Cockburn
/ St. Clair's Scorching New History of a Decade of War
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Today's
Stories
May
4, 2004
Kurt
Nimmo
The CIA Privatized Torture
David
Peterson
CBS, Self-Censorship & Iraq
Barry
Lando
CACI's Private Torture Chambers
Patrick
Cockburn
Torture: Iraqis Disgusted, But Not Surprised
Dr.
Susan Block
Indecent Insurgents: Watch What You Say
Fidel
Castro
A Mindless, Unnecessary War
Mike
Whitney
Empire of Torture
Sonali
Kolhatkar
How to Stop the War: Demonstrate Against
John Kerry
Josh
Frank
The Lost Sierra Club
Stan
Goff
The Role: Another Open Letter to US Troops in Iraq
Agustin
Velloso
Spare Us Your Disgusting Ethics
Stew
Albert
American Know-How
Website
of the Day
Scenes from a Cover-Up
May
3, 2004
Virginia
Tilley
Let the Wall of Silence Fall
May
1 / 2, 2004
Patrick
Cockburn
An Army in Disgrace, a Policy
in Tatters, the Real Prospect of Defeat
Robert
Fisk
"Good Guys" Who Can Do No
Wrong
Alexander
Cockburn
Watching Niagara: Stupid Leaders,
Useless Spies, Angry World
Heather
Williams
Gringo, We're Going Home: Latin
American Troops Flee Iraq
Diane
Rejman
An Army Vet on Torture in Iraq:
Abu Ghraib as My Lai?
Diane
Christian
Blood Spilling: Osama, Bush and
Sharon Speak the Same Language
Patrick
Cockburn
Seems Like Old Times in Fallujah
Dave
Lindorff
Bush's Torturous Logic: Shocked,
Shocked, Shocked
Chris
Floyd
Suicide Bomber: Neocons, Nihilists
and Annihilation
April
29 / 30, 2004
Dave
Zirin
A Pawn in Their Game: the Unlonesome
Death of Pat Tillman
Kathy
Kelly
The Warden's Tour
Greg
Weiher
Fallujah and the Warsaw Ghetto: the
Banality of Evil
Michael
S. Ladah
Terrorism and Assassination: the
Ultimate Depception
Patrick
Cockburn
The Fallujah Mutinies
April
28, 2004
Christopher
Brauchli
Meet Congressman Know-Nothing:
Tom Tancredo
Wendy
Brinker
The Politics of the Numb
Faisal
Kutty
The Dirty Work of Canadian Intelligence
John
Chuckman
Seeking the Evil One
Mike
Whitney
Flag-Draped Coffins and the Seattle Times
Tom
Mountain
Rwanda and the F***** Word
Graeme
Greenback
The Iraqi Alamo: a CNN/CIA Production
Tracy
McLellan
The War Comes Home
M.
Junaid Alam
We are the Barbarians
William
Loren Katz
Iraq, the US and an Old Lesson
April 27, 2004
James
Davis
The Colombia 3 Acquitted
Dave
Lindorff
Chalabi as Prosecutor
Bruce
Schneier
Terrorist Threats and Political
Gain
Cockburn
/ Sengupta
British Generals Resist Calls for
More Troops to Aid Americans in Iraq
Walt
Brasch
Presidential Letters: The Day I
Was Asked to Feed an Elephant
Saul
Landau
The Empire in Denial and the Denial
of Empire
April 26, 2004
Patrick
Cockburn
Crossing the Shia Line: US Troops
Prepare to Enter Najaf
Wayne
Madsen
Trading Places: Will the US Go the Way of the USSR?
Grover
Furr
Protest, Rebellion, Commitment
Elaine
Cassel
Lies About the Patriot Act
Mickey
Z.
Inspired by Pat Tillman?
