If Rumsfeld were a camera, he wouldn't lie

Photo may show intelligence officers in charge

Abusive treatment under the supervision of military intelligence officers may have been intentionally used as part of the interrogation of Iraqi captives at the Abu Ghraib prison, according to a previously unpublished photograph of U.S. soldiers and other personnel obtained by NBC News.

[...] The involvement of military intelligence officers in encouraging abuse of detainees has emerged as a central question of the burgeoning scandal at Abu Ghraib, which has led to criminal charges against Graner and six other MPs and widespread calls for the resignation of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., said last week that Graner had his photo taken with prisoners as proof that military intelligence officers forced him to take part in the abusive behavior.

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Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) asked two senior Pentagon officials exactly the right question yesterday about the Bush administration's interpretation of the Geneva Conventions. "If you were shown a video of a United States Marine or an American citizen in control of a foreign power, in a cell block, naked with a bag over their head, squatting with their arms uplifted for 45 minutes, would you describe that as a good interrogation technique or a violation of the Geneva Convention?" The answer is obvious, and Marine Gen. Peter Pace, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Paul D. Wolfowitz, the deputy secretary of defense, honestly provided it. "I would describe it as a violation," Mr. Pace said. "What you've described to me sounds to me like a violation of the Geneva Convention," Mr. Wolfowitz said.

[...] Now Mr. Pace and Mr. Wolfowitz have said the techniques approved by Mr. Sanchez would be illegal if used on Americans; Mr. Rumsfeld and Mr. Myers say they are fine as applied to Iraqis. But there are not separate Geneva Conventions for Americans and for the rest of the world. We learned this week that the Pentagon approved the use of hooding, stress positions, sleep deprivation, intimidation by dogs and prolonged solitary confinement as legal under the Geneva Conventions. By defending that policy, Mr. Rumsfeld is further harming America's reputation while sanctioning the use of similar techniques on captured Americans around the world. Instead of defending their use, the administration should be disavowing them and rededicating itself to international law.

Double Standards

via metaphorge

The sample size is small, and I can't verify how random "random" is without seeing the actual study.

Findings from a New National Poll show support for Impeachment, Growing Opposition to War on Terrorism

Reporting from an ongoing survey of public knowledge and opinion, Berkeley based NGO Retro Poll released startling results suggesting that 39% of Americans favor impeachment of President Bush. The poll, taken between April 19 and May 5 asked whether people believe that misleading Congress and the Public on weapons of mass destruction to take the country to war is grounds to impeach the President (39% said yes, 40% said no). On whether the U.S. should have invaded Iraq the poll results are consistent with findings of Gallup and other major polls (48% said yes).

Other surprising findings were that almost half of respondents (46%) favor an independent investigation of the U.S. role in the overthrow of Haiti's democratically elected president, Juan Bertrand Aristide, and 57% favor a national moratorium on the death penalty because of the procedural problems that have put many innocent people on death row (112 released so far). Four out of five Americans also repudiate the use of torture.

by way of xiombarg

Library of Alexandria discovered

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Mmm... cheese toast.

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Jesus. Now my right hip is acting up.

As I said to my boss earlier today, I'm getting older than my years.

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Y'know, can the United States stop being so goddamn stupid? God.

I know I'm posting a lot today.

The Wrong Direction

Watching President Bush and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld this week, it was hard to avoid the sinking feeling that they had already moved on from the Abu Ghraib prison mess and were back to their well-established practice of ignoring all bad news and marching blindly ahead as if nothing unusual had happened. That was the impression that emerged from Mr. Bush's disconnected performance on Monday, when he viewed photos and video stills of the atrocious treatment of prisoners by soldiers under his and Mr. Rumsfeld's command, and then announced that the defense secretary was doing a "superb job." It was stronger than ever yesterday, during Mr. Rumsfeld's road trip to Iraq, where he drew a curious parallel between himself and Ulysses S. Grant and announced his approach to the prison scandal: "I've stopped reading newspapers."

( Read more... )

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In my dream last night, I missed the bus twice. But I was able to make it to alternate spots where the bus could pick me up.

A very good friend of mine from my childhood (who happens to be an exboyfriend) was a constant concern in my dream. I kept trying to run into him. I don't know if I ever did.

At one point, someone told me to do some calculations and handed me a very shiny, metallic abacus.

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So I took the next big step and gave Paul my email address and the url for my LJ page. So I'm wondering if I should keep certain entries available for open view. :) I didn't give my phone number because I thought that would be too cliched.

He said he'd probably send something tonight. Heh--I might actually check my email.

Thank God not all the news is bad

Supreme Court Won't Block Gay Marriages

U.S. Military Bars Some Iraq Interrogation Methods

Chilling.

Iraq abuse images stir memories in N. Ireland