More On The Mysterious Mr. Gates: Nuke-War Averter?

Some say that the mysterious Mr. Gates averted nuclear war between India and Pakistan in 1990.

When Robert M. Gates came calling

Siddharth Varadarajan

New Delhi : Robert M. Gates, the man named by President George W. Bush as his nominee for the next U.S. Secretary of Defence, is a consummate Beltway insider with an extensive record of service within the American intelligence establishment going back at least three decades. . . .

In South Asia, however, he is perhaps best remembered for the `mission' he undertook to Pakistan and India in May 1990 during a time of military tension between the two neighbours. In a subsequent retelling by Seymour Hersh in New Yorker magazine, the U.S. envoy is said to have helped avert a nuclear war between Pakistan and India . . .

In the spring of 1990, the insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir was in full flow. Concerned by Pakistan's decision to maintain the forward deployment of troops deployed near the border for the Zarb-e-Momin military exercises conducted at the end of 1989, India decided to send two tank units to the Mahajan range in Rajasthan for "training" purposes.

Although none of these military deployments on either side were of any real offensive significance, the situation began to deteriorate after a series of fiery declarations by Benazir Bhutto, who was Prime Minister of Pakistan at the time, and V.P. Singh, who was Prime Minister of India. Ms. Bhutto spoke of a "thousand year war" to "liberate" Kashmir, while Mr. Singh told the country to be psychologically prepared for military conflict and warned Pakistan that it would not last "even thousand hours of war".

It was in this context that the Bush (Sr.) administration decided to despatch Mr. Gates on a peace mission. Travelling first to Islamabad on May 20, 1990, he met President Ghulam Ishaq Khan and Army Chief Mirza Aslam Beg and counselled restraint. In New Delhi, he met Mr. Singh, the External Affairs Minister, I.K. Gujral, as well as Raja Ramanna, who was Minister of State for Defence. Two week after his return to Washington, the crisis de-escalated.

According to Hersh, the U.S. had picked up evidence that Pakistan was on verge of deploying its nuclear weapons during the crisis and it was this fact which made the Gates mission all the more urgent.

CIA
Robert Gates

"Daddy's Friends" Come to the Rescue to Clean Up After Junior's Vile Iraq Mess: Featuring The Mysterious Robert Gates

We are glad that pro-torture, pro-war-over-non-existent WMDs guy, megalomaniacal/delusional Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, is, well, history.

Bubble Boy's Daddy's friends have now been called up to clean up all of Bubble Boy's mess. (As Daddy's friends were once called upon to get Bubble Boy into Harvard, and to get Bubble Boy out of having to serve in Vietnam, and then to get Bubble Boy out of the National Guard early).

Calling on former CIA director, Robert M. Gates.

And, while one was fully prepared to begin to dump on Robert M. Gates about Iran-Contra, whilst Googling him this evening one stumbled on some interesting reality-based stuff that one thought to bring to your attention.

GATES: JIMMY CARTER BRINGS DOWN SOVIET UNION

Robert Gates, the subsequently director of the CIA, and at that time a member of my staff, reveals in his book that as early as 1978, President Carter approved proposals prepared by my staff to undertake, for example, a comprehensive, covert action program designed to help the non-Russian nations in the Soviet Union pursue more actively their desire for independence - a program, in effect, to destabilize the Soviet Union.

We called it, more delicately, a program for the "delegitimization of the Soviet Union". But that was a rather unusual decision. He took some others along these lines, too. So his public image to some extent was the product of his great emphasis on arms reductions and a desire to reach an agreement on that score with the Russians. But it didn't quite correspond to the reality, and it certainly didn't correspond even to the public reality in the second half of the Carter Administration. [Reagan got false credit for Carter's decisions]

Full interview with Zbigniew Brzeszkinski, here.

Frontline:

GATES: MILITARY UNDERSTANDS THE TRUE COSTS OF WAR

Gates: One of my experiences over the years, in Washington, as I have watched different Presidents deal with the military and I worked in the White House for four Presidents and attended decision meetings under five, is that contrary to mythology, the biggest doves in Washington wear uniforms. And I think that particularly after Vietnam they are very leery of feather-merchants of civilians, greying notions of using military force to accomplish a range of objectives however sensible or justified they may be.

And I think that they try, perhaps even un-consciously, not only to exaggerate the level of forces that will be required to accomplish a specific objective but the casualties as well, in the hope of forcing a sanity check on the politicians or on the civilian experts who have no concept of what it is like to sit there and watch a young soldier bleed and die. And I think that these guys also think that war in the situation room is too clinical. And that we don't have an appreciation for what it is really like, and that they would prefer to avoid the use of military force at all cost.

GATES: OBJECTIVES IN GULF WAR LIMITED: QUAGMIRE IN IRAQ TO BE AVOIDED

Q: If you gave yourself a luxury of hindsight is there anything you would do that you didn't do to try and alter that ending of the [Gulf] war?

Gates: I do not believe I would have made decisions or recommendations differently in terms of how we dealt with the end of the war. All of the alternatives to the way things turned out in my judgement would have resulted in the American troops still being in Iraq today. And I believe that the American people would not tolerate that.

We accomplished the objectives we set for ourselves. Our objectives do not include the total destruction of Iraq; it did not include the total destruction of the Iraqi Army. We wanted to maintain the territorial integrity of Iraq, we didn't want Syria taking a piece here and the Iranians taking a piece here and somebody else taking a piece there.

We wanted the territorial integrity of Iraq. We believe that enough army divisions were left for the regular army to be able to protect Iraq from intrusions into its territory. But its ability to invade its neighbours have been destroyed--the Republican Guards. So I think you have to keep coming back to what the objectives were in this war.

Why we were there in the first place and not over time began to expand those objectives in retrospect, and those of expansion would have resulted in, in what I believe would have been a quagmire.

One is pleased to note some sense in Gates that there is inherent virtue in both planning and in quagmire avoidance.

'Ray.


CIA
Robert Gates
Rumsfeld
2006 election

For Dems: New Dawn; For Bushist Fascists: Last Throes

One loves the sweet smell of subpoenas in the morning, does one not?

WaPo here. World reaction here.

DON'T MAKE GEORGE ORWELL SPIN IN HIS GRAVE. VOTE OUT BIG BROTHER.

War is NOT Peace.

Slavery is NOT Freedom.

Up is NOT down.

Right is NOT wrong.

Torture is NOT mandatory. Habeas Corpus is NOT optional.

Bushist Fascism is NOT healthy for children and other living things.



During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.
George Orwell




WaPo here.
CIA torture
human rights
George Orwell

Get Out the Vote

CIA: Keep Our Torture Secret

C.I.A. Wants Prison Tactics Secret

They want their torture kept secret?

Hmm. Why would that be?

There's no transparency for torture?

Can you say, "consciousness of guilt"?

