Top Bush Aides Pushed for Guantánamo Torture
Senior Officials Bypassed Army Chief to Introduce Interrogation Methods
America’s most senior general was “hoodwinked” by top Bush administration officials determined to push through aggressive interrogation techniques of terror suspects held at Guantánamo Bay, leading to the US military abandoning its age-old ban on the cruel and inhumane treatment of prisoners, the Guardian reveals today.
General Richard Myers, chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff from 2001 to 2005, wrongly believed that inmates at Guantánamo and other prisons were protected by the Geneva conventions and from abuse tantamount to torture.
The way he was duped by senior officials in Washington, who believed the Geneva conventions and other traditional safeguards were out of date, is disclosed in a devastating account of their role, extracts of which appear in today’s Guardian.
In his new book, Torture Team, Philippe Sands QC, professor of law at University College London, reveals that:
· Senior Bush administration figures pushed through previously outlawed measures with the aid of inexperienced military officials at Guantánamo.
· Myers believes he was a victim of “intrigue” by top lawyers at the department of justice, the office of vice-president Dick Cheney, and at Donald Rumsfeld’s defence department.
· The Guantánamo lawyers charged with devising interrogation techniques were inspired by the exploits of Jack Bauer in the American TV series 24.
· Myers wrongly believed interrogation techniques had been taken from the army’s field manual.
The lawyers, all political appointees, who pushed through the interrogation techniques were Alberto Gonzales, David Addington and William Haynes. Also involved were Doug Feith, Rumsfeld’s under-secretary for policy, and Jay Bybee and John Yoo, two assistant attorney generals.
The revelations have sparked a fierce response in the US from those familiar with the contents of the book, and who are determined to establish accountability for the way the Bush administration violated international and domestic law by sanctioning prisoner abuse and torture.
The Bush administration has tried to explain away the ill-treatment of detainees at Guantánamo Bay and Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq by blaming junior officials. Sands’ book establishes that pressure for aggressive and cruel treatment of detainees came from the top and was sanctioned by the most senior lawyers.
Myers was one top official who did not understand the implications of what was being done. Sands, who spent three hours with the former general, says he was “confused” about the decisions that were taken.
Myers mistakenly believed that new techniques recommended by Haynes and authorised by Rumsfeld in December 2002 for use by the military at Guantánamo had been taken from the US army field manual. They included hooding, sensory deprivation, and physical and mental abuse.
“As we worked through the list of techniques, Myers became increasingly hesitant and troubled,” writes Sands. “Haynes and Rumsfeld had been able to run rings around him.”
Myers and his closest advisers were cut out of the decision-making process. He did not know that Bush administration officials were changing the rules allowing interrogation techniques, including the use of dogs, amounting to torture.
“We never authorised torture, we just didn’t, not what we would do,” Myers said. Sands comments: “He really had taken his eye off the ball … he didn’t ask too many questions … and kept his distance from the decision-making process.”
Larry Wilkerson, a former army officer and chief of staff to Colin Powell, US secretary of state at the time, told the Guardian: “I do know that Rumsfeld had neutralised the chairman [Myers] in many significant ways.
“The secretary did this by cutting [Myers] out of important communications, meetings, deliberations and plans.
“At the end of the day, however, Dick Myers was not a very powerful chairman in the first place, one reason Rumsfeld recommended him for the job”.
He added: “Haynes, Feith, Yoo, Bybee, Gonzalez and - at the apex - Addington, should never travel outside the US, except perhaps to Saudi Arabia and Israel. They broke the law; they violated their professional ethical code. In future, some government may build the case necessary to prosecute them in a foreign court, or in an international court.”
© 2008 The Guardian
Here ya go dems in Congress, how about opening up some hearings? I was excited for a second when dems gained control; I thought there would be hearings everyday and I would sit back with a bowl of popcorn and enjoy the entertainment. Two seconds later, I knew it was business as usual.
Agree TruthM that is why it will be business as usual even after the 08 elections. Time to move on to another story this one is over
its all been, and still is, a big ponzi game with these people……….and the congressional stooges stand by in amazement and bewilderment.
pick your tongues up off the floor and do something dems (and those very few repubs).
how much more evidence do you need? who are you afraid of?
I am starting to feel these people are afraid of a power we know very little about. They find a way to kill any political career if you speak up. Do you ever notice when a person stands up to these people all of a sudden something happens to them in some way? Corruption from top to bottom
The rats are scurrying to jump the sinking ship. Joe Collins’ recent report, published by the National Defense University, is another example of the military attempting to shift all the blame to the civilians. And the civilians are buying it! Philippe Sands is a distinguished international lawyer, and he should know better than to serve as mouthpiece for Myers. The generals are up to their necks in the slime of this administration, not because they were “hoodwinked,” but because they knowingly went along and in many cases were directly responsible for the debacles in Iraq and Afghanistan. While some brave military lawyers have stood up to the administration, others simply caved, or participated happily in “enhanced interrogation practices.”