Greg
Moses
Bremer's De-De-Ba'athjfication Gambit
Gila
Svirsky
Anarchy in Our Souls
Uri
Avnery
Vanunu and the Terrible Secret
April 24 / 25, 2004
William
A. Cook
Tweedledee and Tweedledum: Kerry
and Bush Melt into One
Jeffrey
St. Clair
Stryking Out: a General, GM and the Army's Latest Tank
Brandy
Baker
A Revitalized Women's Movement? Let's Hope So
Robert
Fisk
A Warning to Those Who Dare Criticize Israel in the Land of Free
Speech
Ben
Tripp
October Surmise: a Case of Worst Scenarios
Nelson
Valdés
"Submit or Die": Iraq and the American Borg
Lucson
Pierre-Charles
Haiti's Return to the Future
Kurt
Nimmo
The CIA Killed Pat Tillman
Mark
Scaramella
Does Anybody Know Anything?
Patrick
Cockburn
The Return of Saddam's Generals
Gary
Engler
Welcome to La Paz: a Vacation in Tear Gas
Col.
Dan Smith
Whistling in the Dark: Israel, Palestine and Bush
Greg
Weiher
Iraq is Utterly Unlike Vietnam...
Elaine
Cassel
Life on the Outside: a Review
Vanessa
Jones
Letter from Australia: Why an Independent Won Sydney
Jim
French
Agriculture's Bullied Market
Hammond
Guthrie
Al Aronowitz, Bob Dylan and The Beatles
Poets'
Basement
Jones, Holt, Albert, LaMorticella
April 23, 2004
Ron
Jacobs
The Only Solution is Immediate Withdrawal
Dave
Lindorff
Imagination Deficit Disorder
Mokhiber
/ Weissman
Contractors and Mercenaries: the Rising Corporate Military Monster
Norman
Solomon
Country Joe Band, 2004: "What Are We Fighting For?"
Cynthia
McKinney
All Things Are Not Equal: the Perils of Globalization
CounterPunch
Wire
A Bitch Called Wanda
Karyn
Strickler
Sierra Club, Inc.
Hammond
Guthrie
Yellow Caked in the Face
Paul
de Rooij
Graveyard of Justifications: Glossary
of the Iraqi Occupation
April 22, 2004
Patrick
Cockburn
When Terror Came to Basra: "I
Saw a Minibus of Children on Fire"
Tanya
Reinhart
The Wall Behind Disengagement
Lance
Selfa
Why is Kucinich Still in the Race?
Josh
Frank
Street Fighting Man? Kucinich's Pulled Punches
Sen.
Robert Byrd
Bush Owes America Answers on Iraq
William
S. Lind
Why We Get It Wrong
Mickey
Z.
Undoing the Latches
Robert
Jensen
Why They Fast: Remembering the Victims of the World Bank
John
L. Hess
The New York Times from 30,000 Feet
April
21, 2004
Gary
Leupp
Yeats on Iraq
Alfredo
Castro
Colombia's Forgotten Prisoners
Dr.
Susan Block
Bush's Taliban Drug Deal
William
A. Cook
George 1 to George 2
Jack
Random
Iraq and Vietnam
Jean-Guy
Allard
Alarcon Meets the Editors
Mike
Whitney
Charade in the Desert
Bill
Christison
Only Major Policies Changes Can
Help Washington Now
April 20, 2004
Dave
Lindorff
Bush and Kerry Share a Problem
Stan
Cox
Wal-Mart's Magic Numbers
Bruce
Anderson
On Listening to Air America
Joseph
Kalvoda
Czech Mate for Condi
Greg
Moses
Yesterday's Intelligence
Stan
Goff
The Democrats and Iraq
Website
of the Day
Santorum Happens
April 19, 2004
Kurt
Nimmo
The "Central Hand" of the
Resistance
Mike
Whitney
Bob Woodward's Imperial Trifles
Douglas
Valentine
52 Pick-Up and the 100-to-1
Rule
John
Chuckman
The Sharon Annex: Evil Does Often
Triumph
Doug
Giebel
Welcome to the Club
Rahul
Mahajan
Hospital Closings and War Crimes
April
16 / 18, 2004
Robert
Fisk
Bush Legitimizes Terror
Saul
Landau
Subverting Brazil and Cuba
Dave
Lindorff
Paying for War: $2,150 per Family
and Counting
Brandy
Baker
Fallujah's Collateral Damage
Mickey
Z.