The Central Intelligence Agency has told a federal court that Qaeda suspects should not be permitted to describe publicly the "alternative interrogation methods" used in secret C.I.A. prisons overseas.

In papers filed in the case of Majid Khan, a Pakistani who is among 14 so-called "high-value detainees" recently transferred to the Guantánamo Bay detention camp in Cuba, Justice Department and C.I.A. officials argued that allowing Mr. Khan to disclose details of his treatment could cause "extremely grave damage to the national security."

"Many terrorist operatives are specifically trained in counter-interrogation techniques," says a declaration by Marilyn A. Dorn, an official at the National Clandestine Service, a part of the C.IA. "If specific alternative techniques were disclosed, it would permit terrorist organizations to adapt their training to counter the tactics that C.I.A. can employ in interrogations."

Hey, Marilyn, I think they've already figured out about the hold-your-breath-till-you-turn-blue thing, don't you?

. . Lawyers for Mr. Khan, who lived in Maryland for several years and is accused of researching how to blow up gasoline stations and poison reservoirs, have alleged that he was tortured while in American custody and falsely confessed to crimes.

Do you suppose that the guy may have falsely confessed because of the, you know, torture?

Intelligence officials have acknowledged that some terrorism suspects were subjected to harsh [sic]interrogation techniques, including sleep deprivation, exposure to heat and cold and a simulated drowning technique. Human rights advocates believe the methods amount to torture, which is banned by international law, but United States officials deny the charge."

Well, see, according to Bushist fascism, if you don't actually call it torture, then it's not torture, right?

WaPo here. NY Times here.

CIA torture
human rights

Talibangelical Minister John Compares Self to Botched Joke

American Crappy-Christian Talibangelicals?

Ya gotta love 'em.

There's James "Dog-beater" Dobson, who proudly belt-beats his own Dachshund, Sigmund Freud (I'm not kidding), and advocates grown men showering naked with little boys and comparing penis sizes in order to avoid the boys growing up to be homosexual. Chuck Colson, the reformed Nixon crook. Wellington Boone, proud user of the "faggot"-word. Pro-abusive marriage, anti-no-fault divorce Talibangical Tony Perkins.

Now, the spotlight's on toothy Talibangelical Minister Ted Haggard, one reluctant foot out of the closet, a guy who does similes like NO ONE else does!

Haggard says he's like Kerry's recent Bush joke, here.

Yes, Virginia, just ask Jesus!

Being an openly anti-gay secretly very gay meth-mad fundamentalist minister who commits adultery with a handsome male prostitute (Mr. Mike Jones, inset below) during a three-year paid affair, is SO like Kerry making jokes about Bush being stupid!! Is it not?

Hoo-AH!



"Pastor Sacked For Sexually Immoral Conduct," here and here.
Ted Haggard
Talibangelicals & prostitution
anti-gay rights
More Bushist fascist creeps

Talibangelical Quits Over Gay Sex Scandal: Won't Make Male Lover An Honest Man

On and on it goes, round and round it goes. In a spin. Lovin' the spin they're in. That ol' black magic called -- Bushist fascist family values!

Protecting pedophiles, killing 600,000 people, establishing a state of permanent lies, morally and fiscally bankrupting America, promoting civil vitriol, poisoning the air and water and civil discourse. Scooter "What Kind of a Name is That for a Grown Man" Libby promoting bestiality.

George Bush attacking John Kerry for attacking George Bush's stupidity, only Boy George is so stupid he fails to notice who John Kerry was attacking. Oh well.

Bushist fascist wife-beating, contempt for the rule of law, corruption, kidnapping, torture, sadism.

Really, what's left?

GOP -- 24/7, manifesting every one of the Seven Deadly Sins -- and THEN some.

Evangelical leader quits after gay sex allegation
Ted Haggard, accused of affair with gay man, resigns from national post

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The leader of the 30 million-member National Association of Evangelicals, a vocal opponent of same-sex marriage, resigned Thursday after being accused of paying for sex with a man in monthly trysts over the past three years.

The Rev. Ted Haggard, a married father of five who has been called one of the most influential evangelical Christians in the nation, denied the allegations. His accuser refused to share voice mails that he said backed up his claim.

Haggard also stepped aside as head of his 14,000-member New Life Church while a church panel investigates, saying he could "not continue to minister under the cloud created by the accusations. . . .

The allegations come as voters in Colorado and seven other states get ready to decide Tuesday on amendments banning gay marriage. Besides the proposed ban on the Colorado ballot, a separate measure would establish the legality of domestic partnerships providing same-sex couples with many of the rights of married couples.

Accuser cites hypocrisy

Mike Jones, 49, of Denver told The Associated Press he decided to go public with his allegations because of the political fight. Jones, who said he is gay, said he was upset when he discovered Haggard and the New Life Church had publicly opposed same-sex marriage.

"It made me angry that here's someone preaching about gay marriage and going behind the scenes having gay sex," said Jones, who added that he isn't working for any political group.

Jones, whose allegations were first aired on KHOW-AM radio in Denver, claimed Haggard paid him to have sex nearly every month over three years. Jones also said Haggard snorted methamphetamine before their sexual encounters to heighten his experience.

Haggard and his attorney, Martin Nussbaum, did not return calls Thursday night from the AP.

Jones said that he had advertised himself as an escort on the Internet and that a man who called himself Art contacted him. Jones said he later saw the man on television identified as Haggard.

All the pretty little Bushist fascists.

"Blacks and bays, dapples and greys . . "

All the pretty little . . .

Bushist fascists.



Ted Haggard
Talibangelicals & prostitution
anti-gay rights
Dobson, Foley, Haggard, Bushist fascist sick puppies

Elephants Self-Aware, Unlike Bush

So, elephants are self-aware? Good for them.

If Bush and his band of fascist sadists were self-aware, they'd have some sense of shame.

Would they not?

Elephants can recognize themselves in a mirror and use their reflections to explore hidden parts of themselves, a measure of subjective self-awareness that until now has been shown definitively only in humans and apes, researchers reported yesterday.

The findings confirm a long-standing suspicion among scientists that elephants, with their big brains, complex societies and reputation for helping ill herdmates, have a sufficiently developed sense of identity to pass the challenging "mirror self-recognition test."

The test, which in this case required construction of a huge, "elephant-proof" mirror at the Bronx Zoo, where the experiments were conducted, provides an index of an animal's ability to conceive of itself. It is a quality of self-consciousness that some scientists believe is a prerequisite for the emergence of empathy and altruism.

Such animals, the thinking goes, are in a position to use what they know about themselves to make inferences about other beings and their needs. . .

Empathy? Altruism?

"Inferences about other beings and their needs . . . say, what class of beings does that not remind us of?

Elephants, pictured above, pay homage to their dead.

Pro-torture Bushists call themselves pro-life whilst murdering 600,000+ of the post-born, and they just don't bother going to any funerals.

Sadism si!

Empathy? No.


