Speculators are running to oil again. This could be interesting. Severe recession bordering on depression and the herd of wealth drives up oil prices yet again. That would be sure to clinch a depression, if we’re not in a contemporary one already.

Posted by: Obamageddon | Mar 4 2009 20:20 utc | 4

Anyone else think that this is a bad idea for the world at large? I’m sure it’s Cheney and Rumsfeld’s idea of the way war ought to be.

Posted by: Obelix | Mar 4 2009 20:48 utc | 6

they do sound like a bunch of amateurs don’t they?
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/KC05Ag02.html
I like the “neo-liberal realist gang”

Posted by: outsider | Mar 4 2009 21:27 utc | 8

As I mentioned to annie, it’s very unwise to put a grasping politician like Bill Clinton in the White House, but it’s apocalyptic to put a grasping and bankrupt “brains behind the graft” Hillary Clinton into State, and the reason you’re seeing so many Hillary envoys isn’t the Balkanization of the State Department, and the reason you’re seeing so many contradictory and clearly leaked memos isn’t because there’s either 1) a behind the scenes struggles or 2) a drifting leaderless miasma.
It’s just business! I don’t know how many times I have to say that. Hillary is being all things to all nations and sending out countless envoys speaking out both sides of their pieholes for the sole purpose of gathering b-b-b-b-baaksheesh. Gifts, entitlements, donations, call it what you what, America is a kleptocracy.
Here’s what happens. The envoys return and the cash is divided up in a back room and put into ambassador pouches, distributed to offshore accounts. I stumbled on this as an alderman aide in Chicago, them all sitting around a big stack of cash, counting out 1 for you, 1 for you, 2 for you, … what the hell do you want? The jewelry and watches are declared if they have been declared as gifts by the donors, or just worn out of the building under clothing. Donations and other funding is directed to whatever think tanks can most benefit from it in creating legislation which will increase the Federal budget for particular interest groups. You will never see donations by foreign leaders applied to a think tank for a study on the ways to reduce the size of the Pentagon, if you need the obvious example.
All these conflicting and “hoped up” donations attracted by the confidence-men-as-envoys are like bank deposits, and Hillary is like the fractional deposit banker, loaning out to think-tanks, which pay ‘interest’ in the form of identifying profit opportunities from deliberate or incidental unrest, trade barriers, whatever, that arise as a Law of Unintended Consequences, and any history book is rife with them, which becomes the crisis de jeure, then Congressmen warm up their throats.
La,la,la,la,la,la,la. It’s raining, it’s pouring, the old men are snoring.
Hillary is a “rain maker”, if you need a visual. Her job is to touch every flower and bring back baaksheesh to the hive, for which she will be allowed to pay down her -$30M election campaign debt in ways that would make Chenyenko proud, and have a gratuitous international speaking career at the end of “service to her country”.
It’s just business! Get over it!! “War with Iran” is a con, just like “Peak Oil”. Rustlers shooting their guns in the dry lightning, stampeding the American cattle.
Oi vey! Aribba, aribba!

Posted by: Peristroika | Mar 4 2009 22:28 utc | 10

Innaresting comments at Talking Points Memo concerning AIG’s counterparties and non-disclosure covenants in contracts. Josh is arguing that since we own 80% of AIG, those covenants no longer apply.
I don’t know the law here. Anybody wanna take a stab at it?

Posted by: vachon | Mar 4 2009 22:54 utc | 12

vachon@12,
all I can tell you is AIG is CIA front. And I’m prolly risking a private NSA letter for saying so… the Bush Administration’s Use of National Security Letters is now under or I should say, in Obama’s Administration’s tool chest.
American International Group

(…) AIG is a public company. Its largest single shareholder with 13.62 percent of AIG stock is Starr International Company (SICO), a private company headquartered in the tax haven of Bermuda. Greenberg owns 21.86 percent of SICO. Forbes says Greenberg has a net-worth of $3.6 billion, making him the world’s 132nd richest man. Greenberg was elected AIG president in 1962, CEO in 1967 and chairman in 1989.
(…) Greenberg has enviable political clout, never so much in evidence as when, with the help of Henry Kissinger — chair of AIG’s international advisory committee and a paid consultant via Kissinger Associates – AIG became in 1995, the first company licensed to sell insurance in China. AIG was the only foreign firm that owned 100 percent of its license there.
The American International Group at its origins was linked to the OSS (Office of Strategic Services) the forerunner of the CIA. It grew from the Asia Life/C. V. Starr companies founded by Cornelius Starr who started his insurance empire in Shanghai in 1919, the first westerner to market insurance in China.
Starr served with the OSS during World War II, and the Starr Corporation, located in the same building as the OSS in New York, provided intelligence on shipping, manufacturing and industrial bombing targets in Asia and Germany. The companies’ biggest shareholder was Starr International Company (SICO), a private holding company incorporated in offshore Panama and with principal executive offices in offshore Bermuda, to avoid U.S. regulation and taxes. Starr left Greenberg a large block of Starr International stock.

Posted by: Uncle $cam | Mar 4 2009 23:21 utc | 14

According to Jim Steele and Don Barlett, contributing editors at Vanity Fair who write extensively on tax topics, Geithner’s tax cheating is far more egregious than Daschle’s…
http://www.democracynow.org/2009/2/6/investigative_duo_jim_steele_and_don
Daschle only failed to pay his taxes. Geithner, OTOH, got caught not paying his taxes and then had his employer at the time, the IMF, give him money to cover the cost of his unpaid taxes. But instead of handing this money over to the tax man, he pocketed it for himself, betting that the IRS is so damn understaffed that no one from the IRS would follow up on this.
Given this, one wonders why Geithner was able to breeze through his nomination, while Daschle was forced to withdraw his. My guess is that banking lobbyists protected Geithner because he is a fully-formed puppet of theirs, whereas insurance lobbyists didn’t protect Daschle because he is only a partially-formed puppet of theirs.