The Left Attacks from the Right
Bruce
Jackson
The Bush Press Conference: Gott Mit
Uns
Norman
Solomon
How the "NewsHour" Changed
History
Alexander
Cockburn
Bush, Kerry and Empire
April
15, 2004
Greg
Moses
Follow the Families, Not the Script
Virginia
Tilley
The Carnage According to Gen. Kimmitt:
Just Change the Channel
Ron
Jacobs
They Coulda Been Champions of the
World: Hurricane Carter and Ron Kovic
Michael
Neumann
A Happy Compromise: Hate Crimes
Reporting in the Toronto Globe and Mail
April
14, 2004
Tom
Reeves
Return to Haiti: an American Learning
Zone
Reza
Fiyouzat
Japan and Iraq
Ron
Jacobs
What Bush Really Said
Diane
Christian
The Real Passion
Hot Stories
Alexander Cockburn
Behold,
the Head of a Neo-Con!
Subcomandante
Marcos
The
Death Train of the WTO
Norman Finkelstein
Hitchens
as Model Apostate
Steve Niva
Israel's
Assassination Policy: the Trigger for Suicide Bombings?
Dardagan,
Slobodo and Williams
CounterPunch Exclusive:
20,000 Wounded Iraqi Civilians
Steve
J.B.
Prison Bitch
Sheldon
Rampton and John Stauber
True Lies: the Use of Propaganda
in the Iraq War
Wendell
Berry
Small Destructions Add Up
CounterPunch
Wire
WMD: Who Said What When
Cindy
Corrie
A Mother's Day Talk: the Daughter
I Can't Hear From
Gore Vidal
The
Erosion of the American Dream
Francis Boyle
Impeach
Bush: A Draft Resolution
Click
Here for More Stories.
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May
4, 2004
A Broad Pattern
of Abuse and Denial
A Timeline of
Torture & Abuse Allegations and Responses
By HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
Allegations of torture and mistreatment
of detainees by U.S. forces in Iraq do not involve isolated cases,
but are part of a broader pattern of what the Army's own investigation
into the matter called "systemic abuse." Concerns
about mistreatment of detainees in Iraq, Afghanistan, and in
other undisclosed detention facilities set up after September
11, 2001, have been raised many times by the media, NGO's, and
the Congress.
December 25, 2002
- The Washington
Post reports:
o Persons being held in the CIA interrogation center at Bagram
air base who refuse to cooperate, "are sometimes kept standing
or kneeling for hours in black hoods or spray-painted goggles,
according to intelligence specialists familiar with CIA interrogation
methods. At times they are held in awkward, painful positions
and deprived of sleep with a 24-hour bombardment of lights- subject
to what are known as 'stress and duress' techniques."
o "'If you don't violate
someone's human rights some of the time, you probably aren't
doing your job,' said one official who has supervised the capture
and transfer of accused terrorists. 'I don't think we want to
be promoting a view of zero tolerance on this.'"
o "According to one official
who has been directly involved in rendering captives into foreign
hands, the understanding is, 'We don't kick the [expletive] out
of them. We send them to other countries so they can kick the
[expletive] out of them.'"
o "Bush Administration
officials said the CIA, in practice, is using a narrow definition
of what counts as 'knowing' that a suspect has been tortured.
'If we're not there in the room, who is to say?' said one official
conversant with recent reports of renditions."
(Washington Post, Dec. 25,
2002.)
December 27, 2002
- Human Rights
Watch writes to President Bush about allegations of torture reported
in Washington Post, asking that the allegations be investigated
immediately.
January 14, 2003
- Executive Directors
of leading human rights groups write to Deputy Secretary of Defense
Paul Wolfowitz urging that the administration publicly state
that torture in any form or matter will not be tolerated, that
the U.S. would not seek intelligence obtained through torture
in a third country, to be accompanied by clear guidelines to
U.S. forces.