Meanwhile, our loathsome “opposition” buys in as well, arguing that the military has done an admirable job on a mistaken mission. B—s—. Lincoln at least knew military incompetence when he saw it (”If General McClellan isn’t using his army, I’d like to borrow it.”). Couldn’t we expect our politicians (and our media) to cop to the incompetence, corruption and, often, senseless brutality that characterizes the American military?
“Philippe Sands is a distinguished international lawyer, and he should know better than to serve as mouthpiece for Myers.”
You may have got a false impression from the Guardian article, which is a precis of the extract from Sands’ book printed elsewhere in today’s Guardian. Here’s a link to the extract:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/apr/19/humanrights.interrogationtechniques
From it, Sands describing his interview with Myers:
As one seasoned observer of military affairs put it to me, Myers was “well and truly hoodwinked”.
So what did Myers think about the new techniques? “We thought, OK, all the techniques came out of the book, there weren’t any techniques invented.” I stopped him.
“Out of which book?” I asked.
“Out of [US Army Field Manual] 34-52,” he replied. “I think all of these are in the manual.” They were not - not one of them. “They aren’t?” he asked, surprised. Not only that, but most of them violated Geneva’s Common Article 3. Such an answer from the chairman of the joint chiefs surprised me.
As we worked through the list of techniques, Myers became increasingly hesitant and troubled. At forced grooming and dogs he became defensive. “Dogs were only to be present, never to be…” his words tailed off. “When you see this, you say, holy mackerel,” he exclaimed. “We never authorised torture, we just didn’t. Not what we would do.” Little by little, my understanding of Myers’s role was becoming more focused. He hadn’t pushed for these new techniques, but he didn’t resist them, either. He didn’t inquire too deeply.
I guess we are supposed to believe that the Joint Chiefs and all the other generals under him thought it was torture but none of them had the Army Field Manual available to check on there true feelings.
Who is going to believe that?
Nobody can touch Bush now…. but when he is out of the White House (about 8 months left) He will be in danger from everything legal and just retribution from millions of victims in every way.
I would hate to be in his shoes… he has set himself and his stooges and advisors up as the perfect example of the modern super War criminals. Justice never comes to prevent crime and is hardly swift but if you have a little patience you will find it will come.
According to the prophecy
Will our Congress sit on their collective thumbs while these Crimes Against Civilisation go unchallenged much less than unpunished?
It seems to this voter that one either stands against war crimes or is one of the war criminals.
He didn’t understand it. Wow. How many times have we heard that? I’m beginning to believe we are ruled by idiots. If they are idiots, they should be thrown out of office, period. If they say they didn’t know, throw them out. If they didn’t know, they are incompetent. He didn’t realize that the Army manual had torture techniques in there? He didn’t realize that the CIA has been torturing for a long time? Right… You mean he didn’t realize that they would get caught? When Congress hears some idiot like the ex attorney general saying that he didn’t know, they need to immediately remove them from office and place them under investigation for future imprisonment. Don’t hand us that “I didn’t know” BS.
I also find it implausible the the most senior US military official would be unfamiliar with a relevant Army Field Manual, when presented with a major policy decision like the use of these “enhanced” interrogation techniques. There are many field manuals, and I doubt even the Joint Chiefs have read all of them, but surely they should know the general parameters of acceptable military treatment of detainees, and surely they should be very familiar with the Geneva Conventions and be able to deduce that what the administration was proposing was well outside what GC allows. Even I, as a civilian unschooled in military affairs, would have had a lot of red flags jump out at me.
At the very least, these military brass have staffs. Surely an aide could have been tasked with verifying what the administration lawyer-scum were saying.
Well, I think the law is: if you were in a position to know then you should have known … therefore, you know. Guilty.
Hello Nancy Pelosi? John Conyers? Can we impeach now?
The pattern is always blame. Myers, a ‘victim of intrigue’. Give us a break after all these years. We have google, we know there is more than one book. You question whether something is right or wrong, you can compare ‘books’ and frigging read the Geneva convention words. I hate these people. I try not to, but I do.
Notice Cindy McCains recipe story - they blamed an intern. God I hate these people.
General Myers had the responsibility to keep himself in the loop. His failure to do so is no excuse. He was responsible and he failed to uphold the Geneva Conventions. He should be prosecuted to the fullest extent possible. The tide is turning and the participants are looking for an escape. There should be none.
The neoCONut jobs are clever, following Nixon & O.L I E.y North “exemplary” leads.