Posted by: Cynthia | Mar 5 2009 0:38 utc | 16

Below are a list of links to news articles dealing with some major changes taking place in Taiwan today.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with the place, Taiwan recently elected a KMT president, ending the eight year DPP hold on the country’s executive.
For those even less aware of the place: The KMT is the party which was “led” by Chiang Kai Shek. Today’s group are the mainlanders who fled to Taiwan following Chairman Mao’s victory in the CCP revolution.
Chen Shuibian was the DPP president preceding the current one, Ma Yingjeou (pinyin: Ma Yingjiu). Originally getting his start as a lawyer defending a group of opposition party members in a sedition case brought against them in the late ’70’s, Chen gradually rose to prominence in the party, eventually becoming Mayor of Taipei. His public image was based on a firm anti-corruption platform, and he used it to great advantage when running against the “old guard” KMT pols.
Leaving aside the many questions surrounding his run-up to the presidency, once there he continued to use his anti-graft and anti-organized crime message to attack the KMT, gradually expanding this into a very open pro-independence position.
In 2006, however, much evidence came to light implicating him in a massive embezzlement case that involved the theft of public funds in an “emergency relief fund”, bribes taken for major development projects, and insider trading on the stock market. Because he was president, he could not be prosecuted. But with the new president now sworn in, the case is underway — and as it continues, more and more evidence is emerging that he is guilty as charged.
All of this has also resurrected the many questions regarding the alleged “assassination attempt” of 2004 (which was openly acknowledged by all to have won him his 2d term).
The import of this could not be greater; Chen was a U.S. toadie, and solidly backed by the Bush junta, with which his party was in constant and close cooperation. Many of the techniques used in U.S. elections — astroturfing, the media echo-chamber, “opposition research”, etc — were adapted and implemented by the DPP in its effort to consolidate its hold on the government (sometimes so baldly that it was difficult to believe the media here in Taiwan hadn’t picked up on the similarities). Some of this i can attest to from personal experiences, in exchanges i have had with high-ranking officials.
With Chen’s decline and fall, the DPP has essentially been left without any sort of substantial leadership. Originally born from left-wing human rights activists, lawyers, and ethnic nationalists (though i’d say “chauvinists” would be more accurate), the DPP today is being led by essentially a group of housewives, its leadership all either in jail or hounded from politics by forced admission of graft or other corruption.
Ma Yingjeou, on the other hand, is widely perceived as spotless. This was a very difficult thing for the DPP; their original intent (again, from personal interactions) was to campaign against him on the basis of his mainland Chinese ancestry. However, Ma is a Harvard graduate, an extremely erudite analyst with a solid grounding in practical economics (as opposed to that calculus-based bullshit that created the current global crisis) and an avowedly traditionalist Chinese politician who often goes back to review ancient texts for advice on how to handle modern problems. By the time the election came around, people were far more interested in what the government was going to do to bring back the economy than in ethnic origins. As that fact came to the fore, the imported “slime machine” went into action, trying to find some way to tar the man — but, surprisingly, it found so little traction in Ma’s history that the insinuations, court cases, and attacks simply provoked more people to support him.
With all this as background, I would like to emphasize the really monumental changes that are currently taking place here on this little island: already having secured direct links with China (the first in over fifty years), Ma is now poised to secure a Free Trade Agreement between Taiwan and China. Taiwanese businesses represent the greatest bloc of capital investment in China, but because of historical rivalries and, later, Chen’s obstructionism, until now it has been impossible for Taiwan and China to do business directly. That’s about to change.
Many Taiwanese are terrified by this; they have been led to believe many things, ranging from a huge influx of cheap mainland laborers to a vast wave of emigration that will take over the entire island and, eventually, subvert its government.
The current process, however, is working hard to assuage these concerns (as i mentioned before: Ma is a smart and capable guy), particularly with regard to emigration, the relative independence of the two political and economic systems, and the number and status of foreign laborers.
Yet once this process begins, its inevitable end-point will be the effective “re-unification” of Taiwan and China — and there could be nothing worse for the long-term prospects of U.S. political presence in the Asia-pac region.
Below, i include a set of links from various sources. Most are simply bland commentary to back up my assertions, above, but the two Heritage Foundation links provide some compelling insight into how the PNAC crew view the Taiwan-China relationship, and suggest that the U.S. may be prepared to provoke war to protect their stake in the island. Currently, Taiwan is the center for the U.S.’s regional intelligence gathering operations; Yangming Mountain (Yangmingshan) was, in WWII, the main base for the Japanese Kemputai, and upon the start of the Korean War was inherited by the U.S. military. Today it is run jointly by the Taiwanese, Japanese and U.S. militaries.
I think people here will find this extremely interesting.
http://www.heritage.org/research/asiaandthepacific/hl808.cfm
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aLbS5D1Szh7c&refer=home
““We will accelerate normalization of cross-straits economic relations and promote the signing of a comprehensive agreement on economic cooperation,” Wen said in his annual report to the National People’s Congress in Beijing today. “We are also ready to hold talks on cross-straits political and military issues and create conditions for ending the state of hostility.”
Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou has stepped up economic exchanges with China since taking office in May, and direct daily flights, shipping and postal links started in December. China signed a comprehensive economic agreement with Hong Kong in June 2003, waiving tariffs for its imports and preferential market access for the city’s banks, brokerages and insurers.”
http://www.heritage.org/research/asiaandthepacific/bg1996.cfm
“A political union of Taiwan with China would be contrary to U.S. interests. Taiwan is a crucial ele­ment in the geostrategic structure of the Asia- Pacific region as the magnitude of China’s military might catches up with its economic and trade power. Taiwan is democratic Asia’s third largest trading power. Its population is slightly larger than Australia’s. If Taiwan were a member of the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations, it would be ASEAN’s biggest economy and largest military spender.
In other words, Taiwan is a significant Asia- Pacific power in its own right. This means that America’s stake in Taiwan has far-reaching eco­nomic, political, military, and strategic dimensions.”
I’ll post a few more links below. I leave it up to b’s judgment whether or not they are relevant, or valuable — trusting, i hope, that my sincere effort to be of assistance in providing background won’t be interpreted as an effort to spam a bunch of nonsense.
Love, all —

Posted by: china_hand2 | Mar 5 2009 8:22 utc | 18

The comedy that is the Chen case:
Apparently, it was all his wife’s fault.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-02/19/content_10851873.htm
“Ten of the 14 defendants in the corruption case linked to Chen Shui-bian have pled guilty to the charges against them.
Chen Shui-bian and his wife Wu Shu-chen were charged with embezzling 104 million New Taiwan dollars (3.15 million U.S. dollars) in public funds and accepting bribes of about 9 million U.S. dollars in a land purchase deal.
On Feb. 10, Wu Shu-chen only pled guilty to some of the crimes she was accused of.
She confessed to involvement in counterfeiting documents and laundering 2.2 million U.S. dollars overseas, but did not admit to embezzling “confidential funds.””
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hcZjQuWGAIC9ZUU7nR7Xuvbkz-ag
“Chen Shui-bian, who has been in custody since December on graft and other charges, all of which he has denied, represented himself in a pre-trial hearing that touched on the construction of an industrial park in northern Taiwan.
Prosecutors allege that a developer secured billions of Taiwan dollars worth of illegal benefits from selling land to the government for the park after giving 400 million Taiwan dollars (11.42 million US) to Chen and his wife Wu Shu-chen.
Wu has admitted taking half that amount, but insisted it was a political donation.
“My wife has repeatedly said the money she received was a political donation, not a kickback,” Chen, 59, told the court in Taipei.
He added that regardless, he had no knowledge of his wife’s having been given the money, adding that this stance was supported by Jeffrey Koo Jr, former vice chairman of Chinatrust Financial Holding Co.”
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-02/19/content_10851873.htm
“Ten of the 14 defendants in the corruption case linked to Chen Shui-bian have pled guilty to the charges against them.
Chen Shui-bian and his wife Wu Shu-chen were charged with embezzling 104 million New Taiwan dollars (3.15 million U.S. dollars) in public funds and accepting bribes of about 9 million U.S. dollars in a land purchase deal.
On Feb. 10, Wu Shu-chen only pled guilty to some of the crimes she was accused of.
She confessed to involvement in counterfeiting documents and laundering 2.2 million U.S. dollars overseas, but did not admit to embezzling “confidential funds.””