January 31, 2003
- Executive Directors
of human rights groups write to President George Bush demanding,
"unequivocal statements by you and your Cabinet officers
that torture in any form or matter will not be tolerated[and]
that any U.S. official found to have used or condoned torture
will be held accountableThese statements need to be accompanied
by clear written guidance applicable to everyone engaged in the
interrogation and rendition of prisoners."
February 5, 2003
- Representatives
of major human rights groups meet with DOD General Counsel Haynes
to urge the administration to develop clear standards to prevent
the mistreatment of detainees.
February 6, 2003
- Newsday reports
that Vincent Cannistraro, a former intelligence official, told
reporters that, "Better intelligencehas come from a senior
al Qaeda detainee who had been held in the U.S. base at Guantanamo,
Cuba, and was 'rendered to Egypt after refusing to cooperate.
'They promptly tore his fingernails out and he started to tell
things.'" (Newsday, February 6, 2003)
March 4, 2003
- Wall Street Journal reports that a U.S. law enforcement
officials says, "because the [Convention Against Torture]
has no enforcement mechanism, as a practical matter, 'you're
only limited by your imagination'" and in regards to rendering
detainees to third-countries, a U.S. intelligence official stated
that a detainee, "'isn't going to be near a place where
he has Miranda rights or the equivalent of themGod only knows
what they're going to do to him. You go to some other country
that'll let us pistol whip this guy.'" (Wall Street Journal,
March 4, 2003)
March 9, 2003
- New York Times
reports that, "Intelligence officials also acknowledged
that some suspects had been turned over to security services
in countries known to employ torture. There have been isolated,
if persistent, reports of beatings in some American-operated
centers," and that in the case of Omar Al-Faruq's interrogation,
"[t]he Western intelligence official described Mr. Faruq's
interrogation as 'not quite torture, but about as close as you
can get'over a three-month period, the suspect was fed very little,
while being subjected to sleep and light deprivation, prolonged
isolation and room temperatures that varied from 100 degrees
to 10 degrees." (New York Times, March 4, 2003)
April 2, 2003
- William Haynes,
General Counsel of the Department of Defense, responds to concerns
raised by Human Rights Watch saying, "The United States
questions enemy combatants to elicit information they may possess
that could helpforestall further terrorist attacks[but] United
States policy condemns and prohibits torture." But while
Haynes rules out torture, his letter sidesteps questions about
whether U.S. interrogators engaged in cruel, inhuman and degrading
treatment, which is also prohibited by law.
June 2, 2003
- U.S. Senator
Patrick Leahy writes to National Security Adviser Condoleezza
Rice that, "unnamed Administration officials have suggested
in several press accounts that detainees held by the United States
have been subjected to "stress and duress" interrogation
techniques, including beating lengthy sleep and food deprivation."
He asks the administration if such techniques are being employed
and urges a clear statement that cruel, inhuman degrading treatment
of detainees will not be tolerated.
June 24, 2003
- Executive Directors
of Human Rights groups write to Condoleezza Rice asking that
human rights monitors have access to prisoners and detention
facilities under operation by U.S. forces to verify conditions
of detention.
June 25, 2003
- William Haynes
responds to Senator Leahy stating, "it is the policy of
the United States to comply with all its legal obligations in
its treatment of detainees." For the first time, Haynes
states that it is U.S. policy "to treat all detainees and
conduct all interrogations, wherever they may occur" in
a manner consistent with U.S. obligations under the Convention
Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment.
He further clarified that the term "cruel, inhuman and
degrading treatment" means any treatment that would be prohibited
in the United States by the Fifth, Eighth, and/or Fourteenth
Amendments to the Constitution a standard that would clearly
forbid most of the "stress and duress" techniques reported
in the media, as well as degrading treatment later revealed in
Iraq. At the same time, Haynes added that "it would not
be appropriate to catalogue the interrogation techniques used
by U.S. personnelthus we cannot comment on specific cases or
practices."
