Oh Boy, Another One ...

Yesterday, we told you about Jon "Let'em Go" Meacham, and his "Hear/Speak/See No Evil" approach to holding the Bush Grindhouse accountable for their war crimes.



Today, it is, none other, than Thomas "My Head Is Flat", "Suck On This" Friedman, proud creator of the infamous "Friedman Unit".

The president’s decision to expose but not prosecute those responsible for this policy is surely unsatisfying; some of this abuse involved sheer brutality that had nothing to do with clear and present dangers. Then why justify the Obama compromise? Two reasons: the first is that because justice taken to its logical end here would likely require bringing George W. Bush, Donald Rumsfeld and other senior officials to trial, which would rip our country apart; and the other is that Al Qaeda truly was a unique enemy, and the post-9/11 era a deeply confounding war in a variety of ways.

[Snip]

First, Al Qaeda was undeterred by normal means. Al Qaeda’s weapon of choice was suicide. Al Qaeda operatives were ready to kill themselves — as they did on 9/11, and before that against U.S. targets in Saudi Arabia, Kenya, Tanzania and Yemen — long before we could ever threaten to kill them. We could deter the Russians because they loved their children more than they hated us; they did not want to die. The Al Qaeda operatives hated us more than they loved their own children. They glorified martyrdom and left families behind.

We think Mister My Head Is Flat shoots down his own argument, right here.

"Al Qaeda’s weapon of choice was suicide. Al Qaeda operatives were ready to kill themselves ..."

Since Al Qaeda was "undeterred by normal means", fearless of suicide and "ready to kill themselves", why then, would we want to play into all that with torture?

It would seem to be a wiser choice, to do proper interrogations with them, dispelling the myths, and building rapports that trained interrogators say produce better results.

Sorry there Mister Suck-On-This, you don't get to pass Go, and collect your, apparently much-needed, $200.

And, can we start tearing down this meme, that holding criminals accountable for their crimes will "tear the country apart."

Who says so? ... When has this happened, what factual documentation do these people have?

Ford screwed the pooch with pardoning Nixon for the same rationale, choking off the display of democracy, with having the Congress impeach the sitting, criminal President.

So, why is it that, in "enforcing the laws that are on the books" (a favorite Freak Show lament, when it comes to gun control, and immigration), will "tear the country apart", rather than stand out, showing our fellow citizens, and the world, that we are big enough, and strong enough, to take care of our business, orderly, and with respect.

I expect this will get a lot more voicing, as we crawl towards the War Crime Trials, awaiting, hopefully, not in the distant future.

So, Suck On That, there Mr. Friedman Unit.


Bonus "My Head Is Flat" Riffs

Barrett Brown: Thomas Friedman’s Five Worst Predictions

Delawareliberal: Tom Friedman and Me - Or - Calling Friedman out Near the Coat Check at Sardi’s

Wonkette: Thomas Friedman Assaulted By Rhode Island Pies!

Thomas Freidman, Clearly, Is Eating Lead-Painted Toys From His Flat World Economy!

Happy 5th Anniversary of "Suck On This" Day!

Jon Meacham, Phone Home

This goes, far, far beyond merely Jon Meacham's head stuffed up, deep, in his butt.

Nor, is it drinking gallons-and-gallons of the Freak Show Kool Aid.

The jig is up ...



He is an intergalactic alien, so benighted in the ways and customs of our country, that he, in his "Editor's Desk' column, in 'Newsweek', he blows his cover;

So we do not want that. Nor, I think, do we want to open criminal investigations into those who participated in brutal interrogation methods. And to pursue criminal charges against officials at the highest levels—including the former president and the former vice president—would set a terrible precedent. (The presidential historian Michael Beschloss suggests that the closest parallel to a president authorizing a probe of his predecessor can be found in the 1920s, when Calvin Coolidge appointed special prosecutors to investigate Warren Harding's role in the Teapot Dome scandal.) That is not to say presidents and vice presidents are always above the law; there could be instances in which such a prosecution is appropriate, but based on what we know, this is not such a case.

[snip]

The idea that our only options are to move on completely or to prosecute is a classic false choice.

Dig that?

"That is not to say presidents and vice presidents are always above the law; there could be instances in which such a prosecution is appropriate, but based on what we know, this is not such a case."

