Tag: Torture

Should GW Be Held Accountable?

With the incoming House in January, there has been lots of copy on the possibility of hundreds of investigations by Rep. Issa…..there are some things that I agree need investigating and then there is my thought that all this drama is a witch hunt against Obama…political theater that will waste millions of taxpayers money…..but beyond that there are a few things that I feel need a closer look….like how government contracts are awarded or why lies and character assassination are allowed in campaigns……unfortunately I am talking about some of the stuff from GW presidency…..and from his days a gov of Texas….

First of all on the subject of torture….from his interview with NBC Matt Lauer…..

“The lawyer said it was legal and it did not fall under the Anti-Torture Act. I’m not a lawyer. I have to trust the people around me.”
Bush defended the tactics of CIA officers during the interrogation of Abu Zubaydah, who was suspected to be a member of al Qaeda with information on the 9/11 attacks. He said the tactics “saved lives” and that he was protecting America by allowing what many Americans, including President Barack Obama, would call torture.

The rest of the world considers water-boarding as torture…many people have been tried and convicted on this issue to include Japanese soldiers during WW2 and some police officers in the US…to mention just a few….and since it is recognized by the world as torture and GW admitted to knowing and approving of the technique……should he be held accountable?

Then there is when he was governor of Texas…..and he sent a bunch of people to the other side in the executions in the state….but there is one that stands out….

Claude Howard Jones was convicted of murder during a liquor store robbery in 1989 and put to death on December 7, 2000.

His murder conviction was based on a single piece of forensic evidence recovered from the crime scene — a strand of hair that prosecutors claimed belonged to Jones.

The Texas Observer magazine on Thursday said the DNA tests completed this week at the request of the Observer and the New York-based Innocence Project indicate that Jones was “excluded as the contributor of this questioned hair.”The day before he was put to death in the Texas execution chamber, Jones had asked for a stay of execution so that the strand of hair could be submitted for DNA testing.

His request was denied by the then governor of Texas George W. Bush.

What could have it hurt to delay the execution to determine if the man was innocent of the crime?  Now how does the state of Texas repay for this abortion of justice?  How does it make amends?

Should GW be held accountable for these two cases?

Is It Really Pro-Life?

College of Political Knowledge

Subject:  Government/Politics/

Lecture #6

Preface:  Before I get into the meat of this post I need to clarify something……I am pro-life….but that is where it ends….I would not presume to inflict my beliefs on anyone over a purely private and personal matter….I had to say that before the eye rolls and the emotional ravings started……

Many people see the fetus as a living entity at the moment of conception and in that it has rights and is an unforgivable sin to abort said pregnancy….but as soon as that chilkd leaves the womb he/she becomes one of those sponges that is leeching off the state…in other words they are important until they are born and then they become part of another narrative…that being a drain on our valuable resources….

And these same people are pro war and pro capital punishment….both of which take lives….we can argue about the justification of either war or execution, which I will not venture to do….. but when we get down to the basic premise…it is the taking of a life….plain and simple……so where are the pro-lifers and their concern for the sanctity of human life?

I recently saw an article that put forth the premise that a fetus after 12 weeks (I believe) would feel pain during the abortion process….which pro-lifers use to justify their position on the issue….but yet most of these same people are pro torture…..they will justify the difference by saying that the fetus is a helpless entity that has no choice…well, people try torture!  You are helpless and have no choice, either.

My problem is that if one is going to use the pro-life handle then it should apply to all life, not just the one that is convenient…that if human life is sacred, then ALL human life is sacred…..

Is Pinochet Still Dead?

Once and awhile I turn my attentions to thew international scene…there are times when the world needs to be reminded of some disgusting situations from the past…back in the dark days of the 70’s there was a prick of a dictator, one Pinochet that lead a coup that overthrew the first popularly elected socialist president of Chile…..for those that do not remember the days…it sucked to be a Chilean leftist…it meant prison, torture and finally death…some 28,000 to be somewhat close…..Pinochet was eventually forced from office and became an instant international human rights fugitive….he eventually died….(I am sure that thousands of Chileans celebrated)…..

I know…this is old news, right?….hang in there …there is a method to my madness….

There has been a presidential election in Chile with some interesting back stories…..

Pinera, 60, won the contest against one-time President Eduardo Frei, a Christian Democrat, unseating the center-left coalition that had governed Chile since dictator Augusto Pinochet was forced from power in 1990.

The victory marks a political shift in Chile, a nation of 17 million people that straddles 4,100 kilometers (2,547 miles) of the Andes Mountains from its northern border with Peru to the Cape Horn.

In the 2010 election, Chileans chose a president with ties to the dictator who led the 1973 coup that left Socialist President Salvador Allende dead. Pinera managed a 1989 presidential campaign for Hernan Buchi, Pinochet’s former finance minister.

