Atrocities Committed by Our Government

More torture scandals. There have been many, and Diane and I have posted on several.

The war criminals in charge of our detainees show a disinclination ever to bring them to trial, or ever to let them free. We have another reason not ever to let anyone at Gitmo get out of prison - because they would tell about the crimes, I am afraid.

I fear for our country, with such crimes as it has committed. While these charges have only been made, not proved, so far the only defense against this sort of charge has been to resist trying them in a court of law, for 'security reasons'. That in itself militates against believing in the nation's innocence.

A Yemeni man has described being held for nearly three years in secret CIA prisons, or "black sites", around the world and accused the US of torture.

Khaled al-Maqtari told Amnesty International he was held in isolation for more than 28 months without charge or access to any legal representation.
(snip)
Throughout his detention, Mr Maqtari did not have access to lawyers, relatives, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) or any person other than his interrogators and the other US personnel involved, Amnesty said.

Mr Maqtari was eventually handed over by the CIA in the summer of 2006 to the Yemeni authorities, who continued to hold him without charges until May 2007, the rights group said.

"Khaled al-Maqtari's account sheds more light on the US's unlawful conduct in the 'war on terror'," said Anne FitzGerald, a senior adviser at Amnesty.

"He describes being subjected to international crimes such as enforced disappearance and torture, yet these allegations have never been investigated," she added.

"The secrecy surrounding the programme goes hand-in-hand with a complete absence of accountability," the Amnesty International adviser said.

The shameful conduct of un-American activities by our secret atrocity services should never have been allowed, and never should be again. The veto of anti-torture legislation is another atrocity by the cretin in chief.

**********************************************************

Supporting the president's veto of provisions against torture shows the quality of presidential candidate McCain, that he would commit those crimes and is an accessory to them.

Today, the Dallas Morning News editorialized that McCain tortured logic to support the veto that would stand in the way of what McCain says he believes, that torture is not only wrong and threatens the safety of Americans, but that it is counterproductive.

The bill rejected by Mr. Bush would have required the CIA to abide by the Army Field Manual's interrogation rules, which bans techniques that use electric shock, beating, mock executions and waterboarding.

Here's the rub: If the CIA came up with an interrogation technique not explicitly endorsed by that manual, the agency would not be able legally to employ that method. Mr. McCain believed the language of the bill was overly broad and improperly tied the CIA's hands.

This view is plausible enough to exonerate Mr. McCain from charges of hypocrisy – but ultimately unconvincing. In the Nov. 28 GOP debate, Mr. McCain angrily denounced torture and lauded the Army Field Manual's restrictions, saying they "are working, and working effectively."

If that's what Mr. McCain believes, it's hard to understand why he would resist yoking the CIA to the same standards.
(snip)
Come the fall campaign, Mr. McCain will have to defend this vote. It won't be easy.

Torture is wrong, even when exercised on logic.