WaPo here.

CHENEY ADMITS TORTURE

WASHINGTON - Vice President Dick Cheney has confirmed that U.S. interrogators subjected captured senior al-Qaida suspects to a controversial interrogation technique called "water-boarding," which creates a sensation of drowning.

Cheney indicated that the Bush administration doesn't regard water-boarding as torture and allows the CIA to use it. "It's a no-brainer for me," Cheney said at one point in an interview.

Cheney's comments, in a White House interview on Tuesday with a conservative radio talk show host, appeared to reflect the Bush administration's view that the president has the constitutional power to do whatever he deems necessary to fight terrorism.

The U.S. Army, senior Republican lawmakers, human rights experts and many experts on the laws of war, however, consider water-boarding cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment that's banned by U.S. law and by international treaties that prohibit torture. Some intelligence professionals argue that it often provides false or misleading information because many subjects will tell their interrogators what they think they want to hear to make the water-boarding stop.

Republican Sens. John Warner of Virginia, John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina have said that a law Bush signed last month prohibits water-boarding. The three are the sponsors of the Military Commissions Act, which authorized the administration to continue its interrogations of enemy combatants.

The radio interview Tuesday was the first time that a senior Bush administration official has confirmed that U.S. interrogators used water-boarding against important al-Qaida suspects, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged chief architect of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Mohammad was captured in Pakistan on March 1, 2003, and turned over to the CIA.

"Water-boarding" means holding a person's head under water or pouring water on cloth or cellophane placed over the nose and mouth to simulate drowning until the subject agrees to talk or confess.

Or agrees, under water torture, to "confess."

What might you agree to, under water torture, gentle readers?


Just asking.


More here.

Cheney admits torture
Cheney, sadism

The Big Lie

The Big Lie

"Well, uh-uh-uh, w-w-we, listen, we've never been 'stay the course', George!"

By The Silent Patriot, via YouTube.

[A story that failed to appear on our media whore media network news last night.]



Oh, and here are some informative stories on some people [who are supporters of The Big Lie] currently running for office:

Jon Kyl
Rick Renzi
J.D. Hayworth
John Doolittle
Richard Pombo
Brian Bilbray
Marilyn Musgrave
Doug Lamborn Rick O'Donnell
Christopher Shays
Vernon Buchanan
Joe Negron
Clay Shaw
Bill Sali
Peter Roskam
Mark Kirk
Dennis Hastert
Chris Chocola
John Hostettler
Mike Whalen
Jim Ryun Anne Northup
Geoff Davis
Michael Steele
Gil Gutknecht
Michele Bachmann Jim Talent
Conrad Burns
Jon Porter
Charlie Bass Mike Ferguson
Heather Wilson
Peter King John Sweeney
Tom Reynolds
Randy Kuhl
Robin Hayes
Charles Taylor
Steve Chabot
Jean Schmidt
Deborah Pryce
Joy Padgett
Melissa Hart
Curt Weldon
Mike Fitzpatrick
Don Sherwood Lincoln Chafee
Bob Corker
George Allen
Frank Wolf
Mike McGavick
Dave Reichert

Foley's Predator Pedophile Priest Comes Out of the Pedophile Closet, Blames Victim

Archdiocese to Investigate Foley Priest

The Archdiocese of Miami announced Friday it is opening an investigation into the conduct of a retired priest who has admitted fondling former Congressman Mark Foley as a boy in Florida, calling the alleged abuse "morally reprehensible, canonically criminal and inexcusable."

The archdiocese issued a statement apologizing to Foley "for the hurt he has experienced" and said the investigation could result in Church sanctions against the 69-year-old priest, who is now retired and living on the Mediterranean island of Gozo off Malta. . . In interviews with several media outlets over the past two days, Mercieca said he had intimate contact with Foley when he was assigned to the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Lake Worth, Fla. in the mid-1960s. The 52-year-old Foley, a Florida Republican, who would have been 12 or 13 years old at the time, served as an altar boy at the church.

Mercieca worked as a priest in the Miami area from the mid-1960s until he retired in 2002. . .

"The Archdiocese of Miami is distressed by the revelations disclosed by Father Mercieca regarding former Rep. Mark Foley," the statement said. "The events described are totally contrary to the ministry of a priest." . . . Mercieca told the Washington Post Thursday that he was surprised that his four decades-old interaction with Foley had become linked to the scandal that erupted last month and cost the congressman his job.

A statement issued late Thursday from the diocese of Gozo, a small island dotted with vacation villas and second homes south of Italy, said that its bishop, Mario Grech, contacted the Archdiocese of Miami seeking further information about the case. It said the diocese had only just learned of the case from the international media.

"In light of all this . . . Bishop Grech will instruct the Response Team to investigate these allegations, according to the policies established by the Maltese Ecclesiastical Province with regards to cases of sexual abuse in pastoral activity," the statement said. "Grech will pass all information he receives pertaining to this case to the response team as he has done in similar cases."

"Bishop Grech, conscious of the gravity of pedophilia, reiterates that he will cooperate with those responsible for investigating such cases so that justice is done to the victims, the perpetrators reformed and the common good is safeguarded," it said."

Amen to that. Good for the Archdiocese of Miami. Finally.

But what continues to be disturbing is this predator's obvious intention to blame his own child victim, and his wish to spin his own criminal behavior as being somehow insignificant.

Earlier, we have blogged about experienced sexual predators and their tradition of "grooming" their victims.

That's what Foley's predator did, and did so in a position of superior power and control over his child victim.

Experts: Priest accused of molestation by Foley in denial about his behavior

AP--Experts on sex abuse say the comments of a Roman Catholic priest who acknowledged being naked with Mark Foley of Florida when the former congressman was young fit a pattern of distorted thinking that they've seen over and over among offenders.

The Rev. Anthony Mercieca told The Associated Press in a telephone interview that he was naked with Foley in a sauna, and was quoted in other interviews saying he also fondled him. Mercieca told the AP that the encounters weren't sexual, a distinction abuse experts found disturbing.

"The priest is very focused on the legalities here and I think it's important for the rest of us to see the enormous power differential between these two," said David Finkelhor, director of the Crimes Against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire.

"There is a tremendous abuse of authority and position involved in these activities whether or not they constitute child molestation."

Foley, 52, resigned from Congress last month after his sexually explicit computer messages to young male pages were released. His lawyer has said that Foley was an alcoholic, gay and had been molested as a youth by a clergyman.

The Archdiocese of Miami confirmed Friday that Mercieca, 69, is the person Foley said abused him as a teen. In phone interviews, the priest, who is retired and lives on the Maltese island of Gozo, has given details about his encounters with Foley four decades ago.

The priest told the Sarasota (Fla.) Herald-Tribune that he and Foley "loved each other like brothers" and that although he taught Foley "some wrong things" related to sex, Mercieca insisted their interactions were innocent.