Posted by: china_hand2 | Mar 5 2009 8:38 utc | 20

@ Uncle 14.
One should also bear in mind the widely diffused story of links between “Hank” Greenberg of AIG and the late Shaul Eisenberg of ZIM and Mossad.
Unfortunately, while a little Googling of this pair turns up quite a bit of grist for the conspiracy theory mill, we are, to my knowledge, still lacking a detailed and CREDIBLE account of the many “strange coincidences” linking these two and their companies, especially with regard to 9/11 and Larry Silverstein’s holdings.
For example, while the “lucky” and “hasty” change of venue for Zim’s
American main office from the WTC to Norfolk is well documented, I’d like to see better evidence and background for AIG’s “lucky” decision to sell off its insurance coverage of the WTC to European re-insurers at roughly the same time.

Posted by: Anonymous | Mar 5 2009 10:14 utc | 22

Some funny nonsense: Help to clean your computerscreen.

Posted by: b | Mar 5 2009 11:07 utc | 24

b, that little guy has been cleaning/saving my screen for a year now. He’s really getting around.

Posted by: beq | Mar 5 2009 12:08 utc | 26

b-
You sound like another over-educated bartender:)
Thank for the screen kisses… I hope that slobber doesn’t leak into my hard drive.

Posted by: David | Mar 5 2009 13:51 utc | 28

why reindeer fly

Posted by: annie | Mar 5 2009 19:39 utc | 30

I found there was little ‘intelligence’ in artificial intelligence that’s why I stayed away from that topic and decided to go for the actual hardware (don’t mind me on that it’s just the topical computer architect disdain for the AI guys ;).
And there is little more than ideology (other than the odd book-keeping bits and then we know how that’s actually not implemented in the ‘real world’) behind much of that ‘economics’ thing that the snake men try to sell us. That’s why avoided any course on the matter at the university (I don’t see why a scientist/engineer has to forcefully become a paperpusher/manager).
My personal vision is that ‘Economy’ as a science would be about limited resource management to achieve a given purpose. No snake oil selling or ideologic brainwashing. Studying or promoting the ‘purpose’ is politics. The current ‘Economic’ *science* is obviously, or should be related with sociology because it is more about politics and power relations than about any actual resource management.

Posted by: ThePaper | Mar 5 2009 20:59 utc | 32

b, thanks for sharing!

Posted by: alabama | Mar 6 2009 1:16 utc | 34

b’s post regarding a piece by Simon Johnson: Confusion, Tunneling, And Looting
Boris Fyodorov, the late Russian Minister of Finance who struggled for many years against corruption and the abuse of authority, could be blunt. Confusion helps the powerful, he argued. When there are complicated government bailout schemes, multiple exchange rates, or high inflation, it is very hard to keep track of market prices and to protect the value of firms. The result, if taken to an extreme, is looting: the collapse of banks, industrial firms, and other entities because the insiders take the money (or other valuables) and run.
This is the prospect now faced by the United States.
The course of policy is set. For at least the next 18 months, we know what to expect on the banking front. Now Treasury is committed, the leadership in this area will not deviate from a pro-insider policy for large banks; they are not interested in alternative approaches (I’ve asked).
After reading this, I decided I should write something. Maybe it’s just because of the wee, weird hour my damn brain thinks I need to be awake I feel the urge to write. I can never trust my intentions in these dark hours; this is why I put this on the OT to make it EZ. HeeHee.
Before one begins to write on any political subject it is wise to understand the subject being argued; but one shouldn’t let one’s ignorance of a subject preclude posting an argument. In fact, many of the best political arguments have been won by humans who haven’t the slightest idea what they’re talking about (it should also be noted that many of these people possessed large armies – having one of these is a key element in winning most arguments or at the very least, profiting from them.)
Those who are the best at turning wind into energy, the true idiot savants of political rhetoric, rise quickly and have soon distanced themselves from the rest of the pack. They do this by using their seemingly endless supply of hot air to give them extra “lift.” The best, become politicians; anyone loftier become like Rush Limbaugh (though maybe not as “blimp-like.”)
The ability for certain people to use their mental excrement as a form of power, are green in the truest sense of the word. And this, despite, the actually physical environmental damage they are also usually guilty of. But then one needs to also define green, as it is a word that means many things to many people. For the purpose of this piece, “green” needs to be defined as, “totally covered by a pile of $100(us) dollar bills.”
Capitalism I want to define in the simplest of terms… I have a dozen eggs and you have a bunch of carrots, so we trade because I was an ass and forgot to plant carrots and your dog ate your chickens… And we are both living on land that was empty and useless so we improved it and… Well I guess it’s too hard to explain where the land came from, hmmm…
O.K., forget that, instead imagine a Disneyland of Capitalism where everyone is living side by side happily every after trading freely and not messing with each other… I can almost hear It’s a Small World playing in the distance, can’t you?
In a not-too-distant neighborhood is a bad part of town called socialism. Here everyone lives a communal life of hell in identical gray concrete apartment buildings that hum from the drone of workers completing their mind-numbing menial task night and day. This drone drains the population of their spunk and everyone does the barest minimum required of them, not out of rebellion or even laziness, but because this is what keeps everyone equal.
Where do you want to live?
Being the author, it’s easy and also convenient for me to leave many things unsaid. Why confuse the reader with a bunch of logic or reason? Why try to explain the nuance of the “Butterfly Effect” to the world? Why not try and raise a few socialist hackles?:)
Meanwhile I’m somewhere in a house located between those two subway stops trying to write a reply to b’s post above.
And as far as these banks go, I trust capitalism more than socialism, which means I trust letting the fuckers fold and waiting to see how the void is filled, rather then bringing them all together under the government’s umbrella. American government control of all the banks only means having fewer people that I neither trust nor like, controlling more shit.
But I wouldn’t be against the government starting a bank from scratch that loaned money directly to businesses and people. Have the other banks try and compete with it. Actually I’d like to see a bunch of Muslim banks opened-up here in the States, they seem like they have a decent business model for dealing with money. But I only know this from reading and not from practice; I suppose I should be careful what I wish for.
The world is upside down and backwards and I don’t even need alter my body’s chemistry to see it.

