|
Korean Job Discussion Forums
"The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Teachers from Around the World!"
|
| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
keane
Joined: 09 Jul 2007
|
 Posted: Sat Nov 03, 2007 6:32 pm Post subject: Torture: From the Top |
 |
|
Orders from the top
Dunlavey: Guantanamo mission came straight from Bush, Rumsfeld
| Quote: |
BY LISA THOMPSON
[email protected] [more details]
Published: November 02. 2007 6:00AM
When military investigators questioned Erie County Judge Michael E. Dunlavey about reported prisoner abuse during his tenure at the Guantanamo Bay camp for suspected terrorists, Dunlavey told them he got his "marching orders" from President Bush, according to a new book about U.S. policies regarding torture.
The book, "Administration of Torture: A Documentary Record from Washington to Abu Ghraib and Beyond," relies on government documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act to trace the development of what the authors claim was prisoner abuse and torture that emerged in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
The book uses Dunlavey's words to place him, a retired two-star general in the U.S. Army Reserve, at the advent of the development of what have become disputed interrogation policies.
In a statement Dunlavey provided to a U.S. Air Force lieutenant general investigating FBI reports of detainee abuses at Guantanamo Bay, Dunlavey explains that as leader of interrogations at Guantanamo, he reported directly to President Bush and then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
...In the statement to U.S. Air Force Lt. General Randall Schmidt, as summarized and sworn to by Schmidt, Dunlavey said:
# Rumsfeld summoned him to a meeting on Feb. 21 or 22, 2002, attended by Rumsfeld, then-Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz and others. The date was two weeks after Bush had issued a directive denying al-Qaida and Taliban prisoners protections under the Geneva Conventions.
# Dunlavey said at the meeting, Rumsfeld told him that the Department of Defense had "accumulated a number of bad guys."
Rumsfeld wanted these prisoners interrogated to identify senior Taliban leaders and other operatives and obtain information about future plans, Dunlavey said.
"Our mission was to stop Americans from being killed," Dunlavey said, according to the report.
# Dunlavey said he was first directed to report to military officials, but then ordered to work more closely with President Bush. "The directions changed and I got my marching orders from the President of the United States," Dunlavey said. "I was told by the SECDEF that he wanted me back in Washington, D.C., every week to brief him."
The new book also includes the now well-known October 2002 memo in which Dunlavey asked for permission to use more-aggressive interrogation tactics at the camp, including the use of dogs and extreme cold... |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
keane
Joined: 09 Jul 2007
|
| Posted: Sat Nov 03, 2007 6:43 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I guess the loons on teh right will think these fellows are just howler monkeys, too. And that there is no evidence for impeachment even though the president and vice-president of the US have violated the law of the US.
"Waterboarding is inhumane, it is torture, it is illegal." |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
igotthisguitar
Joined: 08 Apr 2003
Location: South Korea (Permanent Vacation)
|
| Posted: Wed Nov 14, 2007 7:45 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Guantanamo "Operating" Manual Posted On Internet 
Wed Nov 14, 6:54 PM
By Jane Sutton
MIAMI (Reuters) - The U.S. military's operating manual for the Guantanamo prison camp has been posted on the Internet, providing a glimpse of the broad rules and tiniest minutia for detaining "suspected" ... "terrorists".
The 238-page manual, "Standard Operating Procedures for Camp Delta," is dated March 27, 2003, and signed by Army Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller, who was then the commander of the prison that still holds about 300 al Qaeda and Taliban suspects.
It appears to be an authentic copy of the rules as they existed at the time at the U.S. naval base in Cuba, a spokesman for the Guantanamo detention operation, Lt. Col. Ed Bush, said on Wednesday.
It says incoming prisoners are to be held in near-isolation for the first two weeks to foster dependence on interrogators and "enhance and exploit the disorientation and disorganization felt by a newly arrived detainee in the interrogation process."
