Moon of Alabama Brecht quote
December 21, 2004
Executive Order

ACLU, through a FOIA request, has received some more FBI internal emails regarding Department of Defense "interrogation techniques" in Guantanamo and Iraq.

If there were any questions left, where the torture orders originated, these documents do make it clear beyond any doubt.

From: … (FBI)
To: … (FBI)

This instruction begs the question of what constitutes "abuse". We assume this does not include lawful interrogation techniques authorized by Executive Order. We are aware that prior to the revision in policy last week, an Executive Order signed by President Bush authorized the following interrogation techniques among others sleep "management", use of MWD (military working dogs), "stress positions" such as half squats, "environmental manipulation" such as the use of loud music, sensory deprivation through the use of hoods, etc. We assume the OGC instructions does not include the reporting of these authorized interrogation techniques, and that the use of these techniques does not constitute "abuse".
Email from "On scene Commander–Baghdad.” (pdf)

To better imagine the techniques authorized and signed by President Bush into the Executive Order this report is helpful:

From: … (FBI)
To: … (FBI)

As requested, here is a brief summary of what I observed at GTMO

On a couple of occasions, I entered interview rooms to find a detainee chained hand and foot in a fetal position to the floor, with no chair, food, or water. Most times they had urinated or defecated on themselves, and had been left there for 18 – 24 hours or more. On one occasion, the air conditioning had been turned down so far and the temperature was so cold in the room, that the barefooted detainee was shaking with cold. When I asked the MP’s what was going on, I was told that interrogators from the day prior had ordered this treatment, and the detainee was not to be moved. On another occasion the A/C had been turned off, making the temperature in the unventilated room probably well over 100 degrees. The detainee was almost unconsciousness on the floor, with a pile of hair next to him. He had apparently been literally pulling his own hair out throughout the night. On another occasion, not only was the temperature unbearably hot, but extremely loud rap music was being played in the room, and had been since the day before, with the detainee chained hand and foot in the fetal position on the tile floor.

Any question, feel free to call or ask via email
E-mail from REDACTED to REDACTED (pdf)

Comments

More coming…
U.S. Loses Bid to Stop Turnover of CIA Records

Posted by: b | Dec 21 2004 18:49 utc | 1

Military Working Dogs == Room 101 (rat cage)

Posted by: MarcinGomulka | Dec 22 2004 0:28 utc | 2

This isn’t exactly on topic, but seemed like the best place to post this article since I could not find the original thread dealing with the closing of the show.
Bush Monkey Picture Shown on Giant NY Billboard

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A portrait of President Bush using monkeys to form his image that was banished from a New York art show last week amid charges of censorship was projected on a giant billboard in Manhattan on Tuesday.
“Bush Monkeys,” a small acrylic on canvas by Chris Savido, created the stir last week at the Chelsea Market public space, leading the market’s managers to close down the 60-piece show.
Animal Magazine, a quarterly arts publication that had organized the month-long show, said anonymous donors had paid for the picture to be posted on a giant digital billboard over the entrance to the Holland Tunnel, used by thousands of commuters traveling between Manhattan and New Jersey.
The original picture will be auctioned on eBay, with part of the proceeds donated to parents of U.S. soldiers wishing to supply their sons and daughters with body armor in Iraq.
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld came under fire from soldiers in Kuwait earlier this month who complained that they had to use scrap metal to armor their vehicles.
“Many of my friends are over in Iraq,” Savido said in a statement.
The painting offers a likeness of Bush but the image is made up of monkeys swimming in a marsh. It was originally priced at $3,500 in the show’s catalog.
Organizers expect more than 400,000 drivers to see the billboard each day for the next month.

Posted by: conchita | Dec 22 2004 2:23 utc | 3

Helena Cobban has a deeper look into the FBI emails ACLU obtained.
There is more to come and I hope that at one time this will be really picked up again by the press. Maybe Hersh has to do a new piece…

Posted by: b | Dec 22 2004 9:50 utc | 4

b:
I believe this story is too hot and it is too soon for the mainstream press to have developed a storyline for the torture scandal. The fact that the war itself is going badly can’t be hidden much longer, so Republicans have begun to turn on Rumsfeld as the designated scapegoat. Consequently, mainstream media “covers” the story. However, “a few bad apples” is still the party line on torture and they will probably try to smother this tale a while longer. Further, the ACLU – arch nemisis of the right – has the lead on this one and Republicans aren’t likely to line up with them and give their efforts credence. I don’t believe the mainstream (i.e., corporate) media won’t get interested in this story until Republicans do. I’d sure like to be wrong, though.

Posted by: lonesomeG | Dec 23 2004 0:52 utc | 5

WaPo Further Detainee Abuse Alleged

At least 10 current and former detainees at the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have lodged allegations of abuse similar to the incidents described by FBI agents in newly released documents, claims that were denied by the government but gained credibility with the reports from the agents, their attorneys say.

Moazzam Begg, a British detainee first imprisoned in Egypt and kept since February 2003 in solitary confinement in Guantanamo Bay, said in a recently declassified letter to the court that he has been repeatedly beaten and has heard “the terrifying screams of fellow detainees facing similar methods.” He said he witnessed two detainees die after U.S. military personnel had beaten them.

Every allegation from prisoners have so far been denied, only to be verified later. Therfore I assume this is true. Murderers!
It is getting bigger and bigger and bigger.

Posted by: b | Dec 26 2004 10:09 utc | 6