Posted by: David | Mar 6 2009 12:14 utc | 36

More from the Bangko Post on the Bout extradition:

The Russian Foreign Ministry on Saturday issued a statement that the congressmen’s call was “bewildering” because charges against Bout in Thailand have been dropped and “his guilt on charges put forth in the United States has not been proven.”
“Such activity on the part of parliamentarians in a nation that purports to be a paragon of rule and law and observance of human rights looks embarrassing to say the least,” the statement said. It alleged the US political push was “an attempt to derail efforts by Washington and Moscow to relaunch American-Russian cooperation.”

The next hearing in the extradition proceedings is (or was) today.
One might also look at the update on Richard Chichakli’s site regarding his case, that of a U.S. citizen accused of being
Bout’s accomplice, and who has mounted a vigorous internet defense against the substance of those charges.

Posted by: Hannah K. O’Luthon | Mar 6 2009 14:55 utc | 38

over at counterpunch, Chris Floyd has a nauseating piece that depressingly vindicates the cynics. it’s title is tangled up in Rove. here’s a taste:

Once again, we see a vivid display of the “continuity” that has been a hallmark of the new administration in so many areas. Obama’s top legal adviser and his law firm is deeply entangled with Karl Rove and George W. Bush — and specifically on the very issue of the recent “compromise”: the goonization of the Justice Department. (In addition to the firm’s involvement with Dick Cheney and the criminal outing of a CIA operative tracking weapons of mass destruction.) How hard would it have been for Barack Obama to find a reputable, respected White House Counsel who not hip-deep in the Big Muddy with Karl Rove and George Bush?
And how difficult would it have been for the President of the United States — the “most powerful man on earth,” as we are incessantly reminded — to say, simply, that Karl Rove should obey the law and testify under oath before Congress? And note well the reality — and the arrogance — at play here. Rove could still have refused to divulge specific information, citing executive privilege or the Fifth Amendment. The question here is not what he would say, but that he has refused to appear at all. And now his drinking buddy and literary rainmaker in the White House has brokered a cozy arrangement to coddle Rove even further.

to put it not so eloquently, what the fucking hell?! can it be any more obvious that the legal abuses of bush are being preserved for a reason, that reason being Obama wants the same assurances his guys will remain above the law.
fuck Obama, and his entire coterie. but by the time the believers catch on, there won’t be much left of this country to save.

Posted by: Lizard | Mar 6 2009 16:25 utc | 40

Man, the balls this must have taken (pun intended…lol), to bad we can’t see this kinda resistance here.
For you amusement edification or both…
Kasparov was dishonoured: a flying phallus penis copter
Imagine, that body guard will never live this down…
Dick Swatter…lmao!

Posted by: Uncle $cam | Mar 6 2009 23:12 utc | 42

What I hate about this blog is their reactionary right-wing Chicago-school opinions.
nyuk nyuk nyuk

Posted by: …—… | Mar 7 2009 14:19 utc | 44

the only good new this week is that brasil has given the italian writer, cesare battisti, refuge & has refused berlusconi’s demand for extradition
he was one of the italians – members of the armed stuggle – battisti was a member of the armed communist proletarians, an autonomous group yhat mitterand gave refuge in france if theyt stopped the armed struggle. here it is simply called the ‘word given’ & since 2004 it has been taken away , ana academic who lived here for 30 years was sent back, aa social worker who was quite ill was saved at the last moment by the intervention of carla bruni
it is patently clear that battisti was not the author of the crimes he was accused of & that he paid essentially for having a very proletarian face, & a proletarian history
& this italian government who is in league with the most criminal aspects of italian society & has been so since the end of the war & whose crimes stretch almost beyond limit & who now attack the judges & law at every opportunity – suddenly believe in the law when it comes to ancient terrorists of the left – the terrorists of the right who created a blooodbath throughout italy for so long – live well
alexander stille writes well on all this

Posted by: remembereringgiap | Mar 7 2009 19:29 utc | 46

there it goes, mr change, unchanged again

Posted by: remembereringgiap | Mar 7 2009 22:46 utc | 48

I’ve been trying (without much success) to find news from Thailand related to posts 37 & 38 above.
The only more recent reporting I have found is this report from Russia Today of March 6, 2009. The background material there by Evgeny Belenkiy is worth reading, if for no other reason then at least for this riposte to the charges leveled by Farah

The Russian government hasn’t spent a single cent – officially or non-officially – on the case of Viktor Bout. I’m not going to die of modesty, as we say in Russia, so it’s OK for me to say that: I am a Thailand expert and one of the best-connected Russian journalists in South-east Asia, so if someone in the Russian government or private sector starts pushing millions through any system in Thailand, I usually catch at least a whiff. But I’m getting none about any Russian giving million U.S. dollar bribes to anyone in Thailand.
And, besides, I hear differently. I do not know who Mr. Farah’s sources are, but mine is pure hearsay: they say some officials of the U.S. embassy, through their local contacts, have been bribing some Thai legal officials. I hear the U.S. taxpayer money given to those unscrupulous Thai officials, amounts to hundreds of thousands in U.S. dollars. Then again, it may all be lies and there’s no way to check. What I know for sure is that the prosecutor who, by an unfunded request of DEA officials in Bangkok, initiated the case against Bout under Thai law – the case that had to be dismissed two weeks later for a total want of evidence – is now unavailable for lawyers’ questioning because at the moment he is continuing his education in the United States of America.
Nearly a year has passed since the arrest of Viktor Bout in Bangkok. During that year I have often been wondering: can it be true that all U.S. officials involved with the case are equally blind to the above mentioned facts that are there for everyone to see? It only takes some internet research, provided that one has the knowledge of the Russian and English languages and knows something about Russia and Thailand, to figure out that for the past seven years U.S. law enforcement had been chasing and then arrested not a man but a myth created by U.S. media. A myth based on a couple of general UN documents (there are many others mentioned there apart from Bout, none of them targeted for a sting, prosecuted or arrested), several speeches by British and U.S. politicians and a lot of barely trustworthy ‘leaks from the U.S. intelligence community.’

Pan per focaccia as they say in the Veneto. Obviously I have no direct knowledge of which side (if any) is speaking the truth. In a sense this all harks back to the “good old days” of the cold war when the celebrated Soviet journalist Victor Louis usually had better information (or disinformation) than official sources, and was always well-positioned to make his points.