No, the "false choice" here, the false meme here is that, "based on what we know", based on lies, and fabricated legal advice to package those lies, that The Bush Grindhouse "kept us safe"

That the policy of torture "kept us safe"

Just the other day (and who thunk that Meacham would top this), we had Stumblin' Bumblin' John McCain advocating that, like Watergate, the Bush Grindhouse should get a pass.

Glenn Greenwald tears Meacham a new one, in Jon Meacham's subservient defense of monarchical power

And, the other day, his editor, Joan Walsh, of Salon, attempted to bang heads together, perhaps, hopefully, to dislodge that meme of "torture is okay".

I don't know what planet you are from Jon Meacham, but when you go back there, you can tell your people that, here, on Earth, torture is a crime and those responsible for it must be held accountable.

Either that, or pull your head out of your ass.

Jesus ....


Bonus Riffs

For The Want Of A Lie ...

Krugman: Reclaiming America’s Soul

The Narrative Continues To Build!

Retro Garlic: Dana Perino's Glass Still Half-Full

Ah, it's almost as familiar, as ubiquitous, as comforting, as Linus's security blanket.

We speak of the brilliant, and brimming, intellect of former Bush Grindhouse mouthpiece, Dana Perino.



Satyam Khanna, at Think Progress caught her recent interview with Chip Reid, and our Glass-Half-Full Dana served up "An investigation would be a "political witch hunt," Perino said, claiming the interrogation program was actually "safe, effective, and legal."

Perhaps she hasn't noticed that she isn't working in The Bush Grindhouse any longer, that she actually can have days where the glass is half-empty, or, really go out on-a-limb, and go sans a glass, completely winging it.

Khanna also called her out, on Dana's little fib, of never saying she answered the question, if Waterboarding was torture;

Except Perino has weighed in on the issue, and all indications are that she has said that waterboarding is not torture. When repeatedly pressed by reporters on whether the Bush administration tortured, Perino consistently and robotically responded, "We do not torture." She uttered the phrase until the very end of her tenure, well after the CIA publicly admitted in February 2008 to waterboarding three detainees:

-- "Let me just make sure it's clear, and I'll say it on the record one more time, that it has never been the policy of this President or this administration to torture." [1/14/09]

-- "We did not torture." [11/18/08]

-- "The United States has not, is not torturing any detainees in the global war on terror." [4/23/08]

Maybe Dana is just staying in character, for her new gig, working with the man who "Blew the Presidency" for Hillary Clinton.

That's right, boys and girls, Half-Glass-Full Dana is now working for Mark Penn.

Let's hope, she can read maps better than Penn.

Oh yeah, The Retro Parts;

In Dana Perino's World, The Glass Is Always, and Perpetually, Half-Full

Top Ten Cloves: Other Surprising Things White House Press Secretary Dana Perino Doesn't Know

Bonus Half-Glass-Full Dana Riffs

Sam Stein - Perino: Bush Deserves Credit For Recent Market Uptick

Steve Benen: WHEN THE QUESTION PROVIDES THE ANSWER...

Ben Armbruster: Defending Cheney, Perino Says Americans ‘Had Input’ On Iraq War In 2004

Harwood Wrestles Hayes For Cheney Fluffer Position

Whoa, boy, the balls' in Stephen Hayes court now, for sure.

Thinking perhaps, with the former Shadow President, running all over town, proverbially shouting "I'm innocent, I'm innocent", would have the long standing Cheney Fluffer in good stead.

A few 15-minute phone calls, pumping up his idol, Hayes could coast for weeks, or as long as this "My Sister/My Daughter", "I'm shocked to find gambling going on here" prattle over the Bush Grindhouse Torture Policy rages on.



Ah, but along comes John Harwood, given his "Letters of Transit" from the Murdoch Street Journal, by the NYT, throws down some serious lavish, such that, it is entirely likely, causing Hayes anxiety attacks today, perhaps even having Hayes' new colleague, John King, thinking up even easier softballs to lob at the former exposer of covert CIA agents, should he stroke his ego again.