"It was just fondling," he told WPTV of West Palm Beach, Fla. ['just'?]

From the perspective of people who have worked with abusers and their victims, that thinking is typical of a molester. Offenders, who are sexually immature, commonly view their involvement with their victims as normal and are baffled when others see things differently.

"This is the same type of rationalization that I've heard time and time again from priests who have been grooming or setting a young boy up for molestation," said the Rev. Thomas Doyle, a canon lawyer turned victim advocate.

The Herald-Tribune reported that Mercieca said he could not clearly remember one encounter "that might have gone too far" because he had been taking tranquilizers and drinking at the time.

"It's common that offenders will block out major pieces of the events. I personally believe that it's also part of the denial process, where they just don't, frankly, want to remember," said the Rev. Stephen J. Rossetti, president of Saint Luke Institute, which provides psychological counseling to Catholic priests who suffer from a variety of troubles, including sexual attraction to children. "Those are typical kinds of statements of offenders who are not in recovery."

Abusers assume that because a young person seems to be enthusiastic around them, that any boundary crossing or sexual activity is OK, Finkelhor said. And if no penetration occurs, molesters convince themselves that the interaction does not hurt the youth, he said.

Mercieca's "basic approach is, 'You're trying to take something good and trying to turn it into something evil,'" said Peter Isely, a clinical social worker who counsels abuse victims and a leader of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.

"He literally describes this 12- or 13-year old child as if they're equals in age and in personality and characteristic, as if there's absolutely no power differential," Isely said.

"This is what makes these offenders so dangerous."

States have different legal definitions of what constitutes child molestation, but many consider inappropriate touching a criminal offense. Mike Edmondson, a spokesman for the state attorney's office in West Palm Beach, Fla., said law enforcement action is over in Mercieca's case unless other alleged victims come forward, because Foley says he doesn't want to prosecute.

From a clinical perspective, Mercieca's description of his actions indicates abuse occurred, Rossetti said.

"The things he's talking about are very sexually charged and they are sexual abuse," Rossetti said. "For an adult male to be with a young male naked in a bathtub or a shower would clearly be a major boundary violation in most cases - and also traumatic."

Adult males showering with naked boys? Sounds so oddly familiar.

Oh my. Can anyone say -- 'James Dobson'?

WaPo story here and here.

Foley priest
child sexual abuse
Mark Foley scandal

Dirty Bush's Oedipal War on Iraq -- "A Catastrophic Blunder"

Via the Sydney Morning Herald.

The war in Iraq has been a "catastrophic blunder" that has substantially increased the terrorist threat to Australia, one of the nation's most distinguished former diplomats said today.

Richard Woolcott, a retired foreign affairs chief who advised seven prime ministers, launched a sweeping attack on the federal government, saying that Australian democracy was not functioning as it should.

Mr Woolcott made the comments during a speech at the University of Newcastle's annual Human Rights and Social Justice lecture this afternoon.

He branded the Iraq war a "disaster", saying the Prime Minister seemed unable to admit the obvious.

"The Iraq war has been a disaster and has substantially increased the terrorist threat Mr Howard said it would reduce," he said.

"The aim of foreign and defence policy is to make Australia secure - ironically some of our policies have placed Australians at greater risk."

Mr Woolcott called on the government to come up with an exit strategy.

"The United States, the United Kingdom and Australia, having made such a catastrophic foreign and security policy blunder, are now trapped in a dilemma of their own making," he said. . . Mr Woolcott's criticism of the war followed recent comments from Australia's former defence chief General Peter Cosgrove that it had boosted global terrorism and Britain's top soldier Sir Richard Dannatt, who called for the recall of his troops from Iraq.

Mr Woolcott said human rights suffered in a climate of war and fear.

"In 2006 our established ideals of decency, fairness, tolerance,
justice and truth in government are under challenge," he said.

Australia's democracy was not functioning as it should, he said.

"I believe it is affected by hubris, the arrogance that comes from 10 years in power, the politics of fear, nurtured by the so-called 'war on terror' and latent racism," he said.

"The government has also suffered from a lack of the important qualities of patience and humility.

"This is impacting adversely on the wider community, including in the areas of human rights and social justice."

Mr Woolcott said his service to four Liberal and three Labor prime ministers proved the objectivity of his remarks, but from "personal experience" he expected to be attacked.

"The present government tends to treat its critics - even those who have served it in the past - as virtual enemies rather than as possibly useful channels to community opinion," he said.

And the beat goes on, here.

Iraq war
Iraq war is catastrophic failure

Bushist Reply to More Gitmo Abuse: Shut up, shut up, shut UP!

Lawyers: Paralegal, military attorney ordered to stop speaking to press about Guantanamo abuse

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico-- A paralegal and a military lawyer who brought forward allegations about prisoner abuse at the Guantanamo Bay detention center have been ordered not to speak with the press about their accusations, lawyers who work with the pair said Saturday.

Marine Lt. Col. Colby Vokey, who represents a detainee at the U.S. naval base in eastern Cuba, filed a complaint with the Pentagon last week alleging that abuse was ongoing at the prison. He attached a sworn statement from his paralegal, Sgt. Heather Cerveny, in which she said several Guantanamo guards bragged in a bar about beating detainees, describing it as common practice.

Muneer Ahmad, a civilian defense lawyer for Omar Khadr, a Canadian detainee whose military counsel is Vokey, said it was his understanding that Vokey and Cerveny were ordered Friday by the U.S. Marines not to speak with the press. He also said Vokey was barred from talking to the media about anything related to the military commissions — tribunals set up to try detainees.

Reached by telephone, Vokey declined to comment, saying, "I can't even talk about it." When asked if he was going to abide by the order for the time being, he said, "yes."

Ahmad said he didn't know how the order was issued. He said Vokey previously had the military's authorization to speak with the media, and believed that they would have to consider legal options to challenge the alleged gag order.

"If he doesn't abide by it then he would be derelict of his duty," Ahmad said.

The order created a conflict between Vokey's military obligations and his ethical duty as a lawyer, Ahmad said.

"It's in Omar's interests for the truth about abuses of detainees at Guantanamo, including him, to get out in the open. But Colby (Vokey) is being prevented from doing that part of his job ... and thereby representing Omar's interests," he said. . . . "I think he is very concerned about his ability to perform his job as a lawyer," Ahmad said. "It's really quite troubling ... at this point I'm not sure what our next steps will be."

Cerveny, 23, visited Guantanamo last month and said she spent an hour with the guards at the military club. She said the guards stopped discussing beating detainees after finding out that she works for a detainee's legal team.

"It was a general consensus that I (detected) that as a group this is something they did. That this was OK at Guantanamo, that this is how the detainees get treated," Cerveny said in a telephone interview Thursday night.

Gen. John Craddock, commander of the U.S. Southern Command, said Friday that he had ordered an investigation headed by an Army colonel. "The investigation is consistent with U.S. Southern Command's policy to investigate credible allegations of abuse" at Guantanamo detention facilities, the Southern Command said in a statement. . . .