Posted by: Hannah K. O’Luthon | Mar 9 2009 12:08 utc | 50

Not much new information on the Victor Bout extradition case in this report from today’s (10-03-2009) Bangkok newspaper, The Nation , but the “political” aspect of the case is clearly underlined:

“I will invite the foreign ministry to make a statement on this case at the next hearing,” the presiding judge said.
It was not clear what kind of input the court is seeking from the foreign ministry, though most reports about the trial point to the political nature of the case.
Foreign Ministry spokesman, Tharit Charungvat, said he was not aware of any requests from court, adding that the ministry had been following the case quite closely.
Speaking to the prosecutor after the hearing was completed yesterday, the presiding judge half-jokingly said he would be denied a visa to either the United States or Russia following the verdict.
“I am in a tough position. Bilateral ties with Russia and the United States could be at stake,” the judge said.

In passing, thanks to Uncle $cam for showing the need for swat teams. One can only hope that, in the fullness of time, such bio-robots will come back to bite their sponsors.

Posted by: Hannah K. O’Luthon | Mar 10 2009 9:50 utc | 52

Siegelman news:
Siegelman Convictions Upheld

By Scott Horton
The Court of Appeals in Atlanta today upheld most of the convictions delivered against former Governor Don Siegelman, rejecting only two of the counts. In particular, the Court sustained charges that Siegelman behaved corruptly when, after a foundation received a contribution from insurance executive Richard Scrushy, he appointed Scrushy to a regulatory board. The Court found that the jury in the case was within its rights when it found that Siegelman’s appointment was a quid pro quo in exchange for the contribution to the foundation.
The Court also concluded that there was no clear evidence that Judge Mark Everett Fuller, in sentencing Siegelman, retaliated against Siegelman for arguing that the prosecution was politically motivated. They overturned two of Siegelman’s convictions and are therefore sending the matter back to Judge Fuller for resentencing.
There are two points to consider. First, nearly all the disclosures that undermined confidence in the fairness of the Siegelman trial occurred after the trial record was closed–and none of these disclosures were examined by the Court of Appeals. Even though the appeals court looked into jury misconduct, it did not have before it the much more powerful evidence of misconduct that a whistleblowing member of the prosecution team subsequently disclosed to the Justice Department—because the Bush Justice Department, in violation of its plain ethical duties, chose to keep all of that secret. So although an appeal has been taken and resolved, not one of the truly significant issues with the Siegelman case was ever briefed or argued. That remains for the future.
Second, the opinion in this case was rendered “per curiam.” That’s often the approach taken by judges when they don’t want to own up to their own writing. In my opinion none of the judges would want to own up to being the author of this opinion, with its technically well-justified but nevertheless obviously unjust conclusions. This was a panel consisting entirely of Republican judges, and two of the three had an active record of political engagement in G.O.P. causes. They were a distinctly hostile audience for Governor Siegelman, and many passages of the opinion, to my eyes, reflect this.
The Siegelman case has already left much of the nation convinced that federal prosecutors bring corruption cases as a matter of political gamesmanship–not out of concern for law enforcement. I doubt this decision will do much to change that perception.

Open Left asks, When, Exactly Do The Dems Go On Offense???
Also see, Alabama AG reportedly under federal investigation

MONTGOMERY, Al — Alabama Attorney General Troy King’s office is reportedly under investigation by federal authorities.
Reports published Tuesday said at least six former members of King’s staff went before a federal grand jury meeting in Montgomery last week. They were asked about investigations and their possible connection to allies of the Republican attorney general.
An aide to King, Chris Bence, said news of the investigation is “quite a shock.” But he said the attorney general’s office would be happy to help with the probe.
Although based in Montgomery, the investigation apparently is being headed up by U.S. Attorney Alice Martin of Birmingham.

Posted by: Uncle $cam | Mar 10 2009 15:42 utc | 54

I assume b will devote a thread to Chas Freeman’s withdrawal. As one might expect the NYTimes and Washington Post are giving “fair and balanced” reporting, but not,
(at least on line when I checked earlier) front page coverage. The story hasn’t been “buried” but it certainly isn’t getting (at least so far) the kind of coverage that many lesser matters receive. Pat Lang’s SST blog
has a thread dedicated to the matter, but so far Lang, who is probably apoplectic, has not offered his view.
It looks like the Likud lobby is still firmly in control in Washington,
with the neo-con first team now replaced by their “progressive liberal” subs. Once again, AIPAC demonstrates its strong bench, and capacity to adapt to circumstance while keeping its eye on the ball. (Of course, as one reads in the WashPo, AIPAC did NOT make a formal public campaign against Freeman, but by sheer coincidence did obtain its unstated goal.)
Freeman, at least, did go down with his rhetorical howitzers blasting away at point blank range.

Posted by: Hannah K. O’Luthon | Mar 11 2009 6:18 utc | 56

Israeli Armsdog-Millionaires Assault Bollywood
protect your keyboard by not drinking while watching this video.

Posted by: annie | Mar 11 2009 12:48 utc | 58

boy, sure is quiet around these parts. (uncle, the above is beyond disturbing, and i’ll pretend for awhile it’s an empty projection by our desperate controllers who sense their time is almost gone)
because laughter is good: sleep walking dog

Posted by: Lizard | Mar 12 2009 5:32 utc | 60

Thanks to Uncle for various links, including the Orwell Chestnut Tree.
With regard to the “fly on the wall” at 51, I (optimistically?) wonder if that illustration of profligacy in the military budget might not come back to haunt its sponsors: microelectronic gadgets have had a persistent tendency to drop in price, i.e., to become mere commodities, and perhaps bio-engineering will follow a similar trajectory. (Certainly the market for “intelligent” prosthetics will be enormous). If so, it may turn out that “officialdom” (or the generic military-industrial-political “they” sponsoring such research ) may find themselves rather more the target of cheap “bugs” than the benefactors. This pleasant fantasy is all the more likely if one bears in mind that the kind of competent technician needed to administrate such “buggery” would be sufficiently intelligent to see “opportunities” arising from privatization of the harvest. Indeed, giving full rein to fantasy, may we not even see the “sunshine” movement for open government endorse “full disclosure” of all matters involving expenditure of public fundings: what better way to obtain such disclosure than to have “live feeds” from everywhere such business is discussed.
This is, of course, fantasy, and probably no more desirable than its dark
mirror image wherein all information flows only upward to “them”. Yet, when the DOD was sponsoring packet-switching networks back in the 1980’s they probably didn’t have places like MOA in mind as one of the byproducts of their funding.

