why the Washington Post put this on the front page, and why most other papers referred to it as if Bob Woodward had a Watergate-esque scoop. ...

Torture Precludes Government From Prosecuting 9/11 Terrorist
Think Progress — ... Susan Crawford, the “top Bush administration official in charge of deciding whether to bring Guantanamo Bay detainees to trial,” tells Bob Woodward in today’s Washington Post that the United States military tortured Mohammed al-Qahtani, one of the planners of the 9/11 attacks. As a result, Crawford decided the U.S. could not prosecute Qahtani: ...

Hey, Woodward, What about Abu Zubaydah?
Firedoglake — ... While I'm glad that Susan Crawford has acknowledged publicly what we all know--that Mohammed al-Qahtani was tortured (see Spencer's take here)--I'm just as interested in the questions that "crack reporter" Bob Woodward didn't ask. Such as, "Is that the same reason Abu Zubaydah was not charged along with the other 9/11 plotters?" The answer to that question might raise all sorts of uncomfortable answers, though. After all, Qahtani was not in the same category as the other 9/11 plotters, in either the treatment he received (since it ...

“We Do Not Torture.”
The Moderate Voice — So said President Bush in 2005 (when asked about reports of secret CIA prisons). And yet, in truth, the U.S. does torture. So says Susan Crawford, the convening authority of the Guantanamo military commissions, a Gates appointee and Bush administration official: The top Bush administration official in charge of deciding whether to bring Guantanamo Bay detainees to trial has concluded that the U.S. military tortured a Saudi national who allegedly planned to participate in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, interrogating him with techniques that included sustained isolation, sleep deprivation, nudity and prolonged exposure to cold, ...

So were they pulling out his fingernails while calling his mother a whore?
Rachel Lucas — ... The guy who was supposed to the 20th hijacker on 9/11 but couldn’t make it to the mass murder because his visa was denied but who was later caught in the Middle East and sent to Gitmo was “tortured” there. Those are you’ve-got-to-be-shitting-me quotation marks. ...

Confirmed: Torture at Guantanamo Bay
democracyarsenal.org — ... The implications of Judge Susan Crawford’s recent determination that U.S. military interrogators tortured Guantanamo detainee Mohammed al-Qahtani are much broader than might initially be obvious.  ...

Pentagon Pushes Debunked "Returning To Terror" Hype
Crooks and Liars — ... , and Susan J. Crawford, convening authority of military commissions, coming forward to say that some cases cannot be prosecuted because the evidence is indelibly stained by torture, the timing of this Pentagon "just believe us" statement is a little too pat. It is undoubtably true that some dangerous people will likely be freed because of the Bush administration's arrogant belief in its own ability to re-write law to suit itself, although the number is far lower than the Pentagon is trying to suggest. Even so, any failure to keep the public safe ...

Cheney Takes On Torture, The Flaws Of The Iraqi People, And The Deaths In Iraq
TPM Election Central — ... For one thing, Cheney brushed off today's report in the Washington Post about Pentagon official Susan Crawford, who said that a 9/11 suspect was tortured, and dismissed the idea that there was a coordinated policy of torture: ...

Bush Administration official admits torture (finally)
Newshoggers.com — ... "It did shock me," Crawford said. "I was upset by it. I was embarrassed by it. If we tolerate this and allow it, then how can we object when our servicemen and women, or others in foreign service, are captured and subjected to the same techniques? How can we complain? Where is our moral authority to complain? Well, we may have lost it." (Link) ...

Was it or wasn't it; and does it matter?
Power Line — Susan Crawford, who is in charge of determining whether to bring Guantanamo Bay detainees to trial, has decided that Mohammed al-Qahtani will not be tried. Qahtani is a Saudi national who, says Crawford, planned to participate in the 9/11 hijackings. Calling Qahtani a "muscle hijacker" and a "very dangerous man," Crawford nonetheless ruled that he cannot be tried because he was "tortured" during a series of interrogations. Crawford says "the techniques. . .used were all authorized but the manner in which they applied them was overly aggressive and too persistent." These techniques included sustained isolation, sleep deprivation, nudity, and "prolonged exposure to ...

