thebullet
Rebel without applause
- Joined
- Feb 25, 2003
- Posts
- 1,247
I know that there are people on this site who think I am a screaming liberal, dispite my protestations to the contrary. A writer friend of mine told me that I've been nominated for the Gold Clit Award: Bleeding Heart Liberal most people want to hang by his balls.
In truth I'm a pragmatic kind of guy with a very liberal wife. Much of the stuff I post was sent to me by my wife. But it's all good, ya gotta admit.
And here is a humdinger:
____________________________________________________
FBI E-Mail Refers to Presidential Order
Authorizing Inhumane Interrogation Techniques
American Civil Liberties Union
Monday 20 December 2004
Newly obtained FBI records call Defense Department's
methods "torture," express concerns over "cover-up"
that may leave FBI "holding the bag" for abuses.
NEW YORK - A document released for the first time
today by the American Civil Liberties Union suggests
that President Bush issued an Executive Order
authorizing the use of inhumane interrogation methods
against detainees in Iraq. Also released by the ACLU
today are a slew of other records including a December
2003 FBI e-mail that characterizes methods used by the
Defense Department as "torture" and a June 2004
"Urgent Report" to the Director of the FBI that raises
concerns that abuse of detainees is being covered up.
"These documents raise grave questions about where
the blame for widespread detainee abuse ultimately
rests," said ACLU Executive Director Anthony D.
Romero. "Top government officials can no longer hide
from public scrutiny by pointing the finger at a few low-ranking soldiers."
The documents were obtained after the ACLU and other
public interest organizations filed a lawsuit against
the government for failing to respond to a Freedom of Information Act request.
The two-page e-mail that references an Executive
Order states that the President directly authorized interrogation techniques including sleep deprivation, stress positions, the use of military dogs, and "sensory deprivation through the use of hoods, etc." The ACLU is urging the White House to confirm or deny the existence of such an order and immediately to release the order if it exists. The FBI e-mail, which was sent in May 2004 from "On Scene Commander--Baghdad" to a handful of senior FBI officials, notes that the FBI has prohibited its agents from employing the techniques that the President is said to have authorized.
Another e-mail, dated December 2003, describes an
incident in which Defense Department interrogators at Guantanamo Bay impersonated FBI agents while using "torture techniques" against a detainee. The e-mail concludes "If this detainee is ever released or his story made public in any way, DOD interrogators will not be held accountable because these torture techniques were done [sic] the 'FBI' interrogators. The FBI will [sic] left holding the bag before the public."
The document also says that no "intelligence of a
threat neutralization nature" was garnered by the
"FBI" interrogation, and that the FBI's Criminal
Investigation Task Force (CITF) believes that the
Defense Department's actions have destroyed any chance
of prosecuting the detainee. The e-mail's author
writes that he or she is documenting the incident "in
order to protect the FBI."
"The methods that the Defense Department has adopted
are illegal, immoral, and counterproductive," said
ACLU staff attorney Jameel Jaffer. "It is astounding
that these methods appear to have been adopted as a
matter of policy by the highest levels of government."
The June 2004 "Urgent Report" addressed to the FBI
Director is heavily redacted. The legible portions of
the document appear to describe an account given to
the FBI's Sacramento Field Office by an FBI agent who
had "observed numerous physical abuse incidents of
Iraqi civilian detainees," including "strangulation,
beatings, [and] placement of lit cigarettes into the
detainees ear openings." The document states that
"[redacted] was providing this account to the FBI
based on his knowledge that [redacted] were engaged in
a cover-up of these abuses."
The release of these documents follows a federal
court order that directed government agencies to
comply with a year-old request under the Freedom of
Information Act filed by the ACLU, the Center for Constitutional Rights, Physicians for Human Rights, Veterans for Common Sense and Veterans for Peace. The New York Civil Liberties Union is co-counsel in the case.