- U.S. Senator Arlen Specter
writes to Dr. Rice asking for, "clarification about numerous
stories concerning alleged mistreatment of enemy combatants in
U.S. custody, " and to explain how the administration ensures
that torture does not occur when it sends detainees to countries
that are known to practice torture.
June 26, 2003
- In honor of United Nations International Day in Support
of Victims of Torture, President Bush releases a statement saying
that the U.S. is: "committed to the world-wide elimination
of torture and we are leading this fight by example" and
called on all nations to join the U.S. in "prohibiting,
investigating, and prosecuting all acts of torture and in undertaking
to prevent cruel and unusual punishment."
August 28, 2003
- The Associated
Press reports, "The U.S. military opened a hearing Wednesday
into allegations that four U.S. Army reservists abused Iraqi
prisoners of war at a camp in [Umm Qasr]...They are alleged to
have punched and kicked several Iraqis, breaking one man's nose,
while escorting a busload of prisoners to a POW processing centerThe
soldiers say they acted in self-defense" (The Associated
Press, August 28, 2003)
September 9, 2003
- Senator Leahy
responds to William Haynes' letter of June 26, 2003 urging greater
clarity in how the standards he outlined are implemented and
communicated to U.S. personnel in the field, and asking for assurances
that other agencies, including the CIA, respect the same standards
as the U.S. military.
October 6, 2003
- AP Wire Service
reports, "The U.S. military has shut down Camp Cropper,
an increasingly notorious makeshift prison where hundreds of
Iraqi detainees were crowded into tents through Baghdad's scorching
summer." (AP Wire Services, October 6, 2003
October 19, 2003
- The Associated
Press reports, "Eight marine reservists face charges ranging
from negligent homicide to making false statements in connection
with the mistreatment of prisoners of war in Iraq." (The
Associated Press, October 19, 2003)
November 17, 2003
- Executive Directors
of leading human rights groups write to William Haynes to express
concern about the transfer by the U.S. of Maher Arar, a Canadian
citizen, to Syria where Mr. Arar alleges he was brutally tortured
for 10 months.
November 18, 2003
- Department of
Defense (DOD) Principal Deputy General Counsel Daniel Dell'Orto
writes to Senator Leahy to confirm that earlier DOD statements
about the treatment of detainees bind the entire Executive Branch,
but sidesteps specific questions about interrogation guidelines,
and adds that articles alleging improper treatment of detainees
"often contain allegations that are untrue."
December 13, 2003
- The Washington
Post reports, "A battalion commander in Iraq who fired his
pistol near the head of an Iraqi detainee after his soldiers
had punched the prisoner was fined $5,000 yesterday as part of
a nonjudicial disciplinary proceeding that effectively ends his
Army career." (The Washington Post, December 13, 2003)
December 17, 2003
- The Associated
Press Writer reports, "Marine reservists running a detention
facility in Iraq ordered prisoners of war to remain standing
for hours until interrogators could question them, according
to testimony at a military court hearing" (Associated Press
Writer, December 17, 2003)
January 6, 2004
- The Associated
Press reports, "The U.S. Army discharged three reservists
and ordered them to forfeit two months' salary for abusing prisoners
at a detention center in Iraq." (The Associated Press, January
6, 2004)
January 12, 2004
- Human Rights
Watch writes to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to express
concern about the detention by U.S. forces in Iraq of innocent,
close relatives of a wanted person in order to compel the person
to surrender, which amounts to hostage-taking, classified as
a war crime under the Geneva Conventions.