Guantanamo Bay began receiving prisoners, most of them captured in Afghanistan and Pakistan, in January 2002.

Only 10 of the detainees have been charged with crimes.

More here


Guantanamo abuse
human rights

Bubble Boy's Oedipal War Kills Over Half a Million Human Beings -- How's That "Pro-Life" Stance Working Out ?

Well, if I had started a Freudian schlong-war just to get back at my Dad, I might not have chosen the one Axis of Evil country that didn't have any weapons of mass destruction to invade. But that's me.

But if I had done such a stupid thing, and later found out my policies had ruined the war in Afghanistan, killed hundreds of thousands of sentient beings, bankrupted America morally and fiscally, promoted torture, promoted a rapist's right to breed, bungled the response to a wide-scale national disaster, promoted government-forced maternity, poisoned the air, water, and civil discourse, undermined the rule of law and protected pedophiles, I might want to resign in disgrace or something (if not actually commit seppuku because I could not live with the shame) or, at least I'd feel bad about it.

Some people who do such evil things don't do that.

Why would that be?

Hmm.

Well, Virginia, it's like this:

Some people put firecrackers in frogs.


WaPo here.
NY Times, having buried this story in page 17, here.


Iraq War death toll
Bush

Festschrift For "The Happy Tutor" of Wealth Bondage

Festschrift, festschrift, festschrift.

Say it twenty-one times out loud real fast, and it's almost as much fun as saying "Bushist fascist, Bushist facist, Bushist fascist," as if one could find true happiness in saying such things.

One could of course say, "Bushist fascist festschrift, Bushist fascist festschrift," which has its own kind of possibilities, but that's not really the kind of festschrift this festschrift is, is it?

One stumbled onto Wealth Bondage long ago.

It may have been the very first blog one stumbled on to. One does not specifically recall.

One does recall an instant sense of wondrousness, or wonderfulness, or some deep inner sense of -- hey, wassup with this dude, in fact, as if, if The Happy Tutor of Wealth Bondage were truly there, and did in fact in some sense truly exist, there might in fact in some sense be hope for us all?

But perhaps not. For apparently The Happy Tutor may not toot his hapful horn much longer, therefore it is up to oneself now, here, here and now, to protest too much, or just enough, or, like, what-everrrr.

Anyhow, my idea of celebrating the very existence of The Happy Tutor is to bring to light here and now the wonderful, wondrous Russell Edson. I knew him once. I know not what has become of him. His work is wondrous. Troubling, yet wondrous. Not unlike that of The Happy Tutor. But in quite a different way, is it not?

Prose poems one and three are from "The Very Thing That Happens" and number two is from "The Brain Kitchen, as one's festschrift offering that The Happy Tutor may remain and prosper.

A Chair

A chair has waited such a long time to be with its person. Through shadow and fly buzz and the floating dust it has waited such a long time to be with its person.

What it remembers of the forest it forgets, and dreams of a room where it waits -- Of the cup and the ceiling -- Of the Animate One.

The Dead Fish

There were some dead fish living in a man's house. Oh do not not live in a man's house because I am the man whose house you are living in, said the man.

The fish are quite willing to say nothing because they can say nothing; and so conclude it is better to continue what has been up to this time a most successful approach to all the man's rantings.

If you are dead, screams the man, say so, you have only to say so.

To admit the obvious is only to be disbelieved in the end, so the dead comrades think.

Oh God, let dead fish find other places to be dead, cries the man.

When the Ceiling Cries

A mother tosses her infant so that it hits the ceiling.

Father says, why are you doing that to the ceiling? Do you want my baby to fly away to heaven?

The ceiling is there so that the baby will come back to me, says mother.

Father says, you are hurting the ceiling, can't you hear it crying?

So mother and father climb a ladder and kiss the ceiling.

------------
More of Russell Edson here. And here. And here. (Thank you, Google).

Dalai Lama Warns Against Anti-Muslim Spin

The Dalai Lama against 'clash of civilisations'

NEW DELHI: The Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, has warned against portraying Islam as a religion of violence, saying Muslims have been wrongly demonised in the West since the September 11 attacks.

Promoting religious tolerance, the world's most influential Buddhist leader said on Sunday that talk of "a clash of civilisations between the West and Muslim world is wrong and dangerous."

Muslim terrorist attacks have distorted people's views of Islam, making them believe it is an extremist faith rather than one based on compassion, the Dalai Lama told a press conference in New Delhi.

Muslims are being unfairly stigmatised as a result of violence by "some mischievous people," said the Dalai Lama, who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 for his work to bring democracy and freedom to his people.

All religions have extremists and "it is wrong to generalise (about Muslims)," the 71-year-old spiritual leader said.

"They (terrorists) cannot represent the whole system," he said.

The Dalai Lama, who has lived in Dharamsala since fleeing Tibet after a failed uprising against Chinese rule in 1959, said he had cast himself in the role of defender of Islam because he wanted to reshape people's views of the religion.

Asked about the uproar last month when Pope Benedict XVI quoted a 14th-century Christian emperor to portray Islam as a religion tainted by violence, the Dalai Lama said "if you return to past history there are a lot of complications."

"It is better to forget ... and to deal with today's reality," he said.

"Past history is (full of) uncivilised events," he said.

Benedict had quoted statements by Emperor Manuel II -- ruling from what is now Istanbul -- that everything the Prophet Mohammed had brought, was evil and that he spread Islam by violence.

The pontiff later apologised for the comments which triggered angry reactions around the world from Muslims who said the pope's statements harked back to the medieval Christian crusades against Islam.

The Dalai Lama noted the "conflict and divisions caused in the name of religion," referring to violence in such places as Ireland, Pakistan and Iraq.

But despite that "religion has great potential to help humanity on the basis of mutual respect," he said.

"Mutual respect" eh?

What a concept.



Link here.

Official No Blood for Hubris Mental Health Interlude Number Six (?)

Had enough, gentle readers?

It's been a pretty sickening week, what with the uncovering of a pedophile sexual predator under the longterm protection of the GOP.

You still hanging in there? Good on ya, then, but I'm looking for a change of pace.

From the fabulous RJ Eskow, at A Night Light and HuffPo, "Surprised GOP Reacts -- Thought Child Molester Would Be 'Greeted as Liberator!'"

From The Rude Pundit, "Ten Pranks You Can Play On a Child Predator."