Pinera won with the support of two parties founded by former Pinochet collaborators — the National Renovation party and the Independent Democratic Union. Two of Pinera’s top campaign advisers held posts in the dictatorship and a third is a former Pinochet minister.

Pinera, a Harvard University-trained economist and former Citigroup Inc. executive, said during his campaign that he embraces Pinochet’s economic policies of cutting corporate taxes and encouraging investing in the country, and abhors the rule of terror.

Okay Chile has a new president, what is the big deal?……This guy says he was opposed to Pinchet’s Reign of terror, but yet he runs campaigns for some of his closest allies….apparently Pinochet’s policies help make this guy wealthy, so he says he likes the economic policies and that is about it….

The center left parties have been popular since the Pinochet days and the current president has a 80% approval rating but she cannot run consecutively, so this guy is a rightist and leftist policies are popular so how will this new president play out for the next 4 years?  Will he go to any lengths to secure his policies? Even to the extreme?

Murder Is Not Suicide

Do you remember the three Gitmo detainees that commited suicide on the same day in 2006?  NO?  Then let us review…….

After the terror attacks of September 11, 2001, the CIA set up several so-called ”black” sites around the world, where harsh interrogations of terrorism suspects took place.

The three Guantanamo detainees who died on the night of June 9-10, 2006, were Salah Ahmed al-Salami, 37, of Yemen; Mani Shaman al-Utaybi, 30, of Saudi Arabia; and Yasser Talal al-Zahrani, 22, of Saudi Arabia.

Everyone bought the excuse of their deaths as routine for crazed terrorists….but it seems there is more to this story than we have heard….now thanx to Harper’s magazine the truth is coming out…..

THREE Guantanamo Bay detainees whose deaths were ruled as suicide in 2006 were apparently transported from their cells to a secret site hours before they died, according to an article in Harper’s magazine.

The published account raises questions about whether the three detainees died by hanging themselves in their cells and suggests the US Government is covering up details of what precisely happened in the hours before the deaths.

Harper’s reports that the deaths of the three detainees, or the events that led directly to their deaths, most likely occurred at a previously undisclosed facility more than a kilometre from the main Guantanamo Bay prison complex.

Harper’s based much of its account on interviews with several prison guards who said they knew of the existence of the ”black” site and that they saw three detainees removed from Camp Delta several hours before the deaths were reported and they were in a white van proceeding towards the secret site.

As usual the soldiers involved were order not to divulge anything about this situation and the cover up began and those who murdered these people are walking the streets and may be shopping at your local Mall.

Rice Invokes Nixon

Condoleezza Rice did something recently that few Republicans seem willing to do…she invoked the memory of Nixon.

Asked whether waterboarding is torture, Rice replied, “The United States was told, we were told, nothing that violates our obligations under the Convention Against Torture, and so by definition, if it was authorized by the president, it did not violate our obligations under the Convention Against Torture.”

Many readers will recall that Nixon had a similar response when asked about Watergate, and told the reporter David Frost, “When the president does it, that means it is not illegal.”

Rice also insisted that she did not authorize waterboarding: “I didn’t authorize anything. I conveyed the authorization of the administration to the agency, that they had policy authorization, subject to the Justice Department’s clearance. That’s what I did.”

Maybe she should have spent a few semesters studying law.  Or better yet, just keep her mouth shut.  Does she realize that she has admitted to conspiracy?

Debate Over Torture

Attorney General-designate Eric Holder on Thursday capped years of angry debate over U.S. counterterrorism policy and declared a major break from the Bush administration.

“Waterboarding is torture,” said Holder, President-elect Barack Obama’s pick to run the Justice Department.

Holder’s blunt response to the first question at his confirmation hearing was one that many on the Senate Judiciary Committee had sought after years of frustrating nonanswers on the subject from Attorney General Michael Mukasey and his predecessor, Alberto Gonzales.

I have heard all the arguments on torture.  One that if it saves Americans lives then it is okay and second, torture achieves little success on gaining needed intel.
I am personally against any form of torture and yes, torture is a subjective subject that can be defined anyway a person wants to define it.  But we can end all this BS with one simple act.  For those who condone the use of these techniques, then let them have it done to them and I will bet that their sanctimonious BS will end.

What Is McCain’s Appeal?

I have heard alot of answers to that question, but the most common answers are: 1–Bravery on a personal level, 2–Independent, 3–Opposes Washington on some issues.

The only one that can be vaguely claimed is #1–he may have been independent or a maverick and he has opposed some of the Repub issues in the past–but his recent flipping on positions has shown that he is a team player.  What issues?  Bush tax cuts he opposed them before he supported them, just to mention one such flip.

Then there is #1..yes he was a POW and yes he showed bravery under those conditions.  He originally opposed the use of torture but once he was the presumed Repub nominee he supports torture.  I find that a bit much, as a POW he was subjected to torture and was opposed to it, before he supported it for political gain.

Nomne of this makes him brave or an independent or a fighter, it does however make him an opportunist.