Other documents released by the ACLU today include:
An FBI email regarding DOD personnel impersonating FBI officials during interrogations. The e-mail refers to a "ruse" and notes that "all of those [techniques] used in these scenarios" were approved by the Deputy Secretary of Defense. (Jan. 21, 2004)
Another FBI agent's account of interrogations at
Guantanamo in which detainees were shackled hand and
foot in a fetal position on the floor. The agent
states that the detainees were kept in that position
for 18 to 24 hours at a time and most had "urinated or defacated [sic]" on themselves. On one occasion, the agent reports having seen a detainee left in an unventilated, non-air conditioned room at a temperature "probably well over a hundred degrees." The agent notes: "The detainee was almost unconscious on the floor, with a pile of hair next to him. He had apparently been literally pulling his own hair out throughout the night." (Aug. 2, 2004)
An e-mail stating that an Army lawyer "worked hard to
cwrite [sic] a legal justification for the type of interrogations they (the Army) want to conduct" at Guantanamo Bay. (Dec. 9, 2002)
An e-mail noting the initiation of an FBI
investigation into the alleged rape of a juvenile male
detainee at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. (July 28, 2004)
An FBI agent's account of an interrogation at
Guantanamo - an interrogation apparently conducted by
Defense Department personnel - in which a detainee was
wrapped in an Israeli flag and bombarded with loud
music and strobe lights. (July 30, 2004)
The ACLU and its allies are scheduled to go to court
again this afternoon, where they will seek an order
compelling the CIA to turn over records related to an
internal investigation into detainee abuse. Although
the ACLU has received more than 9,000 documents from
other agencies, the CIA refuses to confirm or deny
even the existence of many of the records that the
ACLU and other plaintiffs have requested. The CIA is
reported to have been involved in abusing detainees in
Iraq and at secret CIA detention facilities around the
globe.
The lawsuit is being handled by Lawrence Lustberg
and Megan Lewis of the New Jersey-based law firm
Gibbons, Del Deo, Dolan, Griffinger & Vecchione, P.C.
Other attorneys in the case are Jaffer, Amrit Singh
and Judy Rabinovitz of the ACLU; Art Eisenberg and
Beth Haroules of the NYCLU; and Barbara Olshansky and
Jeff Fogel of CCR.
The documents referenced above can be found at: http://www.aclu.org/torturefoia/released/fbi.html
More on the lawsuit can be found at: http://www.aclu.org/torturefoia/
In truth I'm a pragmatic kind of guy with a very liberal wife. Much of the stuff I post was sent to me by my wife. But it's all good, ya gotta admit.
And here is a humdinger:
____________________________________________________
FBI E-Mail Refers to Presidential Order
Authorizing Inhumane Interrogation Techniques
American Civil Liberties Union
Monday 20 December 2004
Newly obtained FBI records call Defense Department's
methods "torture," express concerns over "cover-up"
that may leave FBI "holding the bag" for abuses.
NEW YORK - A document released for the first time
today by the American Civil Liberties Union suggests
that President Bush issued an Executive Order
authorizing the use of inhumane interrogation methods
against detainees in Iraq. Also released by the ACLU
today are a slew of other records including a December
2003 FBI e-mail that characterizes methods used by the
Defense Department as "torture" and a June 2004
"Urgent Report" to the Director of the FBI that raises
concerns that abuse of detainees is being covered up.
"These documents raise grave questions about where
the blame for widespread detainee abuse ultimately
rests," said ACLU Executive Director Anthony D.
Romero. "Top government officials can no longer hide
from public scrutiny by pointing the finger at a few low-ranking soldiers."
The documents were obtained after the ACLU and other
public interest organizations filed a lawsuit against
the government for failing to respond to a Freedom of Information Act request.
The two-page e-mail that references an Executive
Order states that the President directly authorized interrogation techniques including sleep deprivation, stress positions, the use of military dogs, and "sensory deprivation through the use of hoods, etc." The ACLU is urging the White House to confirm or deny the existence of such an order and immediately to release the order if it exists. The FBI e-mail, which was sent in May 2004 from "On Scene Commander--Baghdad" to a handful of senior FBI officials, notes that the FBI has prohibited its agents from employing the techniques that the President is said to have authorized.