The American people are up against sadistic psychopaths, who know well how to turn everything around and make us seriously DOUBT ourselves
This “GENERAL” looks to me to be incontinent (wears a diaper) as his usual bodily functions (like thinking) have been traumatized (PTSD), or disabled long ago — what a set up
I can imagine electro-shocked monkeys with more understanding than most “career military men”
Namaste
D n G — RIGHT ON!
ignorance of reality is no defense,
when taking the BIG paychecks,
they are BIG not because you’re supposed to stay BRIBED,
but BIG so your realize your crucial responsibility and OATH
to the American People, and obviously to ALL of HUMANKIND
I’m sure they have “Depends” in SING-SING
As the noose tightens around the Bush-Cheney bunch, and the threat of charges of torture, war crimes, crimes against humanity and other serious violations of U.S. and international law loom over them, we enter a dangerous period.
Like a trapped animal, they may strike out in ways that are dangerous.
A false flag terror event within the U.S. is one situation that worries many.
More probable, perhaps, is an attack on Iran to expand the state of war and distract people from continuing investigations of activities associated with the Bush-Cheney administration.
An attack on Iran may be less about U.S. security or Iran’s nuclear ambitions, and more about the Bush-Cheney gang using bloodshed and a military diversion to escape the consequences of their actions over the last eight years.
Food for thought in the article:
“Will Bush, Cheney Attack Iran? When and Why?”
Truthout.org
02 February 2007
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/020207A.shtml
The author’s blog is:
http://jointreconstudygroup.blogspot.com/
Anyone who has gone through War College, whether it be Air Force, Navy or Army, knows what the manuals state and how to read them. Any CJCS knows what is going on under his command. To pretend he was hoodwinked is disingenuous at best. He was looking the other way and deliberately ignoring what was happening. I laugh when I think of these officers talking about wanting to be taken seriously as professionals, then playing the little nasty political games and allowing illegal actions to take place on their watch. They are every bit as corrupt and unprofessional as the incompetent idiots running the government.
Anyone who has gone through War College, whether it be Air Force, Navy or Army, knows what the manuals state and how to read them. Any CJCS knows what is going on under his command. To pretend he was hoodwinked is disingenuous at best. He was looking the other way and deliberately ignoring what was happening. I laugh when I think of these officers talking about wanting to be taken seriously as professionals, then playing the same nasty political games as the civilians and allowing illegal actions to take place on their watch. They are every bit as corrupt and unprofessional as the incompetent idiots running the government.
We’re ruled by DEMONS. Can the American people REALLY awaken to the fact that appealing to their desire for luxury is—sooner or later–fatal?
What is a
REAL patriot?
So, why aren’t we (our “opposition party”) impeaching and prosecuting Bush and his “aides” for war crimes?
Why is Madam Pelosy too busy?
That is why BilalryObama of the “opposition party” have not earned my vote. Do you understand American Sheeple?
General Richard Myers may pretend to be hoodwinked, but incompetence and ignorance is not an excuse for war crimes, or for any other crime for that matter.
Hellooooo “opposition party”….. are you there????
And the American Sheeple follow the BillaryObama train …..
I wouldn’t be at all surprised if these revelations don’t prompt a really sternly-worded letter from the appropriate Congressional Committee Chairperson(s)!
PS: If your baby could not take baby steps without walking in tiny circles, wouldn’t you take it to a pediatrician STAT?
No need for me to pile on here, but I’ll do it anyways. Where ARE the Congressional hearings? Where is the special prosecutor? Where is the grand jury? Do we have to plant a semen-stained dress on Bush to get something done?
Goes to show that, while Repugs are out playing “chickenhawk” and “chickenshit,” the Dims are just too plain “chicken” to do anything about it.
THE PANICKED ASS COVERING HAS BEGUN!!
“Geobbles felt he was hoodwinked by Hitler, and honestly thought that the showers at Auswitz were actually a day spa for the Jews”
So Myers was cheif of Staff from 2001 to 2005, and didn’t know the USA was torturing people?? VERY hard to beleive…consider the following timeline
Abu Ghraib Timeline
The Associated Press
Friday, May 7, 2004
2002
Feb. 8: Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says President Bush has decided that Geneva Convention protections do not apply to terrorist detainees from Afghanistan, but says all prisoners will be treated humanely.
December: In separate incidents, two Afghan detainees in U.S. custody die of blunt-force injuries. Both are classified as homicides and remain under investigation.
2003
March 19: Iraq war begins.
June 30: Reserve Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski named commander of 800th Military Police Brigade, responsible for guarding Iraq prisons.
July 23: Amnesty International says it has received reports of torture of prisoners by coalition forces in Iraq.