Exit Growling - Dick Cheney: The Visible Man

But on the issue of terror investigations, which dominated last week’s headlines, more than the others, Mr. Cheney remains a commanding figure on the right. Mr. Cheney’s defense of brutal interrogation techniques like waterboarding still resonates for many within his party. And by leading the counterattack, Mr. Cheney “relieves Republicans of the newer generation from having to fight old fights,” said Ed Gillespie, a former Bush White House official and Republican National chairman.

Mr. Graham credits Mr. Cheney with causing the normally steady new president to wobble on his stance concerning a possible Congressional inquiry into the Bush’s administration’s handling of terror suspects. After Mr. Cheney called publicly for declassification of memos he contends show the benefits of “enhanced techniques,” Mr. Obama took a tougher line against an investigation, though he earlier appeared to have left the door open for one.

[Snip]

Some veterans of the Bush White House say Mr. Cheney had little choice but to speak out given the barbs directed his way by Mr. Obama, who — in a pointed rejoinder to the Bush administration’s interrogation policies — said, “we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals.”

And there is also the matter of history. Mr. Cheney’s vocal defense of the national security policies he did so much to create seems to reflect his determination to retain a measure of control over the narrative of the Bush years, though in fact Mr. Bush himself began to reassess Mr. Cheney and his counsel. In his second term, Mr. Bush leaned more heavily on the advice of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. He also dismissed Mr. Cheney’s longtime colleague Donald Rumsfeld as defense secretary. And — in a direct blow to Mr. Cheney — Mr. Bush declined to pardon his onetime chief of staff, I. Lewis (Scooter) Libby Jr., after Mr. Libby was convicted of lying to a grand jury and to F.B.I. agents investigating the leak of the identity of a C.I.A. operative.

“Dick’s a true believer,” said Thomas Cronin, a political scientist at Colorado College who has known Mr. Cheney since both began their careers in Washington four decades ago. In some ways, Mr. Cronin added, “He has more vested interest in this than George W. Bush.”

Yeah, vested interests like a War Crimes Trial, and, potentially, getting his future medical treatment for that bionic heart of his in a prison hospital.

Steve M., over on No More Mister Nice Blog, also noted the extensive fluffing Harwood is practicing;

Opening sentence of John Harwood's article on Dick Cheney in the New York Times Week in Review section:

Dick Cheney became a one-of-a-kind vice president for two reasons: he cared deeply about governance, and not a bit about his future political standing.

Wow. Don't you just love that? Cheney "cared deeply about governance." Yup -- kinda the way Timothy McVeigh "cared deeply" about the power balance between ordinary citizens and the federal government, or Eric Rudolph "cared deeply" about the decline of traditional morality, or Bull Connor "cared deeply" about law and order.

[Snip]

Oh, and there's one other possible explanation -- Cheney can't not attack Obama! Obama's forcing him to attack!

And BagnewsNotes calls attention to the photo used to accompany Harwoods' foray into Cheney Fluffing.



Your move, Stephen Hayes.


Bonus Choice Cheney

Become a Cheney's Cheney ... Help The VP Build His Team, For The Most Gleaming of Brass Rings - Iran

News In Brief! Cheney Woozy After MTP, Failed To Continue Nazi Thread ...Cheney Briefly Hospitalized After Television Appearance Yesterday ... Vice President Complained Of Dizziness After Relentless Spin Session on ‘Meet The Press’

Bush To Change Legal Landscape - White House Primed To Replace "Miranda" With New, "Cheney Decision"

Source Says Secret Cabal Not In White House, But In Cheney Secret Bunker ...Wing of VP Hideout Dedicated To Iraq War, Neocon Strategy; Decisions Made Over Coffee and Krispy Kremes

The Narrative Continues To Build!

"If you build it, they will come (to justice, hopefully)"

Yes, it's a bone we have latched on to, but one that continues to deny being buried.

More, and more, it is being obvious, to many, that the dots are being connected on how The Bush Grindhouse lied us into the invasion and occupation of Iraq, and, as an instrument of their odious, and evil tools, one of the items they used to sell it, was the implementation of their Torture Policy.



Frank Rich, today, with a monster column, weighs in, on-point, and on-the-money.

The Banality of Bush White House Evil

Yet we still shrink from the hardest truths and the bigger picture: that torture was a premeditated policy approved at our government’s highest levels; that it was carried out in scenarios that had no resemblance to “24”; that psychologists and physicians were enlisted as collaborators in inflicting pain; and that, in the assessment of reliable sources like the F.B.I. director Robert Mueller, it did not help disrupt any terrorist attacks.