Another e-mail, dated December 2003, describes an
incident in which Defense Department interrogators at Guantanamo Bay impersonated FBI agents while using "torture techniques" against a detainee. The e-mail concludes "If this detainee is ever released or his story made public in any way, DOD interrogators will not be held accountable because these torture techniques were done [sic] the 'FBI' interrogators. The FBI will [sic] left holding the bag before the public."
The document also says that no "intelligence of a
threat neutralization nature" was garnered by the
"FBI" interrogation, and that the FBI's Criminal
Investigation Task Force (CITF) believes that the
Defense Department's actions have destroyed any chance
of prosecuting the detainee. The e-mail's author
writes that he or she is documenting the incident "in
order to protect the FBI."
"The methods that the Defense Department has adopted
are illegal, immoral, and counterproductive," said
ACLU staff attorney Jameel Jaffer. "It is astounding
that these methods appear to have been adopted as a
matter of policy by the highest levels of government."
The June 2004 "Urgent Report" addressed to the FBI
Director is heavily redacted. The legible portions of
the document appear to describe an account given to
the FBI's Sacramento Field Office by an FBI agent who
had "observed numerous physical abuse incidents of
Iraqi civilian detainees," including "strangulation,
beatings, [and] placement of lit cigarettes into the
detainees ear openings." The document states that
"[redacted] was providing this account to the FBI
based on his knowledge that [redacted] were engaged in
a cover-up of these abuses."
The release of these documents follows a federal
court order that directed government agencies to
comply with a year-old request under the Freedom of
Information Act filed by the ACLU, the Center for Constitutional Rights, Physicians for Human Rights, Veterans for Common Sense and Veterans for Peace. The New York Civil Liberties Union is co-counsel in the case.
Other documents released by the ACLU today include:
An FBI email regarding DOD personnel impersonating FBI officials during interrogations. The e-mail refers to a "ruse" and notes that "all of those [techniques] used in these scenarios" were approved by the Deputy Secretary of Defense. (Jan. 21, 2004)
Another FBI agent's account of interrogations at
Guantanamo in which detainees were shackled hand and
foot in a fetal position on the floor. The agent
states that the detainees were kept in that position
for 18 to 24 hours at a time and most had "urinated or defacated [sic]" on themselves. On one occasion, the agent reports having seen a detainee left in an unventilated, non-air conditioned room at a temperature "probably well over a hundred degrees." The agent notes: "The detainee was almost unconscious on the floor, with a pile of hair next to him. He had apparently been literally pulling his own hair out throughout the night." (Aug. 2, 2004)
An e-mail stating that an Army lawyer "worked hard to
cwrite [sic] a legal justification for the type of interrogations they (the Army) want to conduct" at Guantanamo Bay. (Dec. 9, 2002)
An e-mail noting the initiation of an FBI
investigation into the alleged rape of a juvenile male
detainee at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. (July 28, 2004)
An FBI agent's account of an interrogation at
Guantanamo - an interrogation apparently conducted by
Defense Department personnel - in which a detainee was
wrapped in an Israeli flag and bombarded with loud
music and strobe lights. (July 30, 2004)
The ACLU and its allies are scheduled to go to court
again this afternoon, where they will seek an order
compelling the CIA to turn over records related to an
internal investigation into detainee abuse. Although
the ACLU has received more than 9,000 documents from
other agencies, the CIA refuses to confirm or deny
even the existence of many of the records that the
ACLU and other plaintiffs have requested. The CIA is
reported to have been involved in abusing detainees in
Iraq and at secret CIA detention facilities around the
globe.
The lawsuit is being handled by Lawrence Lustberg
and Megan Lewis of the New Jersey-based law firm
Gibbons, Del Deo, Dolan, Griffinger & Vecchione, P.C.
Other attorneys in the case are Jaffer, Amrit Singh
and Judy Rabinovitz of the ACLU; Art Eisenberg and
Beth Haroules of the NYCLU; and Barbara Olshansky and
Jeff Fogel of CCR.
The documents referenced above can be found at: http://www.aclu.org/torturefoia/released/fbi.html
More on the lawsuit can be found at: http://www.aclu.org/torturefoia/
