Tag Archives: torture

Nothing will say more about who we've become as a nation than if a torturer is allowed to head the CIA. Sums it up. It's bad now, and her nomination makes it worse. But her confirmation and occupying office would be the icing on the cake.Kills US soft power. It's a gift to enemies of America, too.The American ConservativeGina Haspel: As If Nuremberg Never HappenedPeter Van Buren, 24-year State Department veteran

The claims were retracted by ProPublica in an embarrassing correction. On Feb. 22, 2017, ProPublica published a story that inaccurately described Gina Haspel’s role in the treatment of Abu Zubaydah, a suspected al-Qaida leader who was imprisoned by the CIA at a secret “black site” in Thailand in 2002. The story said that Haspel, a career CIA officer who President Trump has nominated to be the next director of central intelligence, oversaw the clandestine base where Zubaydah was subjected...

DURING THE NUREMBERG TRIALS after World War II, several Nazis, including top German generals Alfred Jodl and Wilhelm Keitel, claimed they were not guilty of the tribunal’s charges because they had been acting at the directive of their superiors.Ever since, this justification has been popularly known as the “Nuremberg defense,” in which the accused states they were “only following orders.” The Nuremberg judges rejected the Nuremberg defense, and both Jodl and Keitel were hanged. The United...

The declining human rights standards on display with the Haspel and Pompeo nominations are the latest in a long line of policy failures that include the Obama administration’s lack of prosecutions of Bush-era torture, Nat Parry notes. If a person is OK with torture and assassination, that person is OK with anything. Is this an indication of psychopathology or more seriously, sociopathology? Consortium NewsTorture-Tainted CIA and State Nominees Recall Failure to Prosecute Bush-Era Abuses Nat...

She also enjoys the support of top Obama officials.  AlterNetNew CIA Director Gina Haspel Has a Long History of Pushing for Torture Jefferson Morley, AlterNetSee also While the ACLU does not take positions on nominees, we do take a strong stance against torture. Blog of Rights: Official Blog of the American Civil Liberties UnionWhat the Senate Needs to Know About Gina Haspel Christopher Anders, Deputy Director, ACLU Washington Legislative Office alsoAmerican ThinkerJames Clapper: Deep...

“The new CIA director was a key part of the torture program and its illegal cover-up. Her name was on the Top Secret order demanding the destruction of tapes to prevent them being seen by Congress. Incredible.” — Edward Snowden 'Nuff said. Consistent with Trump's views on the use of torture. Intel TodayGina Haspel Becomes First Female CIA Director LAlsoMoon of AlabamaTrump Votes For Rexit - Torture Girl To Become CIA Director bAlsoThe Cipher BriefHaspel Nominated to Lead CIA, Pompeo to...

"Liberalization," Saudi style.Zero Hedge"His Body Was Badly Swollen" - Chilling Account Of Death, "Coercion And Abuse" At The "Riyadh Ritz-Carlton" Tyler Durden

“By failing to prosecute the crime of torture in CIA custody, the U.S. is in clear violation of the Convention against Torture and is sending a dangerous message of complacency and impunity to officials in the U.S. and around the world,” [U.N. special rapporteur on torture Nil] Melzer said in the statement.… There was no immediate comment from U.S. officials in Geneva.  ReutersU.N. expert says inmate U.S. torture continues at Guantanamo Bay Tom MilesUPDATED:U.N. expert says torture...

Former G.W. Bush-era NSA and CIA head Michael Hayden has joined the ranks of Trump's social media critics, tweeting that the president's "outrageous assault" on press freedom makes him feel like he's "wasted 40 years of [his] life." However, Hayden's record doesn't exactly inspire confidence in his newfound role as defender of the Constitution.… The outpouring of support for George W. Bush's CIA & NSA chief — who oversaw torture, rendition, illegal domestic spying and an array of...

No wonder the deep state is doing everything possible to keep the details of torture secret. Fortunately, legal discovery has made some of the story available.  Two surviving prisoners and the family of a detainee who died at the Colbalt site reached an out-of-court settlement with the CIA psychologists in August after a lawsuit was brought for their role in the torture. As was hoped, the CIA and Pentagon were forced to declassify the documents related to the case in pretrial discovery. But...