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May 13, 2009
Links May 13 09
  • Greenwald – Obama administration threatens Britain to keep torture evidence concealed – (Salon)
  • Stephen Walt on the powers behind the empire – Imbalance of power – (FP)
  • Bad choice – Gareth Porter on McChrystal – McChrystal Choice Suggests Special Ops Strikes to Continue – (IPS)
  • Better ideas for AfPak – "MARCHING TO THE EDGE – EYES WIDE SHUT" FB Ali – (SST)
  • Pepe Escobar – Pipelineistan Goes Af-Pak – (TomDispatch)
  • Militants attack NATO terminal in Pakistan: police – (The News)
  • There was sound reason to believe Saberi spied – Secret war report led to spy charges for Roxana – (Independent)
  • Amira Hass did not spy – Haaretz reporter Amira Hass arrested upon leaving Gaza – (Haaretz)
  • Unbelievable – Federal Reserve Inspector General Unable to Answer Basic Questions on Where the Trillions Went – (Naked Capitalism)
  • What the Chinese care about – US to borrow 46 cents for every dollar spent – (China Daily)
  • Math lecture for journalists – Inflection points and turning points – since you asked – (Mavercon/FT)
Posted by b on May 13, 2009 at 06:54 UTC | Permalink
Comments

It’s funny that, according to the Indipendent article cited above,

Her [Saberi’s] arrest came at a time when President Barack Obama was launching his outreach to Tehran, aiming to ease years of tension between the two adversaries.

So apparently more sanctions are a way to ease tension between two countries.
Second part of the interview with Aijaz Ahmad.
Chris Floyd about the “Taliban used white phosphrus, so we didn’t” story.
Among the points of atrilateral accord between US-Afghanistan-Pakistan there is this:

The US, Afghanistan and Pakistan plan to increase cooperation on agricultural development and research, as well as launching a Regional Infrastructure and Trade Development initiative to accelerate needed infrastructure development.

Posted by: andrew | May 13 2009 9:32 utc | 2

This brief note from Russia Today announces a counter-suit in the Victor Bout extradition trial.

On the 4 of May, lawyers filed a legal action against three American intelligence agents, members of the Drug Enforcement Administration – Robert Zachariasievich, Derek Odney and Scott Hacker,” said Bout’s wife.
According to Alla Bout, the court has already accepted documents for a preliminary examination and will make a decision on May 30 as to whether to proceed against the American citizens.
Robert Zahariasievich led the operation resulting in the arrest of Victor Bout in 2008 and is in charge of the prosecution on the American side. Two other agents participated in the arrest and interrogated of the businessman.
In his suit, Victor Bout is accusing American agents of violating six articles of the Thai Criminal Code, including illegal arrest and searches, conducting interrogations by using threats, instigation for committing a crime, passing video records to the United States and additional charges. Some of these charges carry three to six years in prison.
“In any case, Victor intends to seek criminal prosecution of those at fault internationally, including in the US,” Alla Bout told ITAR-TASS.

It would be ironic if Bout’s accusers were to finish in a Thai jail for the use of illegal “interrogation techniques” and methods of arrest, while Bout himself was acquitted by the Thai courts. Such a double rebuff for Bout’s pursuers is, of course, highly unlikely, but, for now, it remains within the realm of theoretical possibility. I believe that the next hearing in the extradition trial is on May 19, so, in the case of a final decision on the extradition request at that hearing there would be ample time for the U.S. team to leave Thailand, rendering the “Bout suit” moot.
Presumably this story has been covered (somewhere) in the American press, but I am not aware of such articles.

Posted by: Hannah K. O’Luthon | May 13 2009 14:08 utc | 3

From current Congressional torture hearings, questioning Ali Soufan. Soufan is the FBI interrogator, who interrogated Abu Zubaydah (successfully) with traditional (non-torture) methods, until private torture contractors insisted that the interrogation go “dark”. Soufan refused to participate. Soon after the FBI, similarly, refused to have its agents involved. Soufan insists that the good information was obtained before torture began.
During the hearing:
Linday Graham,R-SC: … These (torture) methods have survived for thousands of years because they work.
Soufan: These methods have survived because it is easier to hit a man than outthink him.
Graham, of course, like all apologists for this or any violence, uses a neutral code word – “methods”.
Most torture apologists recognize that “enhanced interrogation” sounds like doublespeak to everyone, fools no one, and makes the speaker sound like a fool. So they reserve that phrase for legal memos and to transmit the orders, only. But if they use the name, “torture,” they lose the argument with some part of the public, with the Constitution, and with Geneva.
So it is not torture and it’s not not-torture.
Doesn’t it sound like the sort of defining legal concept that might emerge from the same brilliant mind (in office of former VP) who proposed the novel legal theory about the Office of VP? That is, VP is neither part of the Executive nor part of the Legislative branch. But VP is attached to constitutional government through the Executive.
Or, as Jon Stewart, summarized, the VP is sort of like a barnacle.

Posted by: small coke | May 13 2009 20:57 utc | 4

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