And more:

"(Foley's) in rehab, which means it only happened because he was drinking. We've all done it, folks -- drunk dialing. It's just that in Foley's case, it was drunk texting erotic messages to underage pages about masturbation." --Stephen Colbert

"The good news? Florida Congressman Mark Foley has entered rehab. The bad news? Rehab is a 14-year-old boy from Pakistan." --Jay Leno

"It's simple. You drink, you forget things -- especially things that could endanger minors. And I know people are wondering why Condoleezza Rice can't remember a July 2001 meeting with George Tenet where he warned her an al Qaeda attack was likely, even though White House records prove the meeting happened. She probably just blacked out. She was playing a drinking game. Every time you hear George Tenet say 'imminent,' you take a shot." --Stephen Colbert

"We're covering a story about a certain congressman. Let's call him 'Representative Mark Foley, Republican of Florida.' He spent most of his career protecting children from Internet stalkers. Turns out he was doing it so he could have them all to himself." --Jon Stewart

"Let's see what is going on with Father Foley. I'm sorry, Congressman Foley. As I'm sure you know by now, after getting caught sending explicit e-mails to underage boys, Florida Congressman Mark Foley has resigned. So his seat is up for grabs, which is what got him into trouble in the first place." --Jay Leno

"This is like the worst thing to happen to congressional Republicans since last Thursday . . . Most people think GOP stands for Gay Old Pedophile." --Jay Leno

"Mark Foley has now checked into rehab for alcoholism. Oh, shut up. Like that's the big problem. Who cares if he's addicted to Jack Daniels? He's addicted to little Jack and little Daniel. That's the problem." --Jay Leno

"I don't know how long Foley will be in rehab, but I'm pretty sure they don't want him home answering the door on Halloween." --Jay Leno

"Have you all been following this scandal in Washington with ex-Congressman Mark Foley? Well, a couple of days ago, he checked himself into rehab. It had gotten so bad he had to go out and develop a drinking problem.

The ex-congressman, if nothing else, is contrite. He says when he gets out of rehab, he wants a fresh start, and to turn over a new page." --David Letterman

Mark Foley
child sexual abuse
sexual predators and grooming

Foley: Power, Control, & Good "Grooming"

Oh golly, now that Congressman Mark Foley has resigned, the Bushists are so sad that they may lose their place as our designated protectors from evil, here. Foley's conduct over the years bothered the pages (WaPo here), but not the Bushists.

Doesn't seem to bother them that Foley, the cash-cow they've been coddling, is actually their own worst nightmare: a NAMBLA kinda guy, a guy whose behavior is consistent with that of an experienced sexual predator of minors.

It's the perfect set-up: an adult in a position of power and control, who has been appointed to positions that suggest his behavior is beyond reproach. He casts a wide net, presents himself as a personable and caring, and begins to encourage increasingly individual contacts.

He uses flattery, he uses images of power as lures, he frames this behavior as merely charming and benevolent. He selects his most approachable victims, and pursues them further, as Foley did in the published IMs -- starting to make personal remarks, intimate remarks, sexual remarks -- right under the nose of the child's parents.

Xxxxxxxxx (8:10:28 PM): ya

Maf54 (8:10:40 PM): take it out

Xxxxxxxxx (8:10:54 PM): brb…my mom is yelling

Maf54 (8:11:06 PM): ok

Xxxxxxxxx (8:14:02 PM): back

Maf54 (8:14:37 PM): cool hope se didnt see any thing

Xxxxxxxxx (8:14:54 PM): no no

Can you say "consciousness of guilt"?

Maf54 (7:46:33 PM): did any girl give you a haand job this weekend

Xxxxxxxxx (7:46:38 PM): lol no

Xxxxxxxxx (7:46:40 PM): im single right now

Xxxxxxxxx (7:46:57 PM): my last gf and i broke up a few weeks agi

Maf54 (7:47:11 PM): are you

Maf54 (7:47:11 PM): good so your getting horny

Xxxxxxxxx (7:47:29 PM): lol…a bit

Maf54 (7:48:00 PM): did you spank it this weekend yourself

Xxxxxxxxx (7:48:04 PM): no

Xxxxxxxxx (7:48:16 PM): been too tired and too busy

Maf54 (7:48:33 PM): wow…

Maf54 (7:48:34 PM): i am never too busy haha

One can admire Foley's technique -- his prey mentions a girlfriend, but Foley pays no attention. The prey mentions he feels uncomfortable, but Foley is so reassuring. It's hard for children to resist coming under the power and control of an adult, especially a powerful adult like Foley.

A predator tries to wean his prey away from the prey's protecting pack. Foley tried to set up private meetings with this boy, because that's the next step.

Once they've had sexual contact, a predator in a position of power can use his prey's own behavior (pictures, or other proofs) to further entangle the minor, blaming the minor for what happened, threatening to expose the minor to parents and society, and prevent the minor from turning the predator in.

Have some fun. Go Google good "grooming." Of the sexual kind.

Meanwhile, sit back and wonder why, though the FBI has known since July about these emails, they failed to confiscate Foley's computer.

These Bushists aren't really interested in protecting children from predators or adults from terrorism.

They're only protecting their own.



Prior Foley predator grooming behavior, here.
Mark Foley
child sexual abuse
sexual predators and grooming

Aren't You Glad to Have the GOP Protecting a Predatory GOP Pedophile Who's Also In Charge Of Not Exploiting Children Sexually?

Recently resigned Congressman Mark Foley has worked for a long time for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. When he resigned, the Center said it was very sorry to see him go.

I think everyone at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and everyone who is interested in Bushist fascist family values needs to read ex-Congressman Mark Foley's obscene exchange with an underage boy, available here.

This is what's called grooming.

It's how predatory adults sexually seduce minors. Which is, I believe, a crime (at least to those of us who still believe in the rule of law).

And Foley's doing it right under the nose of the kid's Mommy, who thinks her son is safe because she's right there in the same house with her kid.

Well, Mommy's wrong.



Here's a WaPo story about House Speaker Hastert knowing about Foley's criminal behavior since 2005.

Here's a WaPo story about Foley's career "protecting children."

Here's an article on preventing predators from "grooming" their prey, as Foley did:

This article is designed to increase awareness of the sexual predators who infiltrate youth-serving organizations. Since 97% of these predators have no criminal history, and virtually all of them maintain "trophy testimonials" to offer as references, ordinary screening methods are grossly ineffective. Worse, the customary reference-checking methods are mistaken for "screening" and further fail to elicit red flag information, which would suggest risks. . . .
WHO INFILTRATES AND WHY ARE THEY HARD TO DETECT?
Of specific focus in this article are the prolific serial, preferential predators described by Kenneth Lanning so well in his free book from the National Center on Missing & Exploited Children . . . this type of predator averages from dozens to hundreds of victims, operating undetected for whole lifetimes because they are expert at deception, . . . expert at impersonating "the perfect volunteer" and because 97% of them will never have a criminal history or fingerprints-on-file.

Ring a bell?

Why is the GOP protecting pedophiles?

Don't they even know enough to move them on to another parish?



Here, a WaPo story on the sadness of chickenhawks coming home to roost.
More here.
Mark Foley
child sexual abuse
sexual predators and grooming

This Evil Bill

This evil bill is about protecting torturers from prosecution.

