Did Gitmo Torture Ramp Up After Obama Took Office?
By Susie Madrak Thursday Feb 26, 2009 3:00pmNo, it's not what you think. Apparently guards decided to get their last kicks in, so to speak. Hopefully someone will bring this to Obama's attention:
LONDON (Reuters) - Abuse of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay has worsened sharply since President Barack Obama took office as prison guards "get their kicks in" before the camp is closed, according to a lawyer who represents detainees.
Abuses began to pick up in December after Obama was elected, human rights lawyer Ahmed Ghappour told Reuters. He cited beatings, the dislocation of limbs, spraying of pepper spray into closed cells, applying pepper spray to toilet paper and over-forcefeeding detainees who are on hunger strike.
The Pentagon said on Monday that it had received renewed reports of prisoner abuse during a recent review of conditions at Guantanamo, but had concluded that all prisoners were being kept in accordance with the Geneva Conventions.
"According to my clients, there has been a ramping up in abuse since President Obama was inaugurated," said Ghappour, a British-American lawyer with Reprieve, a legal charity that represents 31 detainees at Guantanamo.
"If one was to use one's imagination, (one) could say that these traumatized, and for lack of a better word barbaric, guards were just basically trying to get their kicks in right now for fear that they won't be able to later," he said.
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What a situation! what do you do with a rouge military?
Give them new uniforms..
we're sposed to follow the 2nd amendment and have local militias to deal with this sort of thing but we went soft a long time ago and multinational banking cartels took over.
what to do what to do
Rouge military? Paint them chartreuse perhaps?
maby someone could send him a dvd , it worked for bush with katrina!
This is exactly why we can't just walk away from the war crimes of the Bush Administration. Those people responsible, including the guards and high govt officials alike, must be brought to justice. Or else this will be with us forever.
Must expose and prosecute all the Bushies now, before things get much worse.
Stop the torture and confinement NOW. Show me proof that Al Qqaeda and
bin Laden were responsible for 911. Show me...you can't. The FBI admits
it has no evidence that Al Qaeda did 911.
Having said that, we need to get out of Afghanistan NOW!!!
Get out of Iraq NOW!!! We need to cut Defense spending NOW!!!!
Mexico is imploding because of our "War on Drugs" which has to end NOW!!!
Legalize pot NOW!!!
Make bribery illegal NOW!!!!
Try, convict, indict, sentence and imprison Bush and Co. NOW!!!
www.fbi.gov/wanted/terrorists/terbinladen.htm
They don't even know where the Anthrax came from or who sent it around!!!! We are insane to not be more angry and to let them get away with this assault on our sensibilities, society, and senses. Where the EFF is the media!!! Where the EFF is the citizenry. DAMN IT.
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Anthrax_spores_...
director robert mueller is not your enemy; this is not hoover's flawed FBI.
Thanks for keeping on the anthrax story, O.
"Show me proof that Al Qqaeda and
bin Laden were responsible for 911. Show me...you can't. The FBI admits
it has no evidence that Al Qaeda did 911."
but i bet when the TRUTH comes out, we will find
that bush/cheney had a dirty hand in 911 and not
just starting the criminal war with iraq.
You are spot-on.
Thanks for your Anger and Outrage. It is appropriate and appreciated.
"The FBI admits it has no evidence that Al Qaeda did 911."
This claim is very plausible, but the link you offer as evidence merely goes to a wanted poster. I can't believe an accusation of that magnitude without an actual source. Could you provide one please?
Is 911 mentioned in the wanted poster? No.
If the FBI can't make enough of a case to accuse him, how
can we have gone to war over it. Are anyof the hijackers charged
with 911? NO.
That is incredibly weak. Merely not putting it on a wanted poster isn't an admission that it isn't true. Show me an explicit statement in which the FBI says directly that they can't connect Bin Laden and Al Queda to 9/11. *Please* show me one. I want to believe this, but I'm not going to without actual proof.
I will find one...I know Mueller made one I think even on video. The Taliban asked for proof and Bush refused.
The burden of proof is on the prosecuter. bin Laden wouldn't have to raise a finger in court if the FBI can't make a case.
I don't have to prove he didn't. You have to prove he did.
But you can't, and neither can the FBI!
www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread438080/pg1
You see, I *want* to agree with you, because I hold Bush&Co. in utter contempt, and I would love to throw this in the face of wingnuts and the like. The problem is, I prefer to have actual proof before I start making accusations this serious.
So, once again. Do you have a real source to prove the FBI has admitted this?
... are you really so naive as to not understand the long-standing rift between the FBI and the CIA?
hoover was probably being black-mailed his entire career with "incriminating" photos; he would have probably loved nothing more than to toss allen dulles in a paddywagon!