[Snip]

In other words, the ticking time bomb was not another potential Qaeda attack on America but the Bush administration’s ticking timetable for selling a war in Iraq; it wanted to pressure Congress to pass a war resolution before the 2002 midterm elections. Bybee’s memo was written the week after the then-secret (and subsequently leaked) “Downing Street memo,” in which the head of British intelligence informed Tony Blair that the Bush White House was so determined to go to war in Iraq that “the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy.” A month after Bybee’s memo, on Sept. 8, 2002, Cheney would make his infamous appearance on “Meet the Press,” hyping both Saddam’s W.M.D.s and the “number of contacts over the years” between Al Qaeda and Iraq. If only 9/11 could somehow be pinned on Iraq, the case for war would be a slamdunk.

But there were no links between 9/11 and Iraq, and the White House knew it. Torture may have been the last hope for coercing such bogus “intelligence” from detainees who would be tempted to say anything to stop the waterboarding.

It is becoming clearer, that Cheney, some other Bush Grindhouse cronies, the Flying Monkeys (and George Will, who on Little Georgie's show this morning, was outraged that a new administration would go after a previous administration), are being blatantly obtuse, that they are looking to frame this as a policy witch hunt, versus the illegal war crimes that it is.

More, from that growing chain of dots ...

John Cole, at Balloon Juice, along with seconding Rich's column, delves into another can-of-worms that will, at some point, come to light;

BTW, something I was wondering. Didn’t one of the detainees we tortured claim to have been injected with drugs. Was that Padilla? Has that ever been verified? Were there any memos mentioning using pharmaceuticals?

Kevin Hayden, on American Street;

The mainstream media finally has gotten it right: the real reason for the torture was not national security, but to sell an unnecessary, immoral and illegal war in Iraq.

[Snip]

So in addition to the torture, we’ve killed a couple hundred thousand Iraqis, put all future US POWs at greater risk of being tortured, and Halliburton, Exxon, Blackwater and other companies run by Bush/Cheney cronies have been reaping the blood money from it all.

Of course the perps are busily denying it all. That’s what perps do. They know they’ll lose in a courtroom. Their best chance is to appeal to the court of public opinion to avoid the courtroom process completely.

They deserve to fail and to be adequately punished for their war crimes, if justice means anything.

Ron Beasley, at Newshoggers;

This makes the crime of torture even more heinous. Torture to get a false confession to justify a war that killed thousands of American soldiers and tens if not hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis. Sorry Mr Broder, if these crimes are not investigated and and the guilty held accountable the American people will also be just as guilty. If President Obama truly wants to improve the US standing in the world it will take more than talk about how we won't do it again. As it stands now the US is in no position to be critical of even the worst of the world regimes. There is only one way that can change. And by the way Mr Broder that's not called vengeance it's called justice.

Let the narrative continue to build.

Yes, let's follow Cheney's call to release more of the documents.

If it wasn't so seriously evil, and atrocious, it is almost ironic that Cheney wants defend his war crimes by cherry-picking from the torture memos and reports, the very ones, initially, made-to-order, "Here the info you wanted", tell-us-what-you-want-to-hear "legal" advice.

Despite the hue-and-cry, including that from the Obama White House, the only way this should end is with a thorough, independent investigation, and let the chips fall where the may.

It that leads to prosecution, and charges against acquiescing Democrats, so be it.

As Frank Rich ended his column today;

"What we must have are fair trials that at long last uphold and reclaim our nation’s commitment to the rule of law."


Bonus Links

Krugman: Reclaiming America’s Soul

For The Want Of A Lie ...

Krugman: Reclaiming America’s Soul

Well, he is a Nobel Prize winner, and he's been more on-the-money about the economy, that he has not, and, today, he weighs in on pursuing The Bush Grindhouse, for their War Crimes.



And, it just so happened, that Paul Krugman's column today, shared the pages with, yet another, yet another, "My Sister/My Daughter" from President Obama;

Meeting with the Democratic leadership on Wednesday night, Mr. Obama said a special inquiry would steal time and energy from his policy agenda, and could mushroom into a wider distraction looking back at the Bush years, people briefed on the discussion said. Mr. Obama, they said, repeated much the same message on Thursday at a bipartisan meeting with Congressional leaders.