This evil bill overturns habeas corpus--for all of us.

This evil bill is about deliberately dis-establishing the rule of law.

This evil bill is about establishing dictatorship.

This evil bill is about making torture legal.

This evil bill just "passed."

This evil bill is the most disgusting horror that the Bushist fascists have forced on the American people--to date.

There is a cancer now on not just the Presidency, but on our whole democracy.

They have voted to establish a class of persons who are now officially non-persons, a class for whom the rule of law no longer exists. Once it was slaves, Indians, Jews, women; the designated subhuman class now consists of -- whomever the dictating executive dictates.

The Nazis killed six million people, and yet were treated with dignity and tried at Nuremberg according to the rule of law.

These evil people who wrote this bill are opposed to the rule of law and are intent upon establishing a new sub-human class, and this evil action shames our country.

---------------




Those who voted to overturn the rule of law and legalize torture:

Alexander (R-TN)
Allard (R-CO)
Allen (R-VA)
Bennett (R-UT)
Bond (R-MO)
Brownback (R-KS)
Bunning (R-KY)
Burns (R-MT)
Burr (R-NC)
Carper (D-DE)
Chambliss (R-GA)
Coburn (R-OK)
Cochran (R-MS)
Coleman (R-MN)
Collins (R-ME)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Craig (R-ID)
Crapo (R-ID)
DeMint (R-SC)
DeWine (R-OH)
Dole (R-NC)
Domenici (R-NM)
Ensign (R-NV)
Enzi (R-WY)
Frist (R-TN)
Graham (R-SC)
Grassley (R-IA)
Gregg (R-NH)
Hagel (R-NE)
Hatch (R-UT)
Hutchison (R-TX)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Isakson (R-GA)
Johnson (D-SD)
Kyl (R-AZ)
Landrieu (D-LA)
Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Lieberman (D-CT)
Lott (R-MS)
Lugar (R-IN)
Martinez (R-FL)
McCain (R-AZ)
McConnell (R-KY)
Menendez (D-NJ)
Murkowski (R-AK)
Nelson (D-FL)
Nelson (D-NE)
Pryor (D-AR)
Roberts (R-KS)
Rockefeller (D-WV)
Salazar (D-CO)
Santorum (R-PA)
Sessions (R-AL)
Shelby (R-AL)
Smith (R-OR)
Specter (R-PA)
Stabenow (D-MI)
Stevens (R-AK)
Sununu (R-NH)
Talent (R-MO)
Thomas (R-WY)
Thune (R-SD)
Vitter (R-LA)
Voinovich (R-OH)
Warner (R-VA)

SHAME ON EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THEM. SHAME.

Take action via Amnesty International, here.
[Senator Clinton, speaking against this evil bill, here.]
CIA torture
pro-torture
Dirty Bush

Goebbels, Hitler: Lie Long Enough, People Will Believe You -- Well, Until Finally They Wake Up From Their Bushist Fascist Nightmare

In the wake of the National Intelligence Estimate proving that Preznit Toad-Exploder's Oedipal adjunctive war on Iraq has emboldened jihadist terrorists, rather than reducing their threat, more attention is being paid to the lead-up to 9/11.

In a desperate attempt to do Rovian spin on their unbelievable negligence--totally disregarding all Clinton administration warnings about Al-Qaeda--Bubble Boy's fave lapdog Condi Rice called President Clinton's discussion about having left his successors detailed plans on defeating Al-Qaeda "false."

Condi's nose is growing long and longer.

Take a gander, here, at a warning memo from Richard Clark about Al-Qaeda. Look in Clarke's book, where he notes that there were zero principal meetings about Al-Qaeda.

Condi's a liar. Condi's quite a liar.

Condi's quite the liar for her bosses.

Doesn't she know that lying's wrong?

Why should she?



Current Republican Senator George "Macaca" Allen doesn't know that racism is wrong.

He doesn't even know that leaving a bloody deer-head in a black family's mailbox is wrong.

"Bubble Boy" Bush and "Big Dick" Cheney and "Psy-cho Ops" Rummy don't even know that torture is wrong.


Any other questions, boys and girls?







An article on some well-deserved anti-bushist-fascist backlash, here.

Torture Recipient John McCain Caves In, Supports Dirty Bush's Pro-Torture Program

Above, Americans in Vietnam practice their water torture skills on another human being, which back in the olden days, they would have gotten in a lot of trouble for. (Well, maybe. Think of all the punishment Lt. Calley failed to receive for orchestrating the slaughter of hundreds of innocent civilians.)

OK, at least they might have felt bad about it.

That was then, this is now. Now, torture's as American as apple pie!

Dirty Bush somehow has rammed through his morally incorrect pro-torture bill, here.

Oh look. Lawless Bush has managed to undermine the foundation of our entire legal system, and is getting away with it. He's even repealed habeas corpus.

Well, that sure makes me mad enough to boil someone in oil!

Better yet, thanks to Preznit Toad-Exploder, America no longer cares about torture, really, because our frog-torturer president never felt anyone else's pain right from the get-go, did he? Some say that's kind of a sociopath thing, the utter lack of empathy thing.

The many classical forms of torture now made "legal" by Bush, with the apparent consent of McCain and rest of the morally incorrect, utter pussy Republicans:

Chinese water torture

American "waterboarding" water torture

Bamboo slivers under the fingernails

Thumbscrews

Marinating people in excrement

Sleep-deprivation torture

You get the picture. See, these forms of torture don't involve "serious" threat of death. Oh, and if you uninintentionally, accidentally cause serious bodily injury, that doesn't count, either. Same for cruel and inhuman treatment, too, because if it's accidental, it won't count. The ultra-"oops!" defense. Thank Yoo very much!

Shame on all these Bushist fascist moral perverts.

But, well, I wouldn't want to think about the hefty cases of PTSD that will be coming down the road for our brave band of American torturers, even with their shiny new Bush-granted "legitimacy."

Nope.

One feels sorry for them. The torturers will suffer for what they've done, not only in the next life, but in this one.




Ariel Dorfman, here.
Russian torture, here.
NY Times, here.
CIA torture
pro-torture
Dirty Bush

Dirty Bush & His Pro-Atrocity Crowd: Water Torture By Any Other Name Would Be -- Waterboarding

While it is not clear exactly what techniques the White House wishes to keep, sources have said those previously used include nakedness, prolonged sensory assault and deprivation, the imposition of "stress" positions, and water submersion to the verge of drowning. Bush has said none of those amounts to torture.

None of those amounts to torture, says Bush. How about we try them on him and see if he agrees with himself? National TV would be nice. But not just Bubble Boy. Rummy, too, and Cheney. Plus some loudmouth media whore media blowhards.

Sigh. I get quite weary of blogging against torture, how about you? You know, having to blog against torture. You'd think the whole thing would be self-evident.