January 13, 2004
- The Asian Wall
Street Journal reports that a suspect detained by U.S. forces
in Iraq claims, "he was ordered to stand upright until he
collapsed after 13 hours," and interrogators, "burned
his arm with a cigarette." (The Asian Wall Street Journal,
January 13, 2004)
January 17, 2004
- Seattle Post-Intelligencer
reports that, "The commander of U.S. forces in Iraq has
ordered a criminal investigation into reports of abuse of prisoners
at an unspecified coalition detention center." (Seattle
Post-Intelligencer, January 17, 2004)
January 18, 2004
- The Sunday Times
reports claims by a detainee held by coalition forces in Iraq
that during his three months in detention he was, "beaten
frequently, given shocks with an electric cattle prod and had
one of his toenails prised[sic] off."
February 10, 2004
- Human Rights
Watch writes to Rumsfeld expressing concern about the treatment
of detainees in Iraq and urges the administration to publicly
clarify the status of the detainees and to make public the numbers
of detainees being held.
February 23, 2004
- Reuters News
reports that, "U.S. forces investigation allegations of
mistreatment of Iraqi detainees at a prison west of Baghdad have
suspended 17 soldiers including a battalion commander and a company
commander," pending the outcome of an investigation into
allegations of abuse of detainees. (Reuters News, February 23,
2004)
March 8, 2004
- Human Rights
Watch releases report revealing how U.S. forces operating in
Afghanistan have arbitrarily detained civilians, used excessive
force during arrests of non-combatants, and mistreated detainees.
Released detainees testified that U.S. forces severely beat
them, doused them with cold water and subjected them to freezing
temperatures. Many said they were forced to stay awake, or to
stand or kneel in painful positions for extended periods of time.
May 1, 2004
- The Washington
Post reports, "Arab countries reacted with rage and revulsion
yesterday after images of U.S. soldiers abusing Iraqi prisoners
were broadcast around the world. Bush administration and U.S.
military officials scrambled to contain the furor and to assuage
concerns among allies. The photos showed U.S. troops celebrating
as prisoners were sexually humiliated and otherwise abused."
(The Washington Post, May 1, 2004)
May 2, 2004
- The Washington
Post reports, "A top Pentagon intelligence officer is leading
an investigation into interrogation practices at an Army-run
prison where Iraqi detainees were allegedly beaten and sexually
abused, officials announced Saturday. The move came amid allegations
that military guards abused prisoners at the behest of military
intelligence operatives." (Washington Post, May 2, 2004)
May 3, 2004
- Human Rights
Watch writes to Condoleezza Rice that the ill treatment and torture
of prisoners by the U.S. military in Iraq were not limited to
isolated incidents, but reflected, in the words of the U.S. army's
own inquiry, "systemic and illegal abuse of detainees."
Human Rights Watch urges immediate action to reverse the harm
these actions have caused in U.S. detention centers around the
world.
Prepared by the staff at Human Rights Watch.
Weekend Edition
Features for April 24 / 25, 2004
William
A. Cook
Tweedledee and Tweedledum: Kerry
and Bush Melt into One
Jeffrey
St. Clair
Stryking Out: a General, GM and the Army's Latest Tank
Brandy
Baker
A Revitalized Women's Movement? Let's Hope So
Robert
Fisk
A Warning to Those Who Dare Criticize Israel in the Land of Free
Speech
Ben
Tripp
October Surmise: a Case of Worst Scenarios
Nelson
Valdés
"Submit or Die": Iraq and the American Borg
Lucson
Pierre-Charles
Haiti's Return to the Future
Kurt
Nimmo
The CIA Killed Pat Tillman
Mark
Scaramella
Does Anybody Know Anything?
Patrick
Cockburn
The Return of Saddam's Generals
Gary
Engler
Welcome to La Paz: a Vacation in Tear Gas
Col.
Dan Smith
Whistling in the Dark: Israel, Palestine and Bush
Greg
Weiher
Iraq is Utterly Unlike Vietnam...
Elaine
Cassel
Life on the Outside: a Review
Vanessa
Jones
Letter from Australia: Why an Independent Won Sydney
Jim
French
Agriculture's Bullied Market
Hammond
Guthrie
Al Aronowitz, Bob Dylan and The Beatles
Poets'
Basement
Jones, Holt, Albert, LaMorticella
|