So, it stands, starkly, in contrast to Krugman's position, in "Reclaiming America’s Soul";

What about the argument that investigating the Bush administration’s abuses will impede efforts to deal with the crises of today? Even if that were true — even if truth and justice came at a high price — that would arguably be a price we must pay: laws aren’t supposed to be enforced only when convenient. But is there any real reason to believe that the nation would pay a high price for accountability?

For example, would investigating the crimes of the Bush era really divert time and energy needed elsewhere? Let’s be concrete: whose time and energy are we talking about?

Tim Geithner, the Treasury secretary, wouldn’t be called away from his efforts to rescue the economy. Peter Orszag, the budget director, wouldn’t be called away from his efforts to reform health care. Steven Chu, the energy secretary, wouldn’t be called away from his efforts to limit climate change. Even the president needn’t, and indeed shouldn’t, be involved. All he would have to do is let the Justice Department do its job — which he’s supposed to do in any case — and not get in the way of any Congressional investigations.

[Snip]

Some of them probably just don’t want an ugly scene; my guess is that the president, who clearly prefers visions of uplift to confrontation, is in that group. But the ugliness is already there, and pretending it isn’t won’t make it go away

Others, I suspect, would rather not revisit those years because they don’t want to be reminded of their own sins of omission.

[Snip]

We need to do this for the sake of our future. For this isn’t about looking backward, it’s about looking forward — because it’s about reclaiming America’s soul.

Once again, as it has been done most of this week, especially by the pro-torturers, this is a matter of obligation.

It doesn't matter if his "policy agenda" takes a backseat, or that it will be a "distraction".

We are, as a country, legally, and morally, bound to the treaties we signed, to investigate (and prosecute, if necessary) War Crimes.

As Krugman notes, it's out there, not just here, but all over the world, and all eyes are on us, to see what we are doing to do.

Yeah, it's always easier, and better, when it is some other country's leaders that are the War Criminals.

The fact that we have War Criminals, that they are Americans, doesn't mitigate the responsibility.



Yesterday, we posted how, as more of this Bush Grindhouse Torture business comes out, the more it shows that it was designed to give cover to the lies, of invading and occupying Iraq.

Digby, over on her Hullabaloo, has more on that end of it;

Ron Suskind on Maddow yesterday:

And what‘s fascinating here, if you run the timeline side by side, you see, really, for the first time from that report that the key thing being sent down in terms of the request by the policymakers, by the White House, is find a link between Saddam and al Qaeda so that we essentially can link Saddam to the 9/11 attacks and then march into Iraq with the anger of 9/11 behind us. That was the goal and that was being passed down as the directive.

It‘s, you know, it‘s often called the requirement inside the CIA for both agents with their sources and interrogators with their captives. “Here‘s what we‘re interested in, here‘s what we, the duly elected leaders, want to hear about. Tell us what you can find.”

What‘s fascinating, in the Senate report, is finally clear confirmation that that specific thing was driving many of the activities, and mind you, the frustration inside of the White House that was actually driving action. The quote, in fact, inside of the Senate report from a major said that as frustration built inside of the White House, that there was no link that was established—because the CIA told the White House from the very start there is no Saddam/al Qaeda link. We checked it out. We did every which way. Sorry.

The White House simply wouldn‘t take no for an answer and it went with another method. Torture was the method. “Get me a confession, I don‘t care how you do it.” And that bled all the way through the government, both on the CIA side and the Army side. It‘s extraordinary.

Mind you, Rachel, this is important. This is not about an impetus to foil an upcoming potential al Qaeda attacks. The impetus here is largely political diplomatic. The White House had a political diplomatic problem. It wanted it solved in the run-up to the war.

And mind you, and I think the data will show this—after the invasion, when it becomes clear in the summer, just a few months after in 2003, that there are no WMD in Iraq. That‘s the summer of Joe Wilson and Valerie Plame—my goodness, there are no WMD. Now, the White House is being hit with a charge that they took us to war under false pretenses. That‘s when the frustration is acute.

My question, the question for investigators now: Is how many of these interrogations were driven specifically by a desire to come up with the Saddam/al Qaeda link? It‘s essentially rivers coming together.