The Consequences of Torture
Comments from Left Field — The advocates for torture in the Bush administration were so convinced it was the only way to get actionable intelligence in the misnamed “war on terror” that they never considered basing an interrogation program on any other methods and never asked themselves how evidence gained through torture would affect the government’s ability to prosecute. Well, today, the judge responsible for deciding which Guantanamo cases will be brought to trial provided the answer: The top Bush administration official in charge of deciding whether to bring Guantanamo Bay detainees to trial has concluded that the U.S. military tortured a ...

Bush Destroyed a Dictator & Regime... Clinton Installed One
Gateway Pundit — President Bush liberated 50 million people. ...50 million persecuted people. Democrats and the media long ago dismissed the absolute evil of the Hussein regime. They don't want the world to remember the torture and death under Saddam. They don't want the world to remember his links to terror. This is actual footage of the aftermath of Halabja gas attacks back in 1988: (Warning: Very Graphic) Reporter Terry Lloyd enters Halabja, Iraq, escorted by Iranian Army officers after the poisonous gas attacks by the Saddam regime in 1988. ...

Lunch Links
The Agitator — The most remote place on earth. Add Wi-Fi, and it looks like a nice vacation spot. Bruce Ackerman makes the case for impeaching federal judge Jay Bybee, John Yoo’s old boss at OLC. I’m in favor. The most insulting thing about Bybee and Yoo is not just that they shat on the Constitution while at OLC, but that Bybee now sits as a federal appellate judge, where he gets to determine what is and isn’t constitutional, while Yoo actually teaches constitutional law at Berkeley. Cool video of a water drop hitting fine sand. YouTube is going to automate its process of finding copyrighted music used in the audio of uploaded ...

The Obama Back-and-Forth (Starring Eric Holder, Rick Warren, and Assorted Neocons)
David Corn — ... But it was hard not to cheer when Holder, at his confirmation hearing on Thursday morning, gave a clear statement: "Waterboarding is torture." And he noted that it was illegal. This is a real and profound switch. The last two attorney generals could not make this statement. And George Bush and Dick Cheney have repeatedly insisted that the U.S. has not tortured anyone--even though waterboarding has been used by the CIA. (In a front-page interview with Bob Woodward published on Wednesday, Susan Crawford, the top Bush administration in charge of bringing Gitmo ...

The US Torture Regime: Where is the Swift Justice?
Firedoglake — ... wrote about the somewhat startling admission today by Susan Crawford that the United States tortured Mohammed al-Qahtani. From Woodward and the Washington Post: ...

Is Cheney Trying To Tie Obama’s Hands On Detainees?
Wonk Room — Yesterday’s Washington Post story on Judge Susan Crawford’s admission that terrorism suspect Mohammed al-Qahtani was tortured in United States custody, has unsurprisingly, generated quite a lot of commentary. Much of this has treated Crawford herself basically as a whistleblower, focusing on the fact that a high Bush administration official finally, after years of denials, admitted what most sentient beings already knew to be true: Under Bush and Cheney, America tortures people. I spoke with Ken Gude, the Associate Director of the International Rights and Responsibility Program at CAP, who read story quite differently. Gude thinks ...

Susan Crawford and the Media: Torture is as Torture Does
NewsBusters.org - Exposing Liberal Media Bias — Susan Crawford's recent assertions of torture simply do not add up, and your main stream media isn't going to investigate anytime soon.  Had Crawford made an assertion that there was unequivocally no torture to speak of at Guantanamo, the media would be sifting meticulously through her statements with a fine-toothed comb, smearing her reputation at every turn.  Instead, her arguments seemingly confirm what the leftist media has long assumed - that our government has condoned torture tactics - and because of that, everything is taken at face value. Crawford recently told Bob Woodward of the Washington Post that:  "We tortured (Mohammed ...