Aug. 31-Sept. 9: Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller, who runs the military prison for terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, conducts an inquiry on interrogation and detention procedures in Iraq. He suggests that prison guards can help set conditions for the interrogation of prisoners.
October: Red Cross conducts a ‘no-notice’ inspection of Abu Ghraib prison and later submits a report to U.S. military authorities in Iraq detailing abuses. Rumsfeld says he was not briefed. Red Cross later says several inspections between March and November found ’serious violations’.
October-December: Many of the alleged abuses at Abu Ghraib take place during this time period.
Oct. 13-Nov. 6: Maj. Gen. Donald Ryder, provost marshal of the Army, investigates conditions of U.S.-run prisons in Iraq, including Abu Ghraib. He finds problems throughout the prisons. Some units, including the 800th Military Police Brigade, did not receive adequate training to guard prisons, he notes. He also says military police (MPs) should not assist in making prisoners more pliable to interrogation, as their job is to keep prisoners safe.
Nov. 24: Twelve prisoners are shot, three fatally, in prison riot at Abu Ghraib.
Nov. 26: Iraqi Maj. Gen. Abed Hamad Mowhoush loses consciousness and dies under questioning at undisclosed location in Iraq. Case is under investigation by CIA inspector general. A second prisoner death during questioning, this one at Abu Ghraib, is also under investigation.
2004
Jan. 4-8: Red Cross reports improvements at Abu Ghraib.
Jan. 13: Army Spc. Joseph M. Darby, an MP with the 800th at Abu Ghraib, leaves a disc with photographs of prisoner abuse on the bed of a military investigator.
Jan. 14: Army launches criminal investigation of Abu Ghraib abuses.
Jan. 14-15: Gen. John Abizaid, chief of Central Command, tells Gen. Richard Meyers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, of the investigation and says it is a ‘big deal’.
Jan. 16: Central Command issues one-paragraph news release announcing investigation of “incidents of detainee abuse” at unspecified U.S. prison in Iraq.
Jan. 18: A guard leader and a company commander at the prison are suspended from their duties, and Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, a senior commander in Iraq, admonishes Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski, who commanded the brigade.
Jan. 19: Sanchez orders a separate administrative investigation into the 800th. Maj. Gen. Antonio M. Taguba was appointed to conduct that inquiry on Jan. 31.
Jan. 31: Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba appointed to investigate prison abuses.
Early February: Rumsfeld and Gen. Peter Pace, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, brief President Bush on the prison abuse investigations.
Feb. 2: Taguba visits Abu Ghraib. Throughout the month, his team conducts interviews in Iraq and Kuwait.
Feb. 26: Sanchez publicly discloses the suspension of 17 military personnel but gives no details.
March 12: Taguba presents his report to his commanders. He finds widespread abuse of prisoners by military police and military intelligence. He also agrees with Ryder that guards should not play any role in the interrogation of prisoners.
March 20: Six soldiers face charges stemming from alleged abuse at the prison. The military announces the beginning of possible court-martial proceedings.
April 4: Internal Army review of prison management recommends administrative actions against several unnamed commanders in Iraq.
April 6: Third Army commander Lt. Gen. David D. McKiernan approves Taguba’s report.
April 12: CBS’s 60 Minutes II informs Pentagon that it is planning to broadcast photographs of Abu Ghraib prison abuse.
April 14: Myers calls CBS News anchor Dan Rather to request delay in broadcast, saying the pictures will incite violence against U.S. troops and could endanger the 90 Western hostages held by Iraqi militants. CBS agrees. Myers calls a week later and obtains another delay.
April 28: CBS airs the photos, setting off an international outcry. Bush, Rumsfeld and Meyers say this is the first time they have seen any of the photographs.
April 30: The military announces Miller has been put in charge of U.S.-run prisons in Iraq.
May 1: Sanchez approves Taguba’s report. Six more soldiers receive administration reprimands; two are relieved of their duties. A seventh receives a lesser reprimand. Other investigations are also under way, including into the military intelligence unit that conducted interrogations at the prison.
May 3: Bush urges Rumsfeld to make sure that any guilty U.S. soldiers are punished for “shameful and appalling acts.” Rumsfeld’s aides say he has not yet read the Taguba report, although they say he has kept abreast of the allegations of mistreatment.
May 6: Bush apologizes to the Arab world for abuse, says Rumsfeld will stay in his Cabinet.
May 7: Senate and House committees call Rumsfeld to testify. Rumsfeld apologizes for abuses and for laxity in informing the president and Congress, proposes compensation for victims and appoints panel to review prison system.
Sources: House, Senate testimony; Taguba’s report, military and Bush administration officials; staff and wire reports
WHAT NEXT??? ” I VAS ONLY FOLLO-WINK O-DARS” in a bad German accent????
Look, you can’t reasonably blame Myers if he happened to be out of the room when all of that stuff was brought up.