Posted by: Hannah K. O’Luthon | Mar 12 2009 9:41 utc | 62

uncle, that cybor moth is freaky. surveillance maxed out.
microelectronic gadgets have had a persistent tendency to drop in price,
we could go down to circuit city and purchase out own jar of flies.

Posted by: annie | Mar 12 2009 13:47 utc | 64

There’s also boring, low-skullduggery ways to kill lots of brown people.

Posted by: …—… | Mar 13 2009 16:52 utc | 66

i have not posted here recently because i’m in a quite difficult situation with my diabetes & having to change to my 5th form of insulin & the necessity to be hospitalised again & some serious complications
here i work for 11:00 – 23:00 – i eat once a day in the night – i have little sleep but i read as vigorously as i have done because my work here depend on it & because contexts are the necessary tool of my vocation – so i come here each day & i read & i read well i hope, that is to say closely
the community here feeds me in a way i could not have imagined even 5 years ago – even at the most basic level – my comrade posters save me time – help me demystify, arrive at essentials, lift the rugs up & opens the doors – i cannot overestimate how important that the work here is to me, practically
in a certain way our epoch has been the last nails in the coffin of metaphysics but i instinctively feel the work done here with knowledge(s) opens a path for beauty & truth inside a slaughterhouse. that may seem sardonic but it is not meant to be. my specialist yesterday offered a not very bright picture of my physical health but she sd she is completely surprised by my calm within that – in her terms ‘almost unnatural’ – it might have been too glib to say i feel ‘comforted’ that the world is a great deal sicker than i am & that by being here i have cut a great deal of noise/agitation/melodrama from my life by doing as some have always suggested to me, to cut out the useless rivers of information that come out of french, anglo, italian etc television which have all coalesced into a form of dysentry. & that by reading my comrades here & using b’s useful blogroll – i cut a great deal of shit out
& for that i am in your debt. there is not a night i am not here, reflecting, remembering or reacting
public life – no matter how exemplary you are – is not always healthy – & here in france where both language & comportment are heavily regulated by protocol & a language which is in & of itself protocoliere – at the beginning of this terrible week for me – i had a meetinf with a very large theatre company – which does enormous spectacles with enormous machines all over the world – & they want me & the participants of my work to write imaginary letters from the titanic that will be delivered to the people in a public spectacle; it was sd to me in that certain way which in & of itself excludes the saying of truth(s) – but i am so cik, i am so tired – there is no space in me for compromise(if there ever was), there is no space in me for false communality, for faux bonhomie – for a forgetful fraternity. i am just too sombre for all that
i told them that my communites are uniquely equipped to write from the titanic because they are within it – their instincts are ones that are habituated by disasters.. the margin makes pain deliver the truth – the margin places in proportion both the cervaux & the sentiment. out of necessity, or as marx sd – power is in fact knowledge of necessity – my communities knew the ship was sinking long before the elites decided to scream out, indeed there is a generation here who have known nothing else
but the gift of working in these communities is that they have taught me as a poet how breath, words, communications, poems are constructed. perhaps i already knew that with paul celan’s poems decades ago but it is the people who have taught me – in this broken body what only by too smart mind misunderstood in 1975
that iis to say – in this apocalyptic & quite terrible landscape it is still possible to search for beauty, to search for legends, to search for love – indeed it is a writers highest duty especially in a culture that has given us so much in thinking but that is now populated by clowns & criminals who pass off their café casuitry as informed comment when in fact it is the contrary – the worst of it articulated here by the nincompoop andre glucksmann who is to philosophy what maggots are to a cadaver
i felt the need to remind the community here – of what you & your work mean to me

Posted by: remembereringgiap | Mar 13 2009 22:38 utc | 68

I am reminded to thank you along with Juannie, r’giap.
Thank you.

Posted by: beq | Mar 13 2009 23:11 utc | 70

& being this tired even little & meaningless things hurt more than they should
i erred & watched for a moment al jazeera – enough to watch a pisselegant attack on cuba & these postmodernist fools forget that living is the struggle for breath. they forget that struggle – no matter its political origin is often simply a search for justice, for common decency for a sense of proportion of who & what you are
cuba is far from perfect but it seems to me it has always been a just society with a sense of equity that does not exist in the western world in any of the countries i have lived, even sweden. any just fight for equality of opportunity was demolished in the 70’s with neoliberal ‘masters’ who have directed us into the frightening abyss we are today & like their little icons – greenspan they really don’t give a shit & never did. they are so profounbly criminal it is very difficult to imagine – except perhaps the double doctorateslawyers working diligently for the sd or the ss in nazi germany
& in cuba i am reminded of jpse marti of che, of fidel – who have sd in the most human terms possible that a decent person ought to feel the slapped face of somone somewhere else on the globe & it remember the polish poet who sd to live decently in one day is more difficult than writing a novel
& the work on economics here is one of those things – that even though i think i have had a more than sufficient education – i learn a great deal here – in the detail – not the obscufactory mysticism of the chicago cretins – but the detail that helps me see clearer through the fog
pakistan & afghanistan, i think i know enough & i come here to be humbled & to find out it is necessary to know a little more & even tho i am guilty of wacking a few heads here – i never find the pedagogy here in any way insistent – on the contrary i often find a door open here for me to understand something i thought i understood but i actually still learn that i can comprehend
& you know the shit is hitting the fan when the chinese premier wen publically reflects upon the u s ‘s capability to pay back the loans from china & gets a not very comforting madoffian response from the white house
as malcolm x sd – its a hot night in the ol’ town tonight

Posted by: remembereringgiap | Mar 14 2009 2:08 utc | 72

my local palestinian listserve is going apeshit. someone from oakland was shot demonstrating a new wall in the s=west bank toda and lies in crtical condition from brain surgery in a hospital in tel aviv. it is also on the abc news here. no link via email
oakland tribune