Some Drama For Obama-- Bush Must Be Charged With Torture Now
DownWithTyranny! — I don't have an illusions about Bush and Cheney being shipped off to the Hague for a war crimes trial-- let alone seeing them tried for their criminal regime here in America. But I was actually shocked at the inescapable implications of Eric Holder's testimony in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday. He was unequivocal about his belief-- which is in sync with the rest of humanity's-- that waterboarding is torture. Addressing the subject of torture at the military prison in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, Mr. Holder told Senator Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont, the committee chairman, “Waterboarding is torture.” It was so defined under the Spanish ...

Obama, The Crawford Torture Admission & The Army Field Manual Lie
Firedoglake — ... I discussed the startling direct admission that the United States tortures terror detainees made public in last Wednesday's blockbuster Bob Woodward piece in the Washington Post. As the Bush Administration's hand picked convening authority for the military tribunals, otherwise known as the "Gitmo Show Trials", Susan Crawford's admission carries the binding mark of credibility. ...

Obama Should Let Holder Do His Job
Taylor Marsh — BY TAYLOR MARSH ...and let the truth fall where it may. -€œWe prosecuted our own soldiers for using it in Vietnam,-€ Mr. Holder said. -€œWaterboarding is torture.-€ (source: NY Times) I’m against a "truth commission" on torture. I’m ...

Dan Sweeney: The Case for Letting the Rats Slink Away
Politics on HuffingtonPost.com — The demands for the nascent Obama administration to fully investigate the crimes, up to and including war crimes, of the Bush administration are legion. Keith Olbermann's special comment on the subject, delivered last Monday in the man's patented, outraged style, has been passed around the liberal blogosphere like a joint filled with kind. Everybody wanted a hit. And it's not as though such cries don't have merit -- scads and scads of merit, given the orgy of torture, rendition, warrantless wiretaps and other horrorshow policies that have been the ...

Boehner’s Alternate Reality: Gitmo Detainees Get ‘More Comforts Than A Lot Of Americans Get’
Think Progress — ... The Post also reported that al-Qahtani’s treatment was so extreme he had to be hospitalized twice and at one point his heart rate dropped to 35 beats per minute. In 2007, an FBI report found that detainees “were chained hand and foot in a fetal position to the floor for 18 hours or more, ...

Boehner Recycles GOP's "Club Gitmo" Talking Point
Crooks and Liars — On the very day President Obama signed an executive order calling for the closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention center within one year, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) regurgitated one of the GOP's tried and untrue talking points in its defense. Claiming the facility "has more comforts than a lot of Americans get," Boehner is just the latest Republican to present that blight on America's international standing as "Club Gitmo." At a press conference today, Boehner rejected the notion that Guantanamo had given the United States a black eye. To Boehner, the accommodations at Gitmo are figuratively, if not literally, to die for: ...

Phillipe Sands: 140 countries may have jurisdiction over the torturers in the criminal Bush regime
Corrente — ... JOHN DEAN: When talking to Ms. Gross you said you were not calling for such international investigations because we all need more facts. Given the fact that Judge Susan Crawford has now made clear that torture occurred, do you – and others with your expertise and background – have sufficient information to call for other countries to take action if the Obama Administration fails to act? ...

Frank Naif: Intelligence Investigations Should Target Top Deciders
Politics on HuffingtonPost.com — ... Meanwhile, Susan J. Crawford, senior Bush administration official in charge of the military commission process, told the Washington Post in the days before the Obama inauguration that Guantanamo detainee Mohammed al-Qahtani had been tortured and thus could not be tried by the military commission. With this admission, Federal prosecutors may now be required to pursue criminal charges of torture, adding judicial pressure for shining light on harsh counterterrorism practices, according to variety of legal and official sources ...