I mean, after all– nature calls!
The noose is slowly being tied around Bush-co. Trust it. Their hubris going against the grain of humanist development in the world has created a big blowback.
Of course, “noose” here is metaphorical for punishment - which shouldn’t be capital. I hope Bush-co will live a long time and be punished all the time, to remain living examples of the shame befalling those who trespass against international law.
Keep them in a gilded cage, on public display, e.g. webcam, unable to do a thing but remember their crimes. Make the sadness and shame of such caged and neutered public living, rather than other kinds of pain, be the lesson to other potential trespassers.
And no Nixon-like pardon for them. Ever.
Viet Nam defined my generation. Now all I want is to live long enough to see happen what Ullem predicts.
I am so tired of the Bushit. Congress will NEVER stand up. The media will NEVER stand up. Obama will not fight for American values nor will Clinton, nor will McCain. The PEOPLE and ONLY the PEOPLE must STAND UP!!!
Boycott EXXON!! Boycott WalMart!!
Let’s Chose a day and stop buying a thing!!
DO SOMETHING AND STOP WHINING!!!
We CAN take back America. We can HAVE a democracy. We are the many–they are the few. Get together–talk–move-act
Boycott. March. Sit. Write. Strike.
At the end of the day we either stop the machine or allow it to run over our families!
“There is a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart, that you can’t take part; you can’t even passively take part, and you’ve got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you’ve got to make it stop. And you’ve got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it, that unless you’re free, the machine will be prevented from working at all!” — Mario Savio, Berkeley Free Speech Movement
Think about it! In any case why use torture? The military knows it is neither effective in gaining usable intelligence nor does it win the necessary respect or cooperation for the occupying forces. The only reason for these methods and this, (just another in a very long list) apparent strategic error is to further stimulate destabilization and blow-back in Iraq and the Arab/Muslim region in general and thus further “stimulate” the “war on terror” from the other side.
Hence it was a political and strategic decision to use torture which was made at the highest political level in the Bush cabinet. What so many of you still don’t get is, that all these “apparent” mistakes, errors, miscalculations and wrong judgments since before 9-11 are in fact not gaffs and stupidity at all but on line and following a controlled plan.
The people behind this administration, and I mean the “executives” in New York, Washington, Jerusalem and London that run/own/manipulate Bush and Cheney and will in 09 run/own/manipulate Obama, Clinton or McCain (It doesn’t really matter which) have no doubt as to what is going on and why. Their aim is chaos, and destruction by violence, followed by hegemony, and tyranny on a global level to bring about “a new world order”.
“Government of the people by the corporation for the corporation.”
“….determined to establish accountability for the way the Bush administration violated international and domestic law….”
Would that “determination to establish accountability” equal or exceed the accountability that Bill Clinton had to endure over a consensual sex scandal?
Myers’s defense–astonishing stupidity–is a smokescreen to conceal his careerist capitulation to those in power. He saw what happened to Shinseki and Taguba when they spoke honestly and was determined to avoid the same fate. He’s just trying to save his butt now that Bush’s days in power are waning and a day of reckoning for war crimes, albeit unlikely, is possible.
Is this uniformed clown the living example of ‘Don’t ask, Don’t tell’, or what?
Frankly, Galen, I prefer to leave it at “Won’t ask, can’t tell”.
Don’t believe a word from Richard Myers. Just read “Crossing The Rubicon” by Michael Ruppert, follow up the footnotes and you’ll see that 9-11 would not have been possible without Myers foreknowledge and complicity. The man is a traitor and a terrorist. But he’s perfectly safe as long as we have the current bunch of immoral criminals running our government. And I mean both the executive branch AND congress. Hell, throw in the justice dept. for good measure.
cactuspie — You’re _ N A I L _ him head on RIGHT, about that.
I mentioned the 911 complicity above, as his ticket to the big game (promotion), … … … what drek, AS IF he didn’t know.
Namaste
And adding insult to injury…
SHANNON (Reuters) - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called on Arab nations on Sunday to offer diplomatic ties and debt relief to Iraq’s government to reward its efforts on improving security and political reconciliation.
Hint: it’s the occupying power that is responsible for the occupied’s debts.
Hollow point (April 19th, 2008 10:33 am) wrote: “I am starting to feel these people are afraid of a power we know very little about. They find a way to kill any political career if you speak up. Do you ever notice when a person stands up to these people all of a sudden something happens to them in some way? Corruption from top to bottom.”
