How many violations of International Law has to be committed before something is done? Or would that be too little, too late?

Lt-Com Matthew Diaz is a hero that lost 6 months from his life and his career for divulging information that was later obtained by the Associated Press through the FOIA and published. Where is the outrage?

I hope, for his and her sakes, that this latest whistle-blower isn't married to a lady who works for the CIA.

Who has called for the closure of the prisons at Guantanamo?

what else is new. This whole country is being run in secret and their words have absolutely no relation to their deeds. their words are for a compliant media to feel good about themselves. this secret ruling junta no longer represents in any way, shape or form the will of the people. God only knows who's in charge of this coup of the US.

This administration has about as much regard for human life as they would for chessmen on a board. The whole thing from "shock and awe" to to the destruction of Iran and all of the mistreatment of prisoners is just what happens in the pursuit of liberty and democracy and the removal of a "corrupt regime and brutal dictator".

For all his evil, at least Stalin had the balls to openly be a dictator. The Bushies are just sniveling evil little rodents that have to do their evil under the cover of secrecy and "democracy"

Yes, what is new? And where are the Dem and Clinton supporters? The entire country has been hijacked by the Republican and the Democratic Party - both of which are nothing but front organizations for military-industrial complex, big money (oil) and the Israeli lobby.

[quote]canuckchuck October 27th, 2007 3:17 pm -- For all his evil, at least Stalin had the balls to openly be a dictator. The Bushies are just sniveling evil little rodents that have to do their evil under the cover of secrecy and "democracy".[/quote]

It's very tempting to agree -- with the sentiment, at least. But the reality is that obfucations and distortions of terminology are a major tool of ALL authoritarian regimes, Stalin's included. Think about people's democratic republics as just one example.

It is certainly true that those practices have figured heavily in U.S. domestic mythology and are highly prevalent in its propaganda (both Hollywood and 'educational' varieties) that 'justify' its manifest destiny. One might even add its religiosity, in many cases.

While it is true that the hypocrisy has become increasingly blatant of late under BushCo, it has existed, in one form or another, from the nation's inception. The 'tyranny' against which the original rebellion was fomented, for example, had at least as much to do with westward land speculation and contrary inhibitions imposed by royal proclamations as with 'unfair' taxes on tea, etc. Of course, George Washington's not receiving that British Army regular commission he was angling for didn't help either.

It's just too bad that today's progressives seem less adept at employing similar rabble tactics rousing against the tyrant's current namesake.

So the White House will need a few boxes of "Depends," eh? Gee, that's a pity! They got Rumsfeld, how far behind will the rest be? For those who celebrate, America is getting an early Christmas present this year! The White House "in the docket!" Works for me!

GITMO and our other Crimes Against Humanity are against the Geneva Convention. This violation of Treaty is against the American Constitution (Section Six). How is it that the Citizens of this country still pay homage to a government that is unconstitutional?

"Visit those in prison"...now you know why. Dropped into a 'hole' and forgotten... abandons the innocent. The Inquisition did that as well as Stalins etc. Justice is imprisoned and we are asked to abandon our claims to be believers in justice. Forget justice? That is what we are being asked to do as Americans.

Despite all the spin... Padilla is an American citizen arrested in America and his constitutional rights were dismissed by what amounts to royal decree. Even Jeffrey Dahmer got a trial. Hunreds arrested and imprisoned without trial were released already. They were innocent. A trial and legal representation, we are being told, is asking too much.

The rights you defend for another ...are the only rights YOU actually have. If he doesn't have them basically you don't either. You may say you aren't a terrorist rightly enough but who will visit you in prison if you are incorrectly arrested as one?

No trial? No legal representation and you can't even question the evidence. Mr. Smith too bad! No one can hear you after you have been dropped into a 'hole' when your scream "My name is spelled Smythe not Smith. It's not me."

Do you believe in the correctness of justice? Americans need to remember what they do believe in before we all find... no one believes us.

There are those in a 'hole' who are sreaming..."It wasn't me!" Can anyone hear them?

Hey Mike! Thanks... from another American who isn't afraid of ...Justice and our rights.