John Yoo Has an Opinion (No, the Other Kind)
Firedoglake — ... Remember those police stations throughout America that Yoo mentioned? These techniques are banned there, too. If the judge ruling over the interrogation practices and military commissions in Guantanamo Bay says that it’s torture, it’s fucking torture, OK? There’s middle ground between torture and “polite” and that’s where the vast majority of effective law enforcement lies. ...

The Elephant in the Room: Was George W. Bush a Demagogue?
TPMCafe — ... , mistreatment and, yes, even torture of those in the custody of the United States, and extraordinary renditions to countries with poor human rights records like Syria and Egypt - and there was very little public outcry against these measures, which were essentially a frontal assault on many of the foundational principles of our republic. ...

The U.S. Tortured. Now what?
Daily Kos — ... We knew, even before the convening authority of military commissions at Guantanamo, Susan Crawford, said it was torture, that it was torture. Systematic. Presidentially approved. Torture. ...

Ann Wright: Bybee and Peterson: Two Mormons, Two Different Ethics On Torture
Politics on HuffingtonPost.com — Jay Bybee, as a Bush administration political appointee Assistant Attorney General in the Office of Legal Counsel of the Department of Justice, wrote one of four torture memos released last month. Bybee's August 1, 2002, 20-page memorandum laid out in excruciating detail the interrogation techniques he was authorizing the Central Intelligence Agency to use on al Qaeda operative Abu Zubaydah. Bybee, a Mormon, authorized ten "enhanced interrogation techniques" to encourage Abu Zubaydah to disclose "crucial information regarding terrorist networks in the United States or in Saudi Arabia and information regarding plans to conduct attacks within the United States or against U.S. ...

Rachel Farris: A Few Good Spins: Dick Cheney's Code Red
Politics on HuffingtonPost.com — Dick Cheney's press junket over the last few weeks seems to be coming up short on the list of important things to talk about, slated below GM going bankrupt, Sotomayor's "reverse racism" and Dr. Tiller's death. And if he weren't such a calculating, snake-like creature, one would wonder if he was becoming irrelevant, an old bag of hot air that should be sitting in a rocking chair counting his millions by now. Yet Cheney continues his "America doesn't know what's good for America" spin. "We need Guantanamo," Cheney insisted Monday at the National Press Club. "If we didn't have it, we'd need to (invent) it... If you don't have a place to hold these people, the only other option ...

Guantanamo detainee treatment -- truth be told
The Reaction — By Carol Gee "Dangerous people, detainees, prisoners of war, terrorists, extremists" -- The words we use to describe our adversaries are important. Not only are they important to those people, but they matter all over the world. We must also be accurate when we describe what we have done to detainees says Glenn Greenwald at Salon.com (6/6/09). His post is titled, "The NYT's nice, new euphemism for torture." To quote (his links): . . . according to the NYT, detainees in CIA black sites were merely subjected to "intense interrogations." That's all? Who ...

Why Can’t CIA Handle the Same Level of Oversight the Military Gets?
Firedoglake — "We tortured Qahtani," the convening authority for military commissions, Susan Crawford, admitted to Bob Woodward earlier this year. "His treatment met the legal definition of torture." Though I'm sure it happened, any criticism of Crawford for this admission was muted. I know of no one who claimed that Crawford was causing servicemen and women to be distracted from their core mission of protecting the country. No skies fell, and few claimed they had or would. But it's not just Crawford who confessed that the military tortured a Gitmo detainee. Congress, too, has chronicled the ways in which the military tortured detainees. The ...

What Did Dick Give Judy to Go Pro-Torture?
Firedoglake — photo: KCIvey via Flickr Judy Miller must think she’s smarter than Susan Crawford. Crawford, after all, while still convening authority for military commissions in Gitmo, admitted that Mohammed al-Qahtani had been tortured. And by that, she was referring to the treatment that started in November 2002, nine months after Gitmo opened; she was talking ...