On the up side, former Alabama Gov. Don Siegleman is out of jail and causing a ruckus, demanding Karl Rove’s head on a platter. Siegleman hasn’t disappeared yet, and neither have Jon Stewart, Keith Olbermann, Michael Moore or other rabble-rousers, and the response to ABC’s ‘debate’ the other night has been overwhelmingly negative. Maybe the GOP same-old-bag-of-smear-tricks isn’t working anymore. The natives are restless and, yes, bitter. It may be that the empire is crumbling from bad debt and its own incompetent hubris. The Bush Regime has now become a detriment to the international economy, although they still make money for a few of their friends.
I agree with Greenuprising (April 19th, 2008 10:42 am), Secretarybird (April 19th, 2008 11:08 am), et al, I find it hard to believe that Chief of Staff Myers was ‘out of the loop’ on Gitmo torture — this seems like a very large case of CYA the Army Way. Especially the idea that the Bushites changed the Army Field Manual without his knowledge or consent. Nonsense. Just because he didn’t ‘inquire too deeply’ doesn’t mean he didn’t know what was going on. Plausible deniability that’s completely implausible.
Ncycat (April 19th, 2008 2:11 pm) is absolutely right — the senior Brass Hats know very well that the US military isn’t supposed to torture, and they don’t have to check the Field Manual either — it’s been against the Geneva Convention from the get-go and is taught at West Point and Annapolis.
Gee, how many enlisted ratings have been prosecuted and used the excuse that they didn’t know something was against military law. Ignorance of the law doesn’t work in that case, but, then, they aren’t general staff. What a farce.
Sansf (April 19th, 2008 12:43 pm) wrote: “Notice Cindy McCains recipe story - they blamed an intern. God I hate these people.”
Then they blamed Cindy’s mother. “Hey, she must have stolen those recipes from Rachel Ray!” Except the recipes weren’t around ‘generations ago’ — ’40s-era Moms weren’t in the kitchen whipping up Passion Fruit Mousse or whatever the hell it was. Yes, they are scum, and it was all bafflingly unnecessary. They could have just said ‘here are some of Cindy McCain’s favorite recipes,’ and left it at that, or not had it on the website in the first place. (Who really cares?) Just like BushCo, they indulge in the unneccesary lie. The very wealthy Mrs. McCain probably hasn’t been in a kitchen in 30 years — she has the illegal Mexican cook fix all the vittles. Oh, wait — Cindy didn’t know she was illegal, her papers looked real — Cindy thought all government documents are handwritten! I mean, what is she, a general or something?
Citizen1 (April 19th, 2008 2:31 pm), at least Obama has promised that his attorney general, the day he’s sworn in as president, will begin investigations and prosecutions of governmental wrongdoing. I’m afraid that’s the best we’ll get unless the Dems grow spines.
Canuckchuck (April 19th, 2008 4:07 pm), LOL, which Nazi was it who claimed that while he made sure the trains were loaded up and headed to the proper concentration camp, and the ‘passengers’ in the cattle cars were unloaded and processed, he didn’t concern himself with their fate once they were in the camps? He was just a ‘clerk’ doing a routine paper-shuffling desk job. No, the Nuremberg court didn’t buy his excuse, either. Also, thanks for that timeline post.
Right Little Brother (April 19th, 2008 4:17 pm), perhaps, like Poppy Bush and Iran/Contra, he was ‘out of the loop’ getting an iced tea or something.
Larry Wilkerson, a former army officer and chief of staff to Colin Powell, US secretary of state at the time: . . .
“At the end of the day, however, Dick Myers was not a very powerful chairman in the first place, one reason Rumsfeld recommended him for the job”.
This also accounts for the appointments of generals Sanchez, Casey and Abizaid. The hallmarks of Bush administration appointees: incompetence, ineffectuality or, preferrably, both.
Myers was “duped, uninformed, etc.” I call it just playing dumb and going along with the plutocracy — just as the fascist war-profiteers played dumb regarding Iraq’s so-called threat to the world and weapons of mass destruction. BushCo KNEW Iraq was NO THREAT, but they pretended to believe in the so-called “faulty intelligence.”
If the U.S. has “faulty intelligence” regarding reasons to invade and occupy a country, someone needs to rein this rogue government in. Obviously they are much too incompetent and are a threat to world peace.
It’s past time they were charged with war crimes.
A side note regarding Nancy Pelousy’s recent misdeeds: Pelosi Plans $178 Billion Blank Check for Iraq
“Measured in blood and treasure, the war in Iraq has achieved the status of a major war and a major debacle.”
That’s not from the peace movement - it’s from the National Defense University, written by a senior Pentagon official who served under Donald Rumsfeld.
Yet despite the overwhelming opposition of the American people, Speaker Pelosi plans to rush a vote through Congress for another $178 billion blank check.
We must stop this madness. Tell Congress: No More Funds for Iraq
http://www.democrats.com/peoplesemailnetwork/124?ad=d1
quote from article….