This isn't about policy differences, or ideology, it's about living up to the principles of this country.

Crimes were committed, War Crimes, and they need to be investigated, and prosecuted, as warranted.

It's as simple as that.


Bonus Links

Steve Hynd: Torture's Poisoned Chalice

Dan Balz: Confronting the Bush Legacy, Reluctantly

Joe Sudbay (DC): It's not "if" there will be a torture investigation in Congress, it's how and when it happens

MediaMatters: Conservative media claim prosecution of Bush administration officials will turn U.S. into "banana republic"

Glenn Greenwald: Three key rules of media behavior shape their discussions of "the 'torture' debate"

For The Want Of A Lie ...

It was clear, to a vast many, the lies told, repeatedly, and often, to justify the invasion and occupation of Iraq.

However, it is now coming out, the yeoman's work The Bush Grindhouse (and in particular, the sadists, Rumsfeld and Cheney) went to build a foundation for those lies.

They created, endorsed, and pushed, a Torture Program.



Jonathan Landy, of the McClatchy Newspapers (one of the very, very few news organizations, that didn't drink the Kool-Aid, and were like dogs-on-a-bone as to The Bush Grindhouse) has the narrative today.

Report: Abusive tactics used to seek Iraq-al Qaida link

The Bush administration applied relentless pressure on interrogators to use harsh methods on detainees in part to find evidence of cooperation between al Qaida and the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's regime, according to a former senior U.S. intelligence official and a former Army psychiatrist.

Such information would've provided a foundation for one of former President George W. Bush's main arguments for invading Iraq in 2003. In fact, no evidence has ever been found of operational ties between Osama bin Laden's terrorist network and Saddam's regime

[Snip]

A former senior U.S. intelligence official familiar with the interrogation issue said that Cheney and former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld demanded that the interrogators find evidence of al Qaida-Iraq collaboration.

[Snip]

"The main one is that everyone was worried about some kind of follow-up attack (after 9/11). But for most of 2002 and into 2003, Cheney and Rumsfeld, especially, were also demanding proof of the links between al Qaida and Iraq that (former Iraqi exile leader Ahmed) Chalabi and others had told them were there."

[Snip]

"Cheney's and Rumsfeld's people were told repeatedly, by CIA . . . and by others, that there wasn't any reliable intelligence that pointed to operational ties between bin Laden and Saddam, and that no such ties were likely because the two were fundamentally enemies, not allies."

Senior administration officials, however, "blew that off and kept insisting that we'd overlooked something, that the interrogators weren't pushing hard enough, that there had to be something more we could do to get that information," he said.

[Snip]

The report, the executive summary of which was released in November, found that Rumsfeld, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and other former senior Bush administration officials were responsible for the abusive interrogation techniques used at Guantanamo and in Iraq and Afghanistan.

And, as to this Torture Program, is their classic Keystone Cops mindset, it came out yesterday, that no one in the Bush Grindhouse checked to see if such practices were effective, let alone, legal.

In a series of high-level meetings in 2002, without a single dissent from cabinet members or lawmakers, the United States for the first time officially embraced the brutal methods of interrogation it had always condemned.

This extraordinary consensus was possible, an examination by The New York Times shows, largely because no one involved — not the top two C.I.A. officials who were pushing the program, not the senior aides to President George W. Bush, not the leaders of the Senate and House Intelligence Committees — investigated the gruesome origins of the techniques they were approving with little debate.

Hollywood would be hard pressed to write a comedy script of this magnitude.

A H/T to Larisa Alexandrovna, who included in her post;

The public is not stupid (unless you count those who are hooked into an IV drip of Fox News and worship Dick Cheney as a hero) and they are beginning to see just the level of criminality the Bush junta engaged in. If Congress and AG Eric Holder do not act, I fear pitchforks will be the only path people see as viable - because it will in fact be the only path left. Know your history and understand that as things build and build, and horror drips and drips into the psyche of the populace, a small, seemingly inconsequential spark can ignite this entire powder keg. I am hoping Mr. Holder will act to make clear to the public that he is in fact on the side of justice and an independent broker on behalf of the law.

