Clipmarks | masbury's 'war' clips

Red Cross: CIA actions "categorically" constitute torture

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 02:49:09 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: Warned Bush Admin last year that it could make them guilty of war crimes

Red Cross: CIA’s Handling of Prisoners Categorically Torture

A secret report by the International Red Cross warned the Bush administration last year that the CIA’s treatment of prisoners categorically constituted torture and could make Bush administration officials who approved the torture methods guilty of war crimes. One prisoner—Abu Zubaydah—told the Red Cross he had been waterboarded at least ten times in a single week. He was confined in a box so small that he had to double up his limbs in the fetal position. The details about the secret Red Cross report appear in a new book by investigative journalist Jane Mayer called The Dark Side.

Tags: torture, cia, bush, politics, news, war crimes

"Stability" in Iraq revives the "good war" myth

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 18:38:13 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: We can't bring justice to Iraq by continuing to force ourselves on it. We ARE the injustice.

Clip Source: files.tikkun.org

the Republicans wield another symbol of America as a righteous winner: the goal of achieving "stability" in Iraq. It may be the most seductive image of all, because it exerts a strong appeal across the political spectrum

War -- righteous, courageous, and ultimately victorious -- has always been a central theme in the American myth of stability

If Democrats and war critics go on the counterattack against the surge success story, they will keep that mythic drama on center stage in the theater

McCain's campaign survives, and thrives, only by

relying on its mastery of a language of American identity centered on the symbolism of an American "good war." Any debate about military success in Iraq, however contentious, keeps his strong suit in the spotlight.

The Democrats, however, can turn

by refusing to treat the issue of military success or failure as the central question of the moment

And we can begin to heal from our moral bankruptcy, not to mention our impending financial one.

Tags: war on terror, iraq

Why surge success is irrelevant

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 18:14:27 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: "Arguments over whether U.S. forces can prevail in Iraq bypass a truth that no amount of media spin can change: The U.S. war effort in Iraq has always been illegitimate and fundamentally wrong."

Clip Source: files.tikkun.org

"Arguments over whether U.S. forces can prevail in Iraq bypass a truth that no amount of media spin can change: The U.S. war effort in Iraq has always been illegitimate and fundamentally wrong." The longer we stay in Iraq, the longer we perpetuate the wrongs we have done, regardless of whether we achieve military success by anyone's measure.

We are uninvited intruders in Iraq. We invaded the country on false pretenses. It's long past time for us to admit that truth and leave. The longer we stay, the longer we tell the world that invasion and occupation are okay with us, and the longer we leave America's moral reputation around the world in tatters. When our troops leave, we will set an example for countries that have occupied, or might be tempted to occupy, other lands

As long as the Democrats are committed to sustaining a neoliberal imperial project, they have to try as hard as the Republicans to revive the myth of American troops as a force for global stability

Tags: iraq, war

Why the surge hasn't "worked"

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 06:30:47 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: It hasn't met the goals set out for it.

Clip Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

John McCain, aided and abetted by his loving protectors in the media, is running a victory lap on Iraq. To hear them tell it, the surge has "worked" -- indeed, it has been a huge success -- and this, like a last second Hail Mary pass, has vindicated the entire disastrous Iraq misadventure.

Everyone seems more than happy to forget what the president's own stated goal for the surge was: to create "the breathing space [the Iraqi government] needs to make progress in other critical areas."

But here we are, 18 months later, and McCain and the GOP are being allowed to change the goal.

So, even though Bush originally claimed that "a successful strategy for Iraq goes beyond military operations," the surge is now being judged exclusively on the success of "military operations." And since that's what the surge is all about, the surge is working. And since the surge is working, maybe we need to rethink this whole idea of ending the war, right?

Indeed, we can stay forever

Tags: war, iraq

Panel calls for new War Powers Act

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 17:57:50 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: "The current War Powers Resolution is 'ineffective at best and unconstitutional at worst,' and should be scrapped"

Clip Source: cnnwire.blogs.cnn.com

Panel calls for new War Powers Act

WASHINGTON (CNN) — The United States needs a new law requiring that the president consult with Congress before going to war, a blue-ribbon panel led by two former secretaries of state will say Tuesday.

The current War Powers Resolution is “ineffective at best and unconstitutional at worst,” and should be scrapped, James A. Baker III and Warren Christopher write in Tuesday’s New York Times, previewing the conclusion of the year-long study they led.

The recommendation follows failed efforts by Democrats in Congress to put a stop to the war in Iraq or to put conditions on President Bush’s conduct of it. Congress passed a joint resolution to authorize armed force against in Iraq in 2002, but some Bush opponents say it should not have been interpreted as a blank check for the United States to invade and occupy the Gulf nation.