Call me a silly starry-eyed card-carrying Buddhist if you will, but I think that people ought to know right from the get-go that one should really not be inflicting pain on others.

Not intentionally, anyhow.

Because that's, you know, wrong.

So I think that when one comes across people who appear to get off on intentionally inflicting pain on others, for whatever rationale, that, um, you know, there's something really really wrong with them.

And it's quite disturbing to be living in a country where Bush, Cheney, and Rummy, three powerful people, fit into that category. That our country is being run by three people who have something really really wrong with them.

It's disturbing that Preznit Toad-Exploder earned his nickname by purposely blowing sentient beings to bits when he was young. For fun.

It's disturbing that Dirty Dick "Shooter" Cheney finds recreational amusement in blowing to bits captive sentient beings who have zero chance of escape.

It's disturbing that Don "Psycho-Ops" Rumsfeld finds no moral quandary in ordering the torture of captive sentient beings while labeling it as "not torture because I said it's not torture." Water-torture by any other name Orwellianly becomes "waterboarding." The label itself minimizes it, making it sound like, you know, kinda fun. It's summer, hey, let's all go waterboarding!

It's winter, hey, let's all have a little bit of fun at Abu Ghraib! Piling prisoners in pyramid piles is no worse than piling up pyramids of cheerleaders! And we don't call cheerleader pyramid piles torture, do we? Honestly, Abu Ghraib Sgt. Graner's own defense lawyer said that--in Graner's defense! (I'm not making this up! I don't need to. I never need to.) Abu Ghraib, Gitmo, CIA's not-so-secret secret prisons, it's all the same government-supported sadism.

The point of torture is not to cause death but rather to cause suffering. Intense, unbearable suffering such that the torture recipient come to wishe that he or she were dead, so that suffering will cease. Is that clear, boys and girls?

Is it also clear that these our three sadists-in-chief--Bush, Cheney, Rummy--believe it's moral to cause unbearable suffering to captive sentient beings? Is it clear that their hysteric horde of followers now think that torture is as American as apple pie?

There's something really really wrong with these people.

They can't tell right from wrong.

Or, worse, they can tell right from wrong, but they choose to do evil anyway.

A Song on the End of the World

On the day the world ends
A bee circles a clover
A fisherman mends a glimmering net.
Happy porpoises jump in the sea.
By the rainspout young sparrows are playing
And the snake is gold-skinned as it should always be.

On the day the world ends
Women walk through the fields under their umbrellas,
A drunkard grows sleepy at the edge of a lawn,
Vegetable peddlers shout in the street
And a yellow-sailed boat comes nearer the island,
The voice of a violin lasts in the air
And leads into a starry night.

And those who expected lightning and thunder
Are disappointed.
And those who expected signs and archangels' trumps
Do not believe it is happening now.
As long as the sun and the moon are above,
As long as the bumblebee visits a rose,
As long as rosy infants are born,
No one believes it is happening now.

Only a white-haired old man, who would be a prophet
Yet is not a prophet, for he's much too busy,
Repeats while he binds his tomatoes:
There will be no other end of the world.
There will be no other end of the world.

Warsaw, 1944
Czeslaw Milosz

None Dare Call It Torture, Well, Bubble Boy Doesn't Dare, Anyhow, Since It Would Make Him A War Criminal, Would It Not?, at WaPo, here.
Excellent article by Tom Malinowski at WaPo, here. Moral correctness at its best.
WaPo on "Bubble Boy's Last Stand for Torture Tantrum: Give Me Torture Or Give Me Breath! which I'll hold till I turn purple!! and then you'll be sorry!!)", via WaPo, here.
Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans Stand Against Torture, here.
Colin Powell finally shows some spine, along with the two Geneva Convention Republicans, here.
Upcoming worldly karmic consequences, here.
Iraq torture
Geneva Conventions
Bush, torture

9/11 2006: Remembering 9//11/2001

"I blame the entire Bush leadership for continuing to work on Cold War issues when they back in power in 2001. It was as though they were preserved in amber from when they left office eight years earlier. They came back. They wanted to work on the same issues right away: Iraq, Star Wars. Not new issues, the new threats that had developed over the preceding eight years"

"And I said, 'Paul, there hasn't been any Iraqi terrorism against the United States in eight years!' And I turned to the deputy director of the CIA and said, 'Isn't that right?' and he said, 'Yeah, that's right. There is no Iraqi terrorism against the United States."

By June 2001, there still hadn't been a Cabinet-level meeting on terrorism, even though U.S. intelligence was picking up an unprecedented level of ominous chatter. The CIA director warned the White House, Clarke points out.

"George Tenet was saying to the White House, saying to the president -- because he briefed him every morning - a major al Qaeda attack is going to happen against the United States somewhere in the world in the weeks and months ahead. He said that in June, July, August.
Clarke finally got his meeting about al Qaeda in April, three months after his urgent request. But it wasn't with the president or cabinet. It was with the second-in-command in each relevant department. For the Pentagon, it was Paul Wolfowitz. Clarke relates, "I began saying, 'We have to deal with bin Laden; we have to deal with al Qaeda.'

Paul Wolfowitz, the Deputy Secretary of Defense, said, 'No, no, no. We don't have to deal with al Qaeda. Why are we talking about that little guy? We have to talk about Iraqi terrorism against the United States.'
Clarke went on to add, "There's absolutely no evidence that Iraq was supporting al Qaeda, ever." When the interviewer pointed out that some administration officials say it's still an open issue, Clarke responded, "Well, they'll say that until hell freezes over."Clarke says the last time the CIA had picked up a similar level of chatter was in December, 1999, when Clarke was the terrorism czar in the Clinton White House. Clarke says Mr. Clinton ordered his Cabinet to go to battle stations -- meaning, they went on high alert, holding meetings nearly every day. That, Clarke says, helped thwart a major attack on Los Angeles International Airport, when an al Qaeda operative was stopped at the border with Canada, driving a car full of explosives.
Clarke harshly criticizes President Bush for not going to battle stations when the CIA warned him of a comparable threat in the months before Sept. 11: "He never thought it was important enough for him to hold a meeting on the subject, or for him to order his National Security Adviser to hold a Cabinet-level meeting on the subject."
Bush never thought it was important enough?

Well, well.

Stupid is as stupid does, is it not?




(Media whore media story, here. More, here.)


9/11 anniversary
Iraq War lies
Bush

Just a Little Note for Our Search Engine People

I've recently noted a huge upsurge in traffic reaching this blog via searching for "Iraq power drill torture" or "power drill torture Iraq" or "torture drill Iraq power" or something like that. It's disturbing.

This is, after all, a Buddhist blog, people.

Today there appeared another interesting trafficker, an Iranian person who Googled "President of Iran Hungry Hungry Hippo." I'm not kidding. I don't have to.

Any how, I don't think any of you really belong here. Convince me otherwise if you wish.

Otherwise, really, go away.

Thanks.