My other concern is that Bush and Cheney will use every tool at their disposal to exploit these tensions and set off this powder keg. They don't care about this nation and they will burn it down if they have to in order to escape punishment. Something very bad is brewing and if justice is not swift, the time purchased by these people is enough for them to manipulate and distort, even to create their very own and very dangerous distraction.

Yes, the ball is, very much, in Attorney General Eric Holder's court.

And, it will remain, to be seen, whether we see courage, or just another succession of Crony Generals.

As a side note, yesterday, cable news was dominated by the spigot of flooding torture news, segment-after-segment, a bevy of talking heads (and yes, the old,stale, one Democrat, one Republican format) and, as we were watching MSNBC, not one person, not the anchors, not the talking heads, as they droned on-and-on, mentioned, or discussed, that the United States is required, is obligated, by way of the treaties we have signed, to investigate the War Crimes of Torture.

It's almost as if they all never heard of Jonathan Turley.

Countdown- Jonathan Turley and Bush Admin War Crimes



Yes, it is one of those times, again ...

Help Me Mr. Wizard!


Bonus Links

Harsh Methods Approved as Early as Summer 2002 ... Holder Declassifies Timeline of Actions by Top Bush Administration Officials Regarding Interrogation

dday: Building A Fact Pattern

Anonymous Liberal: No One Could Have Predicted...

Amanda Terkel: Torture architect John Rizzo is still serving as the CIA's acting general counsel

Meteor Blades: Rumsfeld Began Post-9/11 Torture Long Before Abu Ghraib

BJ Bjornson: How Many American Lives Were Lost Because of Torture?

What, No Anal Glue?

Well, no, that would be the Iraqis

This story takes place in the UAE, the United Arab Emirates.

They're more civilized there ...

It says so, right on their "Tourist Information" page;

The United Arab Emirates, one of the world's fastest growing tourist destinations, has all the right ingredients for an unforgettable holiday, sun, sand, sea, sports, unbeatable shopping, top-class hotels and restaurants, an intriguing traditional culture, and a safe and welcoming environment.

Key word here is "unforgettable".



ABC News Exclusive: Torture Tape Implicates UAE Royal Sheikh ... Police in Uniform Join In as Victim Is Whipped, Beaten, Electrocuted, Run Over by SUV

A video tape smuggled out of the United Arab Emirates shows a member of the country's royal family mercilessly torturing a man with whips, electric cattle prods and wooden planks with protruding nails.

A man in a UAE police uniform is seen on the tape tying the victim's arms and legs, and later holding him down as the Sheikh pours salt on the man's wounds and then drives over him with his Mercedes SUV.

In a statement to ABC News, the UAE Ministry of the Interior said it had reviewed the tape and acknowledged the involvement of Sheikh Issa bin Zayed al Nahyan, brother of the country's crown prince, Sheikh Mohammed.

"The incidents depicted in the video tapes were not part of a pattern of behavior," the Interior Ministry's statement declared.

The Minister of the Interior is also one of Sheikh Issa's brother.

The government statement said its review found "all rules, policies and procedures were followed correctly by the Police Department."

They also had this on 'Nightline' last evening, and you can view that report HERE.

If it wasn't so sickening, it would almost be comical.

In the 'Nightline' report, the person (also a UAE torture victim) who smuggled out the tape, shrugs in resignation, that the "whole government is brothers".

And, this torturous beating by Sheikh Issa bin Zayed al Nahyan, according to the 'Nightline' report, was over a business deal, the Sheikh believing he got screwed in a grain deal, worth about $5,000.

I guess the Sheikh was just exuding with some of that "traditional culture", in a "safe and welcoming environment".

No word yet, if this torture came out of the Bush Grindhouse Torture Memos, or, that the Sheikh was just improvising on his own.

I'm sure Addington, Yoo and Bybee would nod in approval, and say "Nice touch" with using the SUV.

Maybe we can bail out Detroit, by exporting all the SUV's to countries run by brothers, that like to torture people.

Like, say, the United Arab Emirates.

Maybe the Bush Clan, and their buddies in the Carlyle Group, can swing a deal.