...but I'm asking Leadership for proof of a very specific claim that Leadership made up above. And your post doesn't address that in the slightest.
On the other hand, if *you* have a source in which the FBI explicitly declared that they can't connect Bin Laden or Al Queda to 9/11, feel free to post a link. I really want to see it.
This is audio of Dick Cheney talking to Tony Snow and Cheney says it!!!!!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2xRLiRqb8M&feature=r...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=RovVNCLeg4Y&eurl=http...
posts like this have gotten me banned from this site so many times i lost count.
maybe things are CHANGING
I didn't mention a conspiracy. I only mentioned 911 in the context
of us going to war with Afghanistan and the subsequent renditions,
tortures etc.
and it continues as we speak. Disgraceful.
Unfortunately, this is what the world sees and thinks about the USA right now. You have no authority left, and certainly NO MORAL AUTHORITY, in anything!!!! Prosecute now, or this image will stay for generations more than it already will anyway.
It's very sad indeed. Over 200 years to build your authority as a beacon of liberty and freedom, and six years of GOP rule to turn you into a bloodthirsty dictatorship.
Reuters cites one source for this information and that source is biased. Whatever else he may be, Ghappour is a lawyer advocating his clients' position. He is legally and ethically supposed to have a bias in favour of whatever position assists his clients.
Doesn't this site frequently condemn lazy or faux journalists who cite a single biased source in support of their newest contentions?
Lets see what developes...
So it's all just made up, move along, nothing to see???
That Guantanamo even exists is enough for me. This is the USA we're talking about here, running a camp full of renditioned and tortured people.
that energy could be put to better use.
on their prisoners? Nah, that would never happen...
/snark.
They are ultimately responsible. MacArthur executed the Japanese commander in the Philippines for failure of command and control of his troops after WWII. If guards are continuing to abuse prisoners, it is only with the complicity of their officers. The reich wing is attempting to foment insubordination within the armed forces during time of war, using their "he was born in Kenya and is not really President so we don't have to follow his orders" meme. They did the same thing with Clinton's don't ask don't tell policy. This and the influence of Christian fundamentalist proselytizing are creating an explosive situation and must be defused ruthlessly.
Our government was running a "frat boy" club. everyone in the club was privileged, and they felt they deserved anything desired. I never doubted the abuse would stop, until the prison is closed. Remember, these people have been tagged with the worst of the worst tag.
the U.S. government has investigated the U.S. government and, shockingly, determined that it's not doing anything wrong: http://www.tinyrevolution.com/mt/archives/002...
it would happen. the boosh dogs are going to do as much damage to support their 'cause' as they possibly can. It's the same as the justice department and the pentagon.
Patraeus and Ordinaro (spelling) have come close to treason imho. They should be stripped of their rank and court marshaled.
if not treason, certainly insubordination.
lincoln had to sack a slew of generals who refused to OBEY before he got down to ulysses grant.
petreaus and odierno are idealogues; probably fundamentalist end-timers and VERY DANGEROUS.
both will probably have to be kept under 24/7 FBI surveillance once removed.
who concluded that 'all of the prisoners were being kept in accordance with the Geneva Conventions'?
The same ones who discussed the timeline with Obama for getting the troops out of Iraq? The ones who told him at that meeting that his timeline was unrealistic and the US would have to stay longer?
Yep, same ones.
They're the same ones that developed the "non-torture" torture techniques.
if that's the case, then ship the whole lot
of guards? off to prison.
i am fucking tired of the crap we have had to
and are still enduring fromt the bush/cheney
crimes.
Holder: Closing Gitmo won't be easy
Attorney General Eric Holder said Wednesday the Guantanamo detention center is a well-run, professional facility that will be difficult to close — but he is still going to do it.
Holder said his visit to the site was instructive. He met with military officials and toured the facilities, including the court setting where military commissions were to be held until Obama suspended them.
He said he did not witness any rough treatment of detainees, and in fact found the military staff and leadership performing admirably.
“I did not witness any mistreatment of prisoners. I think, to the contrary, what I saw was a very conscious attempt by these guards to conduct themselves in an appropriate way,” he said.
I'm sure Holder might get a different picture.
“I did not witness any mistreatment of prisoners."
being held for YEARS without charge, due process, etc is mistreatment.
IMPEACH THIS IMBECILE
Just wanted to get this off of my chest here, sorry, but according to http://ravingatheist.com, a blog written by a former atheist turned Christian, it seems almost all rapists are card carrying liberals, and that all rapists are pro-choice on abortion. Please, give the Raving Theist some thanks for enlightening us with his broad, defamatory brushstrokes
how inconsistent.
when it happens under bush its his fault..when it happens under obama its some crazy troops getting their last licks in.
any1 here heard about this btw?