Tags: foreign policy, politics

Clark's comments on McCain "clear and honest"

Sun, 06 Jul 2008 22:45:09 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: Requiring no apology

Clip Source: www.truthdig.com

“I certainly honor his service as a prisoner of war. He was a hero to me, and to hundreds of thousands and millions of others in the armed forces, as a prisoner of war,”

Despite all the feigned outrage fanned by the mainstream media and the right-wing noisemakers, Wesley Clark—retired four-star general, former supreme commander of NATO, wounded and highly decorated veteran of ground combat in Vietnam and a military man to his core—assuredly did not denigrate the war record of John McCain

Instead, perhaps naively, Gen. Clark stated a very simple fact. McCain’s service in Vietnam doesn’t prove his aptitude or competence to serve in the nation’s highest office

“I don’t think riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be president.”

The reservations he expressed were clear and honest, requiring no apology

Tags: mccain, clark

How the Surge has left us wounded

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 22:29:28 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: "If we accept the mainstream narrative on its face, the surge worked. It transformed the U.S. troop presence from being counterproductive to being indispensable for maintaining stability. But can we continue with anything close to the current level of troops deployed over there?"

Clip Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

The Simple Arithmetic of a Fraudulent Surge

From its inception, the Iraq war strategy was like a plan to fly across the Pacific without enough fuel to get to the other side. The surge made the plane fly faster.

can we continue with anything close to the current level of troops deployed over there?

clearly, "No."

1. "Mullen's Choice: Troops For Afghanistan Or Troops For Iraq,"

2. "Iraq Troop Boost Erodes Readiness, General Says,"

3. "U.S. deploys more than 43,000 unfit for combat,"

4. "US Sent Medically Unfit Soldiers to Iraq, Pentagon Acknowledges,"

5. "Pentagon Ends Time Limit On Guard, Reserve

6. "Col.: DOD delayed brain injury scans,"

feared veterans would blame

ailments on

bomb blasts

7. "Scientists: Brain injuries from war worse than thought,"

9. "Invisible Wounds of War,"

300,000 individuals currently suffer from PTSD or major depression and that 320,000 individuals experienced a probable TBI [traumatic brain injury]

Tags: surge, iraq

ACLU: Massive Pentagon effort conceals human costs of war

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 05:53:04 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: ACLU charges unprecedented effort to "control and suppress information about the human cost" of the wars

Clip Source: thinkprogress.org

The ACLU today released documents regarding Navy investigations of civilians killed by coalition troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. The report notes that the administration has gone to “unprecedented lengths to control and suppress information about the human cost” of the wars. Some of the key findings:

– Banning photographers on U.S. military bases from covering the arrival of caskets containing the remains of U.S. soldiers killed overseas

– Paying Iraqi journalists to write positive accounts of the U.S. war effort

– Inviting U.S. journalists to “embed” with military units but requiring them to submit their stories for pre-publication review

– Erasing journalists’ footage of civilian deaths in Afghanistan

– Refusing to disclose statistics on civilian casualties.

The New York Times revealed in April that the Pentagon also had used a domestic propaganda program to paint a rosy portrait of the war effort. See the documents here.

Tags: war on terror

Gitmo torture training based on Korea-era Chinese torture

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 21:06:09 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: Used on US prisoners during Korean conflict

Clip Source: www.democracynow.org

Gitmo Trainers Based Interrogations on Chinese Techniques

The New York Times has revealed military trainers at Guantanamo Bay based an entire interrogation class on Chinese techniques used on US prisoners during the Korean War. The techniques have long been considered forms of torture, including “sleep deprivation,” “prolonged constraint,” “exposure,” “semi-starvation," “exploitation of wounds.” Some of the intended effects include “Makes Victim Dependent on Interrogator,” “Weakens Mental and Physical Ability to Resist” and “Reduces Prisoner to ‘Animal Level’ Concerns.” The methods were also seen as widely ineffective, having obtained mostly false confessions. The techniques were outlined in a chart from a 1957 Air Force study entitled “Communist Attempts to Elicit False Confessions from Air Force Prisoners of War.” Some of the methods were used on Guantanamo prisoners until Congress banned the use of coercion in 2005.

Tags: torture

Gen Wesley Clark: McCain hasn't shown "sound judgment"

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 18:26:40 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: Especially in foreign policy: "has time and again undervalued other, non-military elements of national power that must be used effectively to protect America"

Clip Source: www.motherjones.com

I have made comments in the past about John McCain's service and I want to reiterate them in order be crystal clear. As I have said before I honor John McCain's service as a prisoner of war and a Vietnam Veteran. He was a hero to me and to hundreds of thousands and millions of others in Armed Forces as a prisoner of war.

John McCain is running his campaign on his experience

That experience shows courage and commitment to our country — but it doesn't include executive experience wrestling with national policy or go-to-war decisions. And in this area his judgment has been flawed — he not only supported going into a war we didn't have to fight in Iraq, but has time and again undervalued other, non-military elements of national power that must be used effectively to protect America. But as an American and former military officer I will not back down if I believe someone doesn't have sound judgment when it comes to our nation's most critical issues.

