While it lacks the punch of the excerpted quote, the full text of George Washington’s charge to the Northern Expeditionary Force on September 14, 1775 was as follows: Camp at Cambridge, September 14, 1775. Sir: You are intrusted with a… Read More ›
torture
Those who forget the past …
“Should any American soldier be so base and infamous as to injure any [prisoner] … I do most earnestly enjoin you to bring him to such severe and exemplary punishment as the enormity of the crime may require. Should it… Read More ›
Senate finally releases torture report
The Senate Intelligence Committee has released its report on the CIA’s Detention and Interrogation Program after 9/11, and the details are being circulated around the world. So NOW can we indict those responsible? Oops, almost forgot. We’re not doing indictments anymore… Read More ›
Sen. Mark Udall should release secret CIA torture report
Colorado’s Sen. Mark Udall (D), member of the Senate intelligence committee and now a lame duck, is in a unique position to do something critically important. He can read into the Congressional record the Senate’s still-classified 6,000-page CIA torture report. He can… Read More ›
She said, she said
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is under fire, justifiably, for her many iterations of what she knew about the waterboarding of terrorism suspects and when she knew it. She has flailed about with a number of protestations and explanations,… Read More ›
Let the chips fall
November 14, 2005. That’s the date of my first post addressing the use of torture by the Bush administration. (Run a Pied Type search on “torture” to see the rest.) My mind was made up long before the current, increasingly… Read More ›
Determined Obama hits the ground running
The UK’s Guardian today published an interesting, detailed list of Barack Obama’s activities during his first 100 hours in office. It’s a good read; I have to admire the man who actually lived through it, doing everything on the list…. Read More ›
Torture: Will no one be held accountable?
On the off chance that you missed it, I want to repeat yesterday’s news from the Washington Post. A Bush administration official finally has said yes, terror suspects were tortured: ‘We tortured [Mohammed al-]Qahtani,’ said Susan J. Crawford, in her… Read More ›
Mukasey moving to protect Bush on CIA tapes
The U.S. Department of Justice has decided to pursue a full criminal investigation into the destruction of the CIA interrogation tapes, according to Fox News. Disappointing news, to say the least. Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey is a recent Bush… Read More ›
Sun sets on Patriot Act
The U.S. Senate voted today not to extend the Patriot Act beyond the end of the year, when its sunset provisions kick in. The act has been controversial since its inception soon after 9/11. Its provisions were designed to give… Read More ›
Torture by any name…
PBS’s Frontline documentary “The Torture Question” last night explored at length the U.S. policy on the abuse and torture of prisoners. No amount of euphemism (e.g: “coercive interrogation,” “enemy combatant,” “detainee”) or protestation by our government officials can convince me… Read More ›