He [Larry Wilkerson, a former army officer and chief of staff to Colin Powell] added: “Haynes, Feith, Yoo, Bybee, Gonzalez and - at the apex - Addington, should never travel outside the US, except perhaps to Saudi Arabia and Israel. They broke the law; they violated their professional ethical code. In future, some government may build the case necessary to prosecute them in a foreign court, or in an international court.”
If the next Reemocrat-Demublican regime in the USA ignores justice,international law, and extradition requests, the thing to do here is what Israel and the CIA often do, and that is to go into foreign countries and kidnap alleged criminals. A UN commando unit or any foreign government acting on behalf of the civilised world could grab these assholes out of their houses in the USA and whisk them out of the country to stand trial for their crimes.
Note to Rumsfeld, Bush, et al. There is no statute of limitations on war crimes.
Dems, do you hear us! Make something happen, NOW!!!
Two thousand years ago a Roman senator suggested that all slaves wear white armbands to better identify them. “No”, said a wiser senator. “If they see how many of them there are , they may revolt.”
It is very clear we have come to a crossroads. We have a choice to make.
We can choose Empire
OR
We can choose Earth Community.
We can choose to continue to be slaves to the Empire or we can choose to build on a new Earth Community.
If you choose Earth Community then let’s start by choosing a symbol that EVERYONE could easily obtain. Nothing fancy just something that anyone has in their drawer and can identify with the simplicity of Earth community.
Let’s start the revolution. The Bandana Revolution. Let us see how many of us there are.
A bandana is a simple easy symbol that can represent solidarity for Earth community and be used as a visible signal that you reject Empire.
Take a bandana and
Tie it on your car, your briefcase or your bag.
Wear it on your head, your neck or your arm.
Hang it in your house window, tie it to your mailbox.
The power of seeing others on the street who have the same beliefs, courage and desires to transform our world will be visible to all easily and quickly.
Let us really see how many of us are wiling to support our cause. Remember, they are few, we are many but we need to see who we are. Let’s show the world how many of us believe we can change knowing we are not alone.
And to really make our point if everyone didn’t buy one single thing on the last day of every month until DC gets the message and starts getting serious about what is happening we will have taken back our country. Nothing speaks louder to DC than money (or the lack of it). One day, the last day of every month, don’t buy a thing. No gas, No food, No movies, No nothing. One day, the last day of every month until we see some honest to goodness changes. Not a hardship for us but certainly will make our point. Make them understand we mean business. Our business, not theirs.
Psssssst……………..do something!!!!!! Pass it on………………It’s time……..
If you think it will work feel free to copy and paste on all blogs and into all emails to friends and family. It all starts with you…….
civil behavior,
It is a nice idea with good intentions to wear a bandana. I am not saying this out of ignorance or being stereotypical, but there are rival street gangs that wear different colored bandanas. You don’t want to send them the wrong message. But I completely agree with you that we ought to wear some symbolic object to show unity against the Bush/Corporate empire.
Hanging the US Flag upside down is one possibility,
as it is clearly a sign of distress (and appropriate at other levels as well)
Namaste
Claudius,
Duly noted. Had the same discussion with some local activists. Some agreed with you. Most others said it’s time to stop analyzing and start doing. I think it’s time to start doing.
Besides, all the more reason to use the bandana to reclaim another portion of our dsyfunctional empire from those who mean to do it harm.
It is within our power to stand up to the forces of empire whether it be gangs on the street or gangs in the White House. It’s all empire building. Something we must stop. It is necessary if not prudent to dispel the notion that we are to be fearful because of someone elses duplicity and use of violence to have the many submit to the few. I thought we are talking about taking back our country? It may require a bit of risk but there is strength in numbers.
To choose Earth Community means we are no longer going to be afraid and we will not relinquish possession of some of the most basic symbols of our working class society to thugs of any stripe. How appropriate that we use a bandana and render their use of it to useless impotency. As a 56 year old grandmother sporting a bandana I doubt I would be mistaken for a thug.
Discussion of what symbol that is affordable or easy or correct only leads to more gridlock and agonizing about the means to an end. We can talk about it or we can just do it. Forget the gangs. Recognizing their perceived power diminshes our own just like with the thugs in government. They are who we reject. That is why it is time to see who we are. There is little enough time to begin the revolution. The power is in our hands if we stop being afraid of every little thing that disallows our own self empowerment.
And I don’t take your perspective lightly but by worrying about the correctness of symbolism we discount our momentum and paralyze achieving our desired results. Lots of symbols are simply not as doable. The bandana revolution can reach critical mass very quickly and easily if we forego discussing it to death. Remember while we are busy waging armchair guerrilla warfare Empire is succeeding in destroying us because we can’t even see who “us” is. I say stand out where you are and let me see you. A traveling visible symbol lets me know in a gas line, a supermarket or at work who you are and what you stand for. Earth Community needs us. Now.