To paraphrase a famous quote > "The only fear we need fear...is fear of our own freedoms!" Thanks Mike...for all of us not afraid of our rights.

is there a DSM5? to include power induced psychosis? This is all insanity. The notion of ethnic cleansing, that the rule of law such as the Geneva Convention, and Our Constitution are quaint, that the belief in democracy is naive, that we must be afraid of our fellow citizens, these are all signs of later stages of power psychosis.

And what about propaganda induced mass psychosis? I mean this man Bush&Co lies about everything. there is nothing that has come out of any of his executive departments that isn't marinated in lies. He lied about wining either election, about not knowing Ken Lay, about rescuing that women in the hospital, about the WMD, about Iran, about everything of significance and those lies were propagated by the people that rule 25-30% or more of the articles right here in Commondreams. So what of the effect on us of nearly every source of information being corrupted? any small grouping of those lies provided grounds for impeachment. the whole of it is treasonous.

How many times will it take to figure out that it isn't that americans are apathetic or even that 50% would agree to bombing Iran it is that we are suffering under the burden of an nearly complete blanket of lies. We are smothering. The whole thing is being presented as separate little lies. While is it one huge coordinated lie. Everything from energy policy to nuclear power. Well that is obvious.

Maybe we ought to have all hit the streets the day after that first election wearing blue and demanding a complete national recount or even another election all together. When we were out there in the street we would have seen that this was not that close anywhere. maybe if the election coverage would have highlighted the obvious lies during the campaign, it would not have even been that close.

We do fear. we have been acculturated to fear. And we have rallied to the cause of freedom and support for the downtrodden. It is the finest in the american tradition. The Statue of Liberty's Words were not always a sarcasm. It represents what makes America great and beloved around the world.

We don't have the luxury to not be optimistic, to not step up, to not be courageous.

Thank God for people with spines and honor that are still surviving in the joke of a US system of justice vis a vis the military. And God bless the detainees still at Guantanamo. When they're gone, the whole complex should be dismantled and the US military should leave. They lease that land from Castro for $50 a month, which he sends back to them.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D07E2DC163BF933A15752C0A9649C8B63

I am currently about half-way through a book entitled "Eight O'Clock Ferry to the Windward Side: seeking justice in Guantanamo Bay" by Clive Stafford Smith. PLEASE READ THIS BOOK! He is one of the lawyers allowed into Guantanamo, and his story is mind-boggling. Even though he is restricted in what he is allowed to say about the detainees and how they are treated, it is clear that no sensible procedure has been devised or followed relating to their care.
The detainees have been tortured brutally, if not by Americans directly, then certainly at the behest of the U.S. government. They have been presumed guilty of the worst crimes, without proof or any attempt to find the truth. Anyone attempting to get at the truth is deemed a traitor.
This whole thing is the worst period of human rights abuse in American history since slavery. Whoever does not condemn these acts in Gitmo, Bagram, and places as yet unknown and demand an end to it NOW is a worse enemy to the American people than any of the terrorists. It is unforgiveable for the United States to be acting in direct contravention to its own Constitution, International law, human rights, Judaeo-Christian values, or the basic sense of decency presumed to exist in any sentient being.
I'm damn mad--I'm pissed off! I do not want to see the damn Democrats sitting with their thumbs up their butts while horrors like this go on under our flag! If they can't raise a righteous stink about this issue by now, then they have no right to expect anyone's vote ANY MORE!

Unless this criminal administration is brought to trial, convicted in public court hearings, and sentenced to justifiable prison terms, nothing will change.

I recall watching a video somewhere on the internet a while back that included this Sudanese hospital administrator. I believe the video was done by an Australian journalist.

CITIZEN1 & CANUCKCHUCK: right on...totally agree

The US has a right to defend itself against terrorism, but we have to understand that the individuals interred at Gitmo could be perfectly innocent or totally guilty - but because they have no access to lawyers or a fair trial we have no way of knowing one way or the other.

Sad but true.

"I am currently about half-way through a book entitled "Eight O'Clock Ferry to the Windward Side: seeking justice in Guantanamo Bay" by Clive Stafford Smith."

Follow that with "The Trial", by Kafka...