torture

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Obama Must Oppose Spain's Bush Lawyer Probe: Bolton

Only our Constitution should judge policy decisions

(Newser) - President Obama’s "John Ehrlichman approach" to Spain’s investigation of Bush officials may be “smart politics,” but it’s dangerous for the country, writes John Bolton in the Washington Post. If the administration doesn’t speak out against the probe, it allows an “unaccountable...

Bush Lawyers Unlikely to Face Criminal Charges

(Newser) - The Bush lawyers who gave their blessing to waterboarding and other harsh interrogation techniques should not face criminal charges, a Justice Department report has concluded. The report does, however, say that Jay Bybee, John Yoo, and Steven Bradbury showed poor judgment and suggests that state bar associations consider reprimands and...

Torture Convictions Would Be a Long Shot
Torture Convictions
Would Be a Long Shot
analysis
May 4, 2009 8:34 AM CDT

Torture Convictions Would Be a Long Shot

Prosecution possible, but nailing Cheney a legal headache

(Newser) - Those calling for Bush administration prosecutions on torture-related grounds may have their way—but whether those in question can actually be convicted is a whole other kettle of fish, Jeffrey Rosen writes in New York. Much of the case would likely hinge on whether authorities believed their own claims in...

4th Grader Grills Condi on Torture
4th Grader
Grills Condi
on Torture
May 4, 2009 2:22 AM CDT

4th Grader Grills Condi on Torture

We were terrified by 9/11 but did nothing illegal, Rice says

(Newser) - A fourth grader took Condoleezza Rice to task on torture yesterday, asking her about President Obama's criticism of "methods" used by the Bush administration. The question— drafted with the help of teachers—was toned down from what the student originally planned to say, the Washington Post notes. The child...

Dowd: GOP Has Short Memory
 Dowd: GOP 
 Has Short 
 Memory 
OPINION
May 3, 2009 10:57 AM CDT

Dowd: GOP Has Short Memory

'Quaint' calls for balance follow reign of 'Boy Emperor'

(Newser) - As their party contracts with the defection of Arlen Specter, the GOP is complaining about a disappearing balance of power: “How quaint,” writes Maureen Dowd in the New York Times—this from the party whose “arrogant” previous administration “did its best to undermine checks and balances....

Arab Prince Linked to Taped Beatings of 25 Others

New blow to UAE's relationship with US

(Newser) - The United Arab Emirates prince whose torture video has shaken relations with the US has been accused of 25 other attacks on people that have been videotaped, the Guardian reports. The American who smuggled out the first tape has more than two hours of video footage showing attacks involving Sheikh...

Obama May Bring Back Military Terror Courts

(Newser) - Barack Obama is leaning towards reinstituting military commissions as a way of trying Guantanamo detainees, and could begin publicly doing so as soon as next week, officials tell the New York Times. Obama has been a staunch critic of the system, but the administration is increasingly worried about the hazards...

Torture Video Derails US-Emirates Nuke Deal

(Newser) - Video of a member of the UAE’s royal family brutally torturing an Afghan salesman threatens to sink a nuclear trade deal between the UAE and the US, the Times of London reports. Sheikh Issa bin Zayed al-Nahyan, a brother of the UAE president, is shown beating the trader and...

Fleischer: Subpoena Me —I Dare You

Ex-Bush spokesman would 'be proud to testify' about torture

(Newser) - Bush press secretary Ari Fleischer doesn’t think there should be an investigation of his boss’s torture program. But “I’ll be proud to testify if I get a subpoena,” he said during a panel discussion yesterday. “I’m proud of what we did to protect...

Poll: Religious More Likely to Support Torture

More than 60% of white evangelicals say it's justified

(Newser) - Frequent churchgoers are more likely to support torture than their less devout brethren, a new Pew poll finds. Fifty-four percent of weekly churchgoers said torture of terror suspects is “often” or “sometimes” justified, compared to 42% of people who seldom or never attend services, reports CNN. White evangelical...

