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POPSU.S. and Allies Torture Kids in Iraq Prisons Former President Carter wrote that the Red Cross, Amnesty International and the Pentagon “have gathered substantial testimony of torture of children, confirmed by soldiers who witnessed or participated in the abuse.” UNICEF was “profoundly disturbed” by reports of abuse of children in Iraq prisons. “Any mistreatment, sexual abuse, exploitation or torture of children in detention is a violation of international law,” UNICEF spokesman Damien Peronnaz said. Not surprisingly, “One of the biggest complaints (by Iraqis) is that the vast majority of (U.S.) detainees have not been charged with any crime,”
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POPSGuantanamo's SERE Standard Operating Procedures 1. Purpose. This SOP document promulgates procedures to be followed by I I P-GTMO personnel engaged in interrogation operations on detained persons. The premise behind this is that the interrogation tactics used at U.S. military SERE schools are appropriate for use in real-world interrogations. These tactics and techniques are used at SERE school to “break” SERE detainees. The same tactics and techniques can be used to break real detainees during interrogation operations. 2. Training. All interrogators will undergo training by certified SERE instructors prior to being approved for use of any of the techniques described in this document. Scope. Applicable to military and civilian interrogators assigned to JTF-GTMO, Cuba. Guantanamo Abu Ghraib
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POPSTortue: Direct Authorizations from White House Revealed
Torture is against Internation law In March 2008 Bush vetoed Congressional legislation outlawing torture. New legislation was later passed officially approving waterboarding & other modes of torture (John McCain voted in favor of this approval) Approving torture and approving totally allowed spying on citizens without specific warrants or reasons are two fatall steps towards full-fledged fascism. This documentation of these White House memos would document Bush/Cheney & other White Houses officials of war crimes OR complicity in war crimes. If these officials can get away with this now, not only does the corruption and descent of our nation deepen now but makes it more probably that such evils will happen in the future. (Having private armies is another classic step down the road to fascism -- like Blackwater, like other "private security contractors.") Ruling by fear and lies, etc. The legacy of George Bush will be that he's the first president to be tried for
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POPSHuge Weapons Cache Found West Of Baghdad The pic looks like a bunch of .50 barrels. BFD… comment by thebronze “The cache included 269 122 mm rocket rounds and 200,000 heavy machine-gun rounds.” “The cache included 269 122 mm rocket rounds.” Those rockets would be great IEDs. Or if they have a launcher they could use them against other areas. I take heavy machine gun rounds to mean at least .50. It is something of a big deal. comment by Hard Right
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POPSPhilip Zimbardo: Why ordinary people do evil ... or do good Philip Zimbardo knows how easy it is for nice people to turn bad. In this talk, he shares insights and graphic unseen photos from the Abu Ghraib trials. Then he talks about the flip side: how easy it is to be a hero, and how we can rise to the challenge. http://www.ted.com
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POPS"America : The Gift Shop"
the PIPELINE: Style on Tap * September 19, 2008 11:32 AM * News National Nightmares for Sale: The Disturbing Mementos of "America: The Gift Shop" By Gabriel Bell philtoledano_america1.jpg After eight years of government that have left a sizable chip on America's shoulder, it's no big surprise that W-era memorabilia isn't exactly flooding the market. Enter photographer Phillip Toledano who previously explored the dirty corners of this country with arresting exposés on offices emptied by the dot-com crash and phone-sex workers. This time, Toledano's "America: The Gift Shop" virtual exhibition takes on the torture, special rendition, and government secrecy with enough cheek to make you gasp, giggle, or groan (depending on your politics). Turning to plastic arts instead of his camera, Toledano has created a conceptual store of Bush administration mementos, including such satirical wonders as a bouncy Gitmo holding cell, an Abu Ghraib bobblehead doll, and a Dick Cheney
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POPSNancy Pelosi and Neville Chamberlain This new Republican Party is an extremely dangerous group of sociopaths that will belittle, and if possible destroy, every humanitarian and virtuous plan that comes along simply because it diverts funds from their Nazi mentality of world authority by military might.
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POPSinteractive guide: Who in the Bush administration broke the law, and who could be prosecuted
Each scandal is represented by a colored circle that encompasses the people who are implicated. As it's easy to see, many of the players here are mixed up in two, three, or more of the alleged crimes. Hence all the overlapping circles (Venn-diagram heaven!). The best way to make sense of this legal tangle is to mouse over the title of an individual scandal, which will highlight everyone implicated. For example, the wiretapping bubble ensnares George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, David Addington, John Ashcroft, John Yoo, and Alberto Gonzales. At the same time, Ashcroft and Gonzales fall into the overlapping circle for monkey business related to DoJ hiring. Mouse over a person's name for information on how each person is involved. Mouse over the title of each circle for specifics about the particular scandal. And if all else fails, fall back on this golden rule of wrongdoing in the White House: All roads lead to Gonzales.