Namaste,
The upside down flag was also discussed. Not nearly as portable. Also apply the bandana a bit more universally. This could be a global symbol. Nationalism is not the only thing threatened when you make a choice between Empire and Earth Community.
Besides if someone is sporting a bandana you don’t question their patriotism but you’ll know immediately that Earth takes precedence over Empire.
Think about the implications of a movement that includes issues that reach all six billion of us.
Civil Behavior,
Thank you for the reply. I agree with you, and if it gives us the opportunity to crush the Evil Empire, or at least make others aware of it, then it is the appropriate symbol for unity and peace. It is encouraging to see more people becoming proactive in protesting and dismantling the Evil Empire.
regards,
Claudius
There are so many of us that are really powerless to do much more than type till our fingers are raw because we cannot see each other.
The control that has been consolidated at the top including members of Congress know that keeping us unseen and divided about what we can agree upon has worked to their advantage.
I think it is time to change that with very simple self empowerment symbolism.
It’s almost too easy but so effective. No matter it’s color or its provenance. It’s a dollar store item that anyone can afford. It can be worn, or framed or tied or waved. It’s not a towel, it’s not a flag. It’s easily seen and could be displayed with ease in cars or planes and boats or trains. As a scarf around your neck, or as a pouf in your suit jacket.
I just don’t think we need to make this very hard. I also think it is way past time that we show Empire where we stand. As the Roman senator most astutely recognized……. they really don’t want each of us to know how many of us there are and I say the sooner we show them the better.
May I also suggest an excellent book that helped me use the words I have chosen to personify the intangible forces in play called “The Great Turning” by David Korten.
Empire is self explanatory and useful terminology and one I had understood and used before reading his book. The term Earth Community though is a most conducive term to use for that which many if us desire and cannot articulate in a hundred words or less. I thank Mr Korten for his word device.
The bandana revolution is of my own making. After years and years of rallies and events and writing and calling and faxing and talking to others, one night before going to sleep I kept asking myself what else besides millions of people protesting in the streets would provide Empire a constant presence. A sort of in-your-face, legal, significant in numbers opposition. It hit me when I realized that Empire is significant because we recognize the players. We see them. They are visible to each of us. Thus came the need for identifying who Earth Community is. When they see how many of us there are we will see then what they think about “business as usual”.
Now I can go out and garden.
“Anyone who would authorize torture must be out of their mind.” — Isabelle Allende
These people are such stupes, so unforseeing of consequences. Their
attitude toward torture illuminates their attitude toward the American occupation and everything else.
The rank stupidity extends to those who have any point of view other than the one that says, “Bring every American out of
Iraq by midnight tomorrow.”
I may not always agree with defense specialist Stephen Biddle, but he was half
right when he said we should either inundate Iraq with soldiers (one for every Iraqi?) or pull every single American in the place OUT.
That man is clearly half-sane compared to
to the others, who are totally insane while not deserving our sympathy, respect, civility or ear.
This general is just a rat, jumping from a sinking ship. If anyone should have known that Bush was full of crap, it would have been a guy in his postion.
The plight of “yesmen”. We call people who promote crimes rather than carry them out conspirators. Their yearning for power, their currying favor, should be punished, but not unexpected. It’s not just Bimbo, he thinks he’s getting good, honest advice, sometimes. There’s just a rat’s nest around the presidency and government in general and we need to periodically purge it. Seems like now’s the time to me, but I thought that 4 years ago as well, and many times since 1980. Too many people violating their oathes to serve and protect by being self-seeking first, and “strict interpretioner’s” second, whenever it promotes their self-seeking. It’s treason. It’s not all of the major consequences variety (not all of them need to be taken to the guillotine) but we need to quit treating it (tee-hee) as a “political question” to be left to the voters. Maybe we could put all the marijuana cops on that job to give them something worthwhile to do.
Yes, bandanas!! I been wearin’ one for years anyway. They are the all-around earth-lover’s protection, wipe, tool, and symbol of the wild and free, the untrammeled, the lover of natural and left-alone corners, a shade to eyes so damn tired of peering out into the carnage and insanity… So let’s try bandanas! Let everyone use those colors they most appreciate, let the symbolism of color enliven this hopeless task, a task nevertheless (exactly like the bodhisattva’s to “aid in the illumination of all sentient beings”…) completely necessary if our pitiful species is to survive this century… See you in the streets……Pick a day. Mine is Friday noon. Pick a sign: Mine say things like “we are STILL all complicit in an illegal war”….and “stop the torture”….These is a lot oof power out theere just waiting to be made use of. Nothing like a good cause huh…