Tristan Anderson of Oakland, Calif., was seriously injured Friday, March 13, 2009 during a clash…
An American demonstrator and former member of the UC Berkeley tree sit sustained life-threatening injuries Friday in a clash between protesters and Israeli troops over Israel’s West Bank separation barrier.
Tristan Anderson, 38, of Oakland was struck in the right temple with a tear-gas canister fired by Israeli troops, according to friends and peace activists with the International Solidarity Movement.
His skull was fractured and some of the bone fragments entered his brain, friends said. He sustained a large hole in his forehead where he was struck by the canister and his right eye was also badly injured, friends said. He underwent surgery to have part of his frontal lobe removed, said Anderson’s Oakland housemate John Love.
“They said the surgery went as well as it can, but there is just no telling with brain surgery if he will make it,” Love said. “The next 48 hours are critical and if he makes it … it will be a long haul back to normal. They don’t know whether they can save the eye.”
Berkeley activist Matthew Taylor spoke to Gabrielle Silverman, who said she was with Anderson when he was hit while at a demonstration in a West Bank village to support the villagers, who have been trying to stop Israel from confiscating their farmland to build the separation barrier.
“At the time he was shot, Tristan and I were standing in a field getting tear gassed by the Israeli army. When they shot him, the Israeli army was in no
danger whatsoever, there was no action happening anywhere,” she told Taylor.
Silverman said the military shot him either because they thought he was a Palestinian or because the army was indiscriminately firing into the crowd. The military had no details on how he was hurt.
Orly Levi, a spokeswoman at the Tel Hashomer hospital near Tel Aviv, described Anderson’s condition as “life-threatening.”
“He’s in critical condition, anesthetized and on a ventilator and undergoing imaging tests,” Levi said.
The protest took place in the West Bank town of Naalin, where Palestinians and international backers frequently gather to demonstrate against the barrier. Israel says the barrier is necessary to keep Palestinian attackers from infiltrating into Israel. But Palestinians view it as a thinly veiled land grab because it juts into the West Bank at multiple points. The military says the area where the protests take place is a closed military zone off-limits to demonstrations
Activist Marcus Kryshka of Oakland said this was Anderson’s first trip to the West Bank.
About 400 protesters turned out in Naalin Friday, the military said. Some of them hurled rocks at troops, who used riot gear to quell the unrest, it added, without elaborating.
Friends who know Anderson through the tree sit at UC Berkeley to protest the building of a sports training center, called him a committed man who demonstrates on behalf of many causes.
“Tristan is a very caring committed man who has given to his community and taken stands on social and environmental justice around the world,” said Taylor. “He’s protested against free trade that exploits the global south, he’s protested against the Iraq war and he got shot in the head trying to save Palestine land from being stolen by the Israeli military.”
Bay Area activist Kate Raphael said Anderson originally hails from Grass Valley, where she believes his family still resides. “I’m told his parents were expecting to be headed to Israel.”
Anderson, who was known as “Cricket,” was part of the 21-month tree sit as a tree sitter and supporter. He came down from his perch on June 19 and was given a stay-away order but was found near the tree sit the following day, said UC Police Assistant Chief Mitch Celaya. He was arrested for violating the order and went through a trial, where he was found not guilty, friends said.
He has also been active with Food Not Bombs, bicycle activism, Direct Action to Stop the War and homeless advocacy, friends said.
“He’s very gregarious, very friendly, quite energetic, very dedicated. When he gets committed to something, he tends to work very hard on it whether that be a personal relationship or a political one,” said activist Kryshka, adding that Anderson was working on a memoir of his experiences as an activist trying to right some of the world’s injustices.

Posted by: annie | Mar 14 2009 5:30 utc | 74

@ r giap
I recall that many years ago, shortly after I began posting here, you mentioned that although you felt you probably differed from me on many issues, you felt that we could still exchange views profitably and with civility. (Not an exact quote.) I have always treasured that “passing comment” and tried to be worthy of it. Like the others who have responded above I find it hard to imagine MOA without your contributions which I admire for both their passion and their intelligence. Forza, compagno, ed “Avanti popolo”.

Posted by: Hannah K. O’Luthon | Mar 14 2009 6:53 utc | 76

b-
You made Pi square! 🙂 or at least fade into itself.
Oh, well, I prefer 3.13 better anyway.

Posted by: David | Mar 14 2009 12:41 utc | 78

tant de nuits mon ami – france loses one of its great poets tonight

Posted by: remembereringgiap | Mar 14 2009 21:30 utc | 80

On m’a vu dans le Vercors
Sauter à l’élastique
Voleur d’amphores
Au fond des criques
J’ai fait la cour à des murènes
J’ai fait l’amour j’ai fait le mort
T’étais pas née
À la station balnéaire
Tu t’es pas fait prier
J’étais gant de crin, geyser
Pour un peu je trempais
Histoire d’eau
La nuit je mens
Je prends des trains à travers la plaine
La nuit je mens
Je m’en lave les mains
J’ai dans les bottes des montagnes de questions
Où subsiste encore ton écho
Où subsiste encore ton écho
J’ai fait la saison
Dans cette boîte crânienne
Tes pensées
Je les faisais miennes
T’accaparer seulement t’accaparer
D’estrade en estrade
J’ai fait danser tant de malentendus
Des kilomètres de vie en rose
Un jour au cirque
Un autre à chercher à te plaire
Dresseur de loulous
Dynamiteur d’aqueducs
La nuit je mens
Je prends des trains à travers la plaine
La nuit je mens
Effrontément
J’ai dans les bottes des montagnes de questions
Où subsiste encore ton écho
Où subsiste encore ton écho
On m’a vu dans le Vercors
Sauter à l’élastique
Voleur d’amphores
Au fond des criques
J’ai fait la cour à des murènes
J’ai fait l’amour j’ai fait le mort
T’étais pas née
La nuit je mens
Je prends des trains à travers la plaine
La nuit je mens
Je m’en lave les mains
J’ai dans les bottes des montagnes de questions
Où subsiste encore ton écho
Où subsiste encore ton écho
La nuit je mens
Je prends des trains à travers la plaine
La nuit je mens
Je m’en lave les mains
J’ai dans les bottes des montagnes de questions
Où subsiste encore ton écho
Où subsiste encore ton écho …
[ La Nuit Je Mens

Posted by: remembereringgiap | Mar 14 2009 21:47 utc | 82

Beautiful r’giap… beautiful and sad, I’m less for never having heard him. And I don’t know if you caught my comment last comment directed toward you, but you are the heart and passion of Moon in my eye’s I and I am better for having read you and you having shared your discourse and life with us.
Steel…

Posted by: Uncle $cam | Mar 14 2009 23:41 utc | 84

encore bashung

Posted by: remembereringgiap | Mar 15 2009 0:44 utc | 86

Oops, meant to add “A bit of fun and satire for your Sunday.”
@giap: Godspeed in your recovery.