Bonus Link

Derby Considers Child Jockeys From Qatar, UAE ... Bush Admn Offers No Child Left Behind Funding, Immigration Waiver

Would Rummy Call This "Stuff Happens"

Addington, Yoo and Bybee must be in despair today, bemoaning how could they ever leave something like this out of their memos;

Iraqi militias gluing anuses of gay men and inducing diarrhea to cause death

Relying on an International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission translation of a recent Al Arabiya story, the blog Towleroad reports that Iraqi militias have been engaging in some particularly brutal tactics toward gay men in Iraq:

"A prominent Iraqi human rights activist says that Iraqi militia have deployed a painful form of torture against homosexuals by closing their anuses using 'Iranian gum.' ...Yina Mohammad told Alarabiya.net that, 'Iraqi militias have deployed an unprecedented form of torture against homosexuals by using a very strong glue that will close their anus.' According to her, the new substance 'is known as the American hum, which is an Iranian-manufactured glue that if applied to the skin, sticks to it and can only be removed by surgery. After they glue the anuses of homosexuals, they give them a drink that causes diarrhea. Since the anus is closed, the diarrhea causes death. Videos of this form of torture are being distributed on mobile cellphones in Iraq.'"

And, why is it we need to keep our troops there?

This is the Democracy The Bush Grindhouse wanted to see flourish (and just think, if they had more years, how many more countries would they infect)?

And, it's "being distributed on mobile cellphones in Iraq"?

Maybe we can muster hundreds-and-hundreds of airplanes, and do a humongous "shoe" toss/drop on the entire country.

Jesus, these people are beyond fucking sick.

They are lower than "Sons of Dogs".

Jake Tapper Liked His Shit Sandwich

Jake Tapper just couldn't help himself, apparently.

Why leave all the accolades as an ass-wiping Flying Monkey to Mike Allen?



It happened during the ABC World News last evening, in the story about President Obama's visit to CIA Headquarters, to explain the release of the Bush Grindhouse Torture Memos, and slap the CIA'ers upside the head, telling them to buck-up and drop the droopy faces;

“Don’t be discouraged by what’s happened in the last few weeks,” he told employees. “Don’t be discouraged that we have to acknowledge potentially we’ve made some mistakes. That’s how we learn. But the fact that we are willing to acknowledge them and then move forward, that is precisely why I am proud to be president of the United States and that’s why you should be proud to be members of the C.I.A.”

Tapper ended his segment with quoting someone, unnamed;

"One former CIA director said over the weekend that many CIA officers have told him that they're worried that America's enemies will use the methods detailed in the memos against CIA officers ..."

Really?

What a fucking suck-up, to either a source, some other former Bush Grindhouse crony, or a general nod to all the NeoNitWit, Flying Monkeys.

The CIA worries, quite certainly, about a lot of things.

I doubt, very much, that anyone in the CIA is worried, that, because of, as Tapper so seriously intoned, the release of the Bush Grindhouse Torture Memos, captured agents would be tortured in a similar fashion.

They would be tortured, first-and-foremost, because they are American CIA agents.

I would be surprised to find some terrorist, sitting around, totally fucking stumped, absent-minded, tabula rasa, of any daydreams, any thought, of how he could torture someone, let alone, needing to dig down deep to come up with the motivation to torture a captured CIA agent, just hoping, wishing, there was some kind of, oh, say, memo, out there, that could give him some ideas.

How, and where, we tortured terrorists, and other, at times, innocent suspects, has been out there, all over the world, on the World Wide Web, in newspapers and magazines, on television and blogs, just about any and all mediums, for about, the past five-years.

Not to mention, that torture has been around for a few centuries.

Tapper, adding that line into his report, was doing little more that carrying a big, ol' NeoNitWit jab at Obama, though, it wasn't in the camera shot, the flaming Right Wing Freak Show water bucket he lugged around for the report.

Maybe Tapper needs to learn how to use "The Google", or visit his networks' archives.

I mean, Jesus, Jake, you pissed all over yourself on this one.

You got spoon-fed a shit sandwich, and all you could do was say how great it tasted, and they pass it off on to your viewers.


Bonus Jake Tapper

Jake Tapper on MediaMatters

Nate Silver: What Jake Tapper Doesn't Know About What Obama Knew

Brad: Depressingly stupid goddamn journalism

John Cook: Jake Tapper Can't Keep His Objectivity in His Pants

Steve Benen: TAPPER, TWITTER, AND ONLINE ETIQUETTE...

Dan Amira: Jake Tapper Is an April Fool