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration, siding with the Bush White House, contended Friday that detainees in Afghanistan have no constitutional rights.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/A...
guess ill start printing up some dont blame me i voted for kucinich shirts to distance myself from u ppl.
ill take 3 extra extra large!
Obama will once again give some good speeches that will have the applause analyzed, and voila! Everything will be all about change again.
/snark.......you people are all so negative all the time, and not helping at all.../snark
good evening concerned canuck ! love your posts! thnx for trying to help last night! hope we dont wind up in obamas new gitmo
Yer most welcome. Republicanism seems to have infected factions of the left. If you don't agree 100% on everything you are either a troll or a Bush lover. Take care man, and keep your stick on the ice (whatever the hell that means...LOL)
roger that!
I read your posts too. I don't think they are too much. We human beings don't like criticism.
with criticism, but if the only criticism one has is personal attacks in the same realm as Bushie supporters, it's disgusting.
I do tend to go over the top sometimes, but it's usually in response to reading idiocy like during the SOTU speech and posters are asking if "anyone orgasmed". Truly pathetic. I also tend to forget how sensitive patriotic Americans are and how they refuse to somehow take any responsibility for their gov't unless it has done something that makes them shine.
Perhaps that is the diff between Canada and the US. We don't get insulted when someone points out when our government (regardless of party) does something crappy.
and a good evening to tyree, Jo, Edwin, CC et al ... the usual misfits!
evening calgary ! what have yah got for us this evening ?
tyree, what's your mood tonight?
You seem especially spunky this evening.
im spunky every night calgary , of course being pugnacios is a drawback though!did you bring the sandwich meat?
hehe
"over-forcefeeding detainees who are on hunger strike."
How do you over-forcefeed someone? I would think any forcefeeding would be over-forcefeeding.
Stuff them to the point of agony. There are so many ways to torture people. The simplest discomfort for a pro-longed period of time is enough.
Let's face it, Osama bin Laden won. America, as I once knew it, does not exist. (O. bin L. could be Dick Cheney, but, regardless... "mission accomplished!")
And now they are talking of the possibility of shooting North Korean missiles out of the sky "just in case"......jeebus, it just isn't going to end until the US is destroyed completely. And still people cheer. It's like sitting and watching a stupid predictable movie.
As someone living in Korea, many Koreans want the USA out now. They have their own conservatives here that simply want trade deals with the US, so they comply with your wishes. Popular opinion is greatly different though. (Secretly many Koreans are happy Kim Jong il is 'fighting with' the USA. They feel you have no busniness in what they see as an internal affair.)
This post should interest you then:
U.S. Ready to Respond to N.Korea Missile
Admiral Keating Tells ABC News U.S. Prepared to Shoot Down Missile If Obama Gives OK
http://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=...
CGI, voice synthesis, and pretty badly done.
dude's been dead for years. i'd bet my wife and kids on it.
End the wars (Iraq, Afghanistan, Drugs) NOW.
Stop budding into other countries' businesses.
Stop torture.
Close Gitmo.
Reinstate the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
Use MOUNTAINS of evidence to arrest and convict Bush and Co.
Can't this be done? What's the problem?
... we will have to also closely examine the drone strike in pakistan that occurred a week after obama took office.
did he order it, or did it come from someone else? odierno? rogue CIA?
remember, obama hadn't even had his CIA director sworn in yet.
NO STONE LEFT UNTURNED, GENTS (AND LADIES).
You raise a very good point bullfrog. But don't say it out loud.
You might up set the haters.
poor, sad little haters!
the worm has surely turned!
The people have spoken, and Gitmo has got to go, or else we may as well just declare ouselves a nation of perverts, pedophiles, and TORTURE ADDICTS.
If you are familiar with the Stanford Prison Experiment, this story would come as no surprise at all. Here's a link: http://www.prisonexp.org/
That's a good point! But military training is SUPPOSSED to pre-empt that type of behavior. 8 years of the Bush/Cheney cabal has pretty much wrecked the military though. Remember Cheney saying he wanted more low lifes in the CIA? Well he got that and did the same to the military. It's no suprise that under Bush/Cheney there was a large increase in the number of criminals and members of terror groups like the KKK and National Alliance getting into OUR military.
That should be at the top of Obamas list. Along with ending the Iraq war.. or shifting troops to Afghanistan. Or overturning the Patriot Act that makes us all criminals who dissent...
Nevermind. He's gotta pay out his banker buddies that laid his path. Or his lobbyists that gave him a thumbs up. I mean duh!!! He's really good at getting elected and....
Good luck.
Sounds like the Cheney loyalists are still working for their Dark Lord.
Shameful...
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