Posted by: Jeremiah | Mar 15 2009 2:23 utc | 88

NYRB: US Torture: Voices from the Black SitesICRC Report on the Treatment of Fourteen “High Value Detainees” in CIA Custody
by the International Committee of the Red Cross

After the beating I was then placed in the small box. They placed a cloth or cover over the box to cut out all light and restrict my air supply. As it was not high enough even to sit upright, I had to crouch down. It was very difficult because of my wounds. The stress on my legs held in this position meant my wounds both in the leg and stomach became very painful. I think this occurred about 3 months after my last operation. It was always cold in the room, but when the cover was placed over the box it made it hot and sweaty inside. The wound on my leg began to open and started to bleed. I don’t know how long I remained in the small box, I think I may have slept or maybe fainted.
I was then dragged from the small box, unable to walk properly and put on what looked like a hospital bed, and strapped down very tightly with belts. A black cloth was then placed over my face and the interrogators used a mineral water bottle to pour water on the cloth so that I could not breathe. After a few minutes the cloth was removed and the bed was rotated into an upright position. The pressure of the straps on my wounds was very painful. I vomited. The bed was then again lowered to horizontal position and the same torture carried out again with the black cloth over my face and water poured on from a bottle. On this occasion my head was in a more backward, downwards position and the water was poured on for a longer time. I struggled against the straps, trying to breathe, but it was hopeless. I thought I was going to die. I lost control of my urine. Since then I still lose control of my urine when under stress.
I was then placed again in the tall box. While I was inside the box loud music was played again and somebody kept banging repeatedly on the box from the outside. I tried to sit down on the floor, but because of the small space the bucket with urine tipped over and spilt over me…. I was then taken out and again a towel was wrapped around my neck and I was smashed into the wall with the plywood covering and repeatedly slapped in the face by the same two interrogators as before.
I was then made to sit on the floor with a black hood over my head until the next session of torture began. The room was always kept very cold.

Posted by: b | Mar 15 2009 6:15 utc | 90

i know there is at least another poster her who has also insulo dependant diabetes – & i feel after five years – for the first time really quite lost inside the medical model
i am a relatively calm person byt when the doctors start to painic – then it is hard not to. i know that the complications with the diabetes creat what they call here ‘encrassage’ which translated into the arteris being blocked by filth which is being caused principally by the diabetes & i imagine a little by my beloved cigarettes. when i was in the middle of an argument between doctors about opening up my heart & the conseil was both dark & went form one end of the waterfront to the other – i know at that moment i became less a partner than a victim something i have never considered myself to be even in the worst of times. it also feels that like this world at this moment – there expertise cannot deal at all with my complications
in my work i am able to concentrate on the other because their need are so urgent & multiple but when i am writing, it is impossible to forget about the body – i am not fascinated by it but it intrudes & often violently. i’m hardly an old man yet one of my complications is that i have uncontrollable spasms in my stomach that lead to an incontinence that is not incontinence but on a short walk back from a performance i have near christmas – i had such a moment – & you are reduced to the infantile you when you have shat your pants. it makes the walks that are absolutely necessary for me to breathe the suffering i am & i witness day in day out – something i have become prudent about doing. i know that it is only me that senses the humiliation but i live on such a fine wire – that it is enough to bring me down, suddenly
i have lived e very violent & volatile life but i can say that i have never been depressed, mealancholy certainly but that is always liveable & transformable but with thr diabetes i hav waht can only be clinical depressions – awesome in their hold of me – when i feel it – the doctors have at least been clear on that – the connection between my diabetes & the heart & the depression & they have been understanding enough never to suggest medication which i’d refuse in any case because in the midst of all that shit – i feel my force, i feel the precision i work with & if i can go into a shelter of 60 men & be there for them at their deepest level – i know that i am strong. in france there is no artists who has even got close to the work i do each day – confronted by a society in decomposition
& surely that explains the darkness i bring here & tho slothrop does not like my poems & i & others here find in them a lyricism & beauty that was not here in the work even 10 years ago – lots of my written work is unfiniched because it is my world to the community that i am devoted to – i always imagined that i would always have the time but perhaps that time will not come. before i came here 20 years ago i performed every week, often a number of times a week & here no & i think that has been an important loss to my poetry & perhaps also explains the sufferrance of my body
i write this not to weep – i weep for the world, not me – but i thought there are others here livinf with sickness & have paths that help them live with it

Posted by: remembereringgiap | Mar 15 2009 16:27 utc | 92

uncle, i intercepted a fan of your on another blog.
Invictus
Leaked! International Red Cross Report on CIA Torture

Mark Danner has scooped the NY Times, the Washington Post and other papers by publishing in the current New York Review of Books an essay quoting long excerpts of a leaked International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) report on “high-value” prisoners held in CIA black site prisons. The interviews took prior to their release in late 2006, and the report itself is dated February 2007, and likely was sent originally to then CIA Acting General Counsel, John Rizzo.
The prisoners interviewed by ICRC personnel included Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, Abu Zubaydah, Walid Bin Attash, and twelve others, all of whom, the ICRC concluded, were submitted to torture. From the report”s conclusion:
“The allegations of ill-treatment of the detainees indicate that, in many cases, the ill-treatment to which they were subjected while held in the CIA program, either singly or in combination, constituted torture. In addition, many other elements of the ill-treatment, either singly or in combination, constituted cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.”

i recommended

This is no bedtime reading:
Contents
Introduction
1. Main Elements of the CIA Detention Program
1.1 Arrest and Transfer
1.2 Continuous Solitary Confinement and Incommunicado Detention
1.3 Other Methods of Ill-treatment
1.3.1 Suffocation by water
1.3.2 Prolonged Stress Standing
1.3.3 Beatings by use of a collar
1.3.4 Beating and kicking
1.3.5 Confinement in a box
1.3.6 Prolonged nudity
1.3.7 Sleep deprivation and use of loud music
1.3.8 Exposure to cold temperature/cold water
1.3.9 Prolonged use of handcuffs and shackles
1.3.10 Threats
1.3.11 Forced shaving
1.3.12 Deprivation/restricted provision of solid food
1.4 Further elements of the detention regime….
As one follows the narratives of the various prisoners…

Posted by: annie | Mar 16 2009 5:25 utc | 94

This week-end the BBC ran a documentary on the Victor Bout sting operation several times. It was very professionally executed and relied on a fairly large spectrum of interviews and reports. It’s hard to believe that (among many others) J. Peleman, Gayle Smith, Thomas Pickering, Peter Hain, A. Szubin and many and consultant D. Farah are not sincere in their belief that Bout is a “bad guy”. Nevertheless, I continue to believe that there is considerably more to the story than this BBC presentation would have us believe. In particular, there are deafening silences regarding Mr. Bout’s competitors, and notable reticence regarding his “respectable” employers in the U.S. and Britain. One must, however, concede that at least some such connections were mentioned, including logistical assistance via flights into Baghdad and Kosovo sponsored respectively by the U.S. and Britain.

Posted by: Hannah K. O’Luthon | Mar 16 2009 8:29 utc | 96

merci beq
i apologise though for letting my life intrude here – typographic errors, ellipses & all – though some times the weight of what is hapeening to my body is insupportable
the victory of the fmln in el salvador gives me hope that all people are capable of changing their condition – no matter the difficulty

Posted by: remembereringgiap | Mar 16 2009 18:33 utc | 98