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POPSThe drum beat of idiocy... Capt Fogg nails it again: patriotism trumps any type of reason in our (right wing) politics... Will anyone actually listen to what the candidates has to say on the issues? Or is it all decided based on imagery...
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POPSTexans Love Bush and Babies In a tiny Texas community, children as young as 5 were fed powerful painkillers they knew as "silly pills" and forced to perform sex shows for a crowd of adults.
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POPSBush: those who disagree with him "slander America" How very, very cheap - taking those who disagree with HIM and labeling them slanderers of AMERICA. He attempts to manipulate people who want to be patriotic into sitting down, shutting up, and asking no questions about his abuse of power, so he can do whatever he wants with their money.
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POPSChina Inspired Interrogations at Guantánamo Swell, just swell, borrowing techniques from communist dictatorships. Well done! Plus: "In 2002, the training program, known as SERE, for Survival, Evasion, Resistance, Escape, became a source of interrogation methods both for the C.I.A. and the military. In what critics describe as a remarkable case of historical amnesia, officials who drew on the SERE program appear to have been unaware that it had been created as a result of concern about false confessions by American prisoners." Brilliant!
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POPSMoral Depravity in the Highest Places
After 7 1/2 years of George W. Bush, much of the media and political establishment — which have never shown much interest in holding Bush to account — now appear anxious to simply move on. They seem determined to leave unexamined the full cruelty and mendacity of the Bush administration, with its unlawful wars and blatant violations of the Geneva Conventions. Moving on is a great idea - once there’s been some accountability, with a full public recognition of wrongdoing, and a commitment to bring about change. Otherwise, nothing will have been learned. The comments of Yoo, who authored top-level internal memos justifying torture and virtually unlimited presidential power, suggest a moral depravity in very high places. That depravity led to the horrific abuses at Abu Ghraib and at other U.S. prisons in Iraq, Afghanistan, Guantanamo Bay and “black sites” around the world. The dean of the Massachusetts School of Law, Lawrence Velvel, argues that Bush and top administration offi
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POPSIrishman Angry at the Bush Junket Disruption! Willie has 'balls'. Few would publicly crisis the disruptive Bush. Doesn't he know that the grinning George is responsible for the torture of more humans than all Americans to date? Does he think that being Irish makes him immune to waterboarding. Surely as a aircraft man he knows of 'extraordinary rendition' where you are on permanent tour of the best torture prisons on earth. Even Shannon seems to be on the CIA itinerary according to Amnesty. And your personal politics or none is no disbarment. From Israel, to Egypt, to Iran, to Russia, to Africa, to Cuba, to Abu Ghraib, to Bagram, all are catered for. Fear of flying is sorted with drugs and huds, in best gangster fashion. There are no numbers yet on 'lost in flight' customers, but getting there. After all, this was a favourite method of disposal for the US trained South American juntas. "Lost at sea" is permanent and 'clean'.
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POPSUS General Accuses Bush Admin of War Crimes 2-Star Army General indicts about Abu Ghraib that the White House "authorized" it: the Commander-in-Chief and those under him authorized a systematic regime of torture. Alot of things have come down on the Bush administration in the last month, i.e. McClellan's book, Bugliosi's book, now this.
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POPSUS General: Bush committed war crimes, must be prosecuted 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."
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POPSUS General Accuses Bush Administration of War Crimes In light of ongoing Congressional investigations into so-called harsh interrogation techniques, and on the heels of Congressman Dennis Kucinich recently issuing articles of impeachment accusing President Bush of, among other offenses, authorizing torture, we present Taguba's latest statement for your consideration. The full Physicians for Human Rights report outlining the medical evidence of torture perpetrated by the United States can be read at their website.
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POPSExams reveal abuse, torture of detainees
"There is no longer any doubt that the current administration committed war crimes," Taguba says. "The only question is whether those who ordered torture will be held to account." Over the years, reports of abuses at Abu Ghraib and allegations of torture at Guantanamo prompted the Bush administration to deny that the U.S. military tortures detainees. Since only 11 detainees were examined "the findings of this assessment cannot be generalized to the treatment of all detainees in U.S. custody," the report says. However, the incidents documented are consistent with findings of other investigations into government treatment, "making it reasonable to conclude that these detainees were not the only ones abused, but are representative of a much larger number of detainees subjected to torture and ill treatment while in U.S. custody." Four of the men evaluated were arrested in or taken to Afghanistan between late 2001 and early 2003 and later were sent to Guantanamo Bay, .........