Tags: mccain, clark, politics

US General: Bush committed war crimes, must be prosecuted

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 19:53:59 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: Maj. Gen. Taguba led the US Army's official investigation into the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal and testified before Congress on his findings in May 2004. Taguba retired in January 2007, later alleging that Pentagon officials had ordered him to retire for being "overzealous" in his criticisms of the military. He writes here, in the Preface to the report "Broken Laws, Broken Lives."

Clip Source: www.truthout.org

This report tells the largely untold human story of what happened to detainees in our custody when the Commander-in-Chief and those under him authorized a systematic regime of torture. This story is not only written in words: It is scrawled for the rest of these individuals' lives on their bodies and minds. Our national honor is stained by the indignity and inhumane treatment these men received from their captors.

The profiles of these eleven former detainees, none of whom were ever charged with a crime or told why they were detained, are tragic and brutal

In order for these individuals to suffer the wanton cruelty to which they were subjected, a government policy was promulgated to the field whereby the Geneva Conventions and the Uniform Code of Military Justice were disregarded

there is no longer any doubt as to whether the current administration has committed war crimes

The only question that remains to be answered is whether those who ordered the use of torture will be held to account.

Tags: bush, torture, war on terror

Law School to plan Bush war crimes prosecution

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 04:50:05 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: A conference for planning how to prosecute Bush, Cheney, John Yoo, and others.

Clip Source: www.opednews.com

Headlined on 6/15/08:
LAW SCHOOL TO ORGANIZE BUSH WAR CRIMES TRIAL

A conference to plan the prosecution of President Bush and other high administration officials for war crimes will be held September 13-14 at the Massachusetts School of Law at Andover .

He noted in the years since the prosecution and punishment of German and Japanese leaders after World War Two those nation's leaders changed their countries' aggressor cultures

"For Bush, Richard Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and John Yoo to spend years in jail or go to the gallows for their crimes would be a powerful lesson to future American leaders,"

past practice has been to allow U.S. officials responsible for war crimes in Viet Nam and elsewhere to enjoy immunity from prosecution upon leaving office

Tags: war, terror, torture

Iraq cost: Loss of power, prestige, influence

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 23:43:49 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: Why Iraq policy has made America less powerful; major changes recommended by bi-partisan panels; greater emphasis on soft power and patience, less "hectoring"

Clip Source: www.mcclatchydc.com

"America's strategic position in the world has worsened," said Josef Joffe

"From a coldly realist perspective, Iraq was the wrong war against the wrong foe at the wrong time."

"Since 9/11, the United States has been exporting fear and anger rather than the more traditional values of hope and optimism. Suspicions of American power have run deep," Richard Armitage, deputy secretary of state under Bush

The removal of Saddam Hussein strengthened Iran and "by entangling itself in an interminable civil war, the U.S. has lost power to spare,"

U.S. credibility also has been undermined, at home and abroad, by the administration's false claims about Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction and ties to al Qaida prior to the Iraq war.

Several recent blue-ribbon panels recommended that the next president make major changes in how the United States deals with the world.

war on terrorism has inflamed suspicions of U.S. motives

Tags: iraq, war on terror

BBC: $24 BILLION missing in Iraq

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 23:23:51 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: Equal stack of $1's would rise 1500 miles.

Clip Source: www.juancole.com

A BBC investigation concludes that as much as $24 billion has gone missing in Iraq, and much of it may have been embezzled by private companies and corporations brought there by Bush:

Henry Waxman who chairs the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform said: "The money that's gone into waste, fraud and abuse under these contracts is just so outrageous, its egregious. "It may well turn out to be the largest war profiteering in history." . . '

If you stacked singles up into the air in the amount of $24 billion, it would rise 1500 miles high. That is roughly the distance between New York City and Dallas, Texas-- one dollar bill at a time.

In fact, all the $2 trillion or more that the US will spend on the Iraq War, including a lifetime of medical and psychiatric care for thousands of damaged veterans, will have been spent for no national purpose, but only so as to line the pockets of Friends of George and Friends of Dick. War is welfare for the right wing of the Republican Party.

Tags: war, iraq

I hope your name is Hawkins

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 04:15:49 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: "Only those named Hawkins would be saved"; nuclear war still on for Thursday. Alas, that troublesome Jesus, always messes up peoples' religions: he said, "You don't get to know the time. Timing is the Father's business." (Acts 1). Sorry, Hawkinses, if the apostles didn't get to know, I 'spect you don't either.

Clip Source: rawstory.com

“Nuclear war will begin next Thursday, June 12, or sooner, according to the latest prediction of self-proclaimed prophet Yisrayl ‘Buffalo Bill’ Hawkins, the founder of a religious sect in Abilene, Texas.”

“Everything that he preaches has to do with people buying something,” said former House of Yahweh elder David Als of New York City.

Like many of the his followers, Als actually legally changed his last name to Hawkins because he became convinced that only those named Hawkins would be saved.

Tags: religion