Styrofoam cups must be confiscated if prisoners have written on them, apparently because prisoners have used cups to pass notes to other captives. "If the cup is damaged or destroyed, the detainee will be disciplined for destruction of government property," the rules say.
The manual was posted last week on the Wikileaks.org Web site, which invites whistle-blowers around the world to "anonymously" publish state documents containing evidence of government corruption and injustice 
The Guantanamo manual is stamped "unclassified," and "for official use only," meaning it was not secret but was never intended for mass distribution either.
The manual also indicates some prisoners were designated as off limits to visitors from the International Committee of the Red Cross ... something the military has ... repeatedly ... denied.
Some rules seem obvious. One advises troops: "In the event that dumpsters become full before scheduled pick up, utilize another dumpster within the camp."
Another notes that "Detainees are not allowed to color their hair."
Allegations of abuse at Guantanamo have been lodged for years by prisoners, their lawyers, human rights monitors and a few military or government employees who worked at Guantanamo.
The manual clearly mandates humane treatment and advises that "Abuse, or any form of corporal punishment is prohibited."
INSTRUCTIONS ONLY MILITARY COULD WRITE
It contains instructions as only the military can write them, such as how to use pepper spray on "unruly" prisoners. "Aim at the eyes, nose and mouth when possible. Use a 1/2 to 1 second burst from a distance of 36 to 72 inches away."
When prisoners are forcibly removed from their cells, the role of each member of the five-member "Immediate Reaction Force team" is clearly defined -- "The number three man is responsible for securing the detainee's left arm..."
The manual spells out in minute detail how captives should be shackled, searched and moved ... and how the chains should be collected afterward.
Four pages are devoted to describing how new arrivals should be taken off the plane and ferried across Guantanamo Bay to the prison camp on the main portion of the base -- with one sniper and two spotters atop the ferry.
Prisoners are to be checked for scars, markings and tattoos, which are to be photographed for FBI records, and a linguist should be present to explain what is happening when body cavity searches are conducted, the rule book says.
Bush, the Guantanamo spokesman, said there have been three changes in command since 2003 and the rules "have evolved significantly." He said the camp holds dangerous "terrorists" ... and would not comment on specific rules for security reasons. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Kuros
Joined: 27 Apr 2004
|
| Posted: Wed Nov 14, 2007 9:23 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| keane wrote: |
I guess the loons on teh right will think these fellows are just howler monkeys, too. And that there is no evidence for impeachment even though the president and vice-president of the US have violated the law of the US.
"Waterboarding is inhumane, it is torture, it is illegal." |
No. I think there were a lot of indications before this that Bush must have at least signed off on this. I think it was impossible for Rumsfeld not to have known, and far more likely that he was involved.
Bush's legacy is going to be more tarnished by his defense of torture than it will by Iraq. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
thepeel
Joined: 08 Aug 2004
|
| Posted: Wed Nov 14, 2007 9:31 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| If he signed off on this he broke American and international law. He should be tried like the criminal he is. Lady justice is blind, right? Just cause he is powerful doesn't mean he is immune, does it? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
igotthisguitar
Joined: 08 Apr 2003
Location: South Korea (Permanent Vacation)
|
| Posted: Thu Nov 15, 2007 1:56 am Post subject: |
|
|
| thepeel wrote: |
| Just cause he is powerful doesn't mean he is immune, does it? |
 |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Funkdafied
Joined: 04 Nov 2007
Location: In Da House
|
| Posted: Thu Nov 15, 2007 4:33 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Quote: |
| Bush's legacy is going to be more tarnished by his defense of torture than it will by Iraq. |
I agree! This is actually the worst aspect of his entire term in office. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
igotthisguitar
Joined: 08 Apr 2003
Location: South Korea (Permanent Vacation)
|
| Posted: Thu Nov 15, 2007 2:02 pm Post subject: |
|
|
So why are they torturing?
What is the root cause?
Can anyone answer this? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