Shrink Waterboard 'Experts' Racked Up $1K a Day

Operation's architects lacked training in conducting interrogations, say CIS records

(Newser) - Two US psychologists with no training in conducting interrogations boasted of earning $1000 a day designing and helping to implement use of waterboarding techniques on CIA detainees, reports ABC News. Bruce Jessen and Jim Mitchell, former military officers, are considered the architects of the interrogation operation that Barack Obama has...

Obama: Waterboarding Is Torture
 Obama: 
 Waterboarding Is Torture 
updated
Apr 29, 2009 9:31 PM CDT

Obama: Waterboarding Is Torture

(Newser) - President Obama said tonight that waterboarding and harsh interrogation techniques may have yielded useful information, but he said "we could have gotten this information in other ways—in ways that are consistent with our values," Politico reports. The techniques—"I do believe that it is torture,"...

Spanish Judge to Investigate Torture at Gitmo

Declassified memos show there were abuses, Garzon says

(Newser) - A Spanish judge has launched a probe into allegations of torture at the American prison at Guantanamo Bay, AFP reports. Baltasar Garzon initiated the investigation after reading statements by Spanish citizen Hamed Abderrahman Ahmed and three other prisoners about their treatment there. Garzon also said that the memos recently declassified...

French Kidnap, Torture Gang Goes on Trial

Group allegedly targeted Jews, killed 23-year-old in 2006

(Newser) - A French gang accused of kidnapping, torturing, and murdering a Jewish man has gone on trial in Paris, reports the BBC. Presumed ringleader Youssouf Fofana—who allegedly ordered his accomplices to target Jews—faces charges of premeditated murder and committing "acts of torture and barbarism" over the death...

Olbermann Dogs Hannity Over Waterboarding

Fox host silent on MSNBC rival's $1K-per-second offer

(Newser) - Keith Olbermann isn’t letting up as he pushes Sean Hannity to follow through on an offer to be waterboarded for charity, the AP reports. On his show Monday, the MSNBC host again urged his Fox rival to make good on the pledge, though how serious Hannity was isn't clear....

Court Approves Ex-Inmates' Suit Against CIA

Torture allegations trump state secrets argument, panel rules

(Newser) - Five men who allege they were kidnapped and tortured on the orders of CIA agents may bring suit in federal court, an appeals panel ruled yesterday. Presidents Bush and Obama both contended that the case should be dismissed to protect classified evidence. But a federal appeals court panel ruled presidential...

We're All to Blame for Torture
 We're All to Blame for Torture 
OPINION
Apr 28, 2009 12:30 PM CDT

We're All to Blame for Torture

Tactics are no surprise; let's not dump our guilt on CIA

(Newser) - Suddenly, Democrats in Congress are calling for the prosecution of CIA agents for torture. But that torture was never a secret, and when it was politically prudent, Democrats had no problem backing it—and neither did many Americans, writes Naomi Wolf in the Guardian. We’ve all got “blood...

House Dems Want to Impeach Judge for Torture Memos

GOP, Obama can't halt proceeding vs. Bybee

(Newser) - House Democrats may start a constitutional confrontation over the fate of Judge Jay Bybee, and there’s nothing anybody—not even lukewarm President Obama—can do to stop them, reports Politico. As liberal think-tanker John Podesta argues, Bybee “authorized things that were illegal under US law” when he wrote...

Cheney Should Have Run in 2008
 Cheney Should 
 Have Run in 2008 
OPINION
Apr 28, 2009 6:31 AM CDT

Cheney Should Have Run in 2008

VP would have lost big and awakened right, says Douthat

(Newser) - As he bashes the Obama administration and insists that torture kept the country safe, Dick Cheney sounds less like a retired VP than a man campaigning for a third Bush term. For Ross Douthat, it's a pity he didn't run himself. In his first column for the New York Times,...

Holder Visits Another Famous Torture Facility

On trip seeking help to close Gitmo, AG stops by Tower of London

(Newser) - Eric Holder arrived in London yesterday and paid a visit to a prison as notorious in its time as Guantanamo Bay, the AP reports. The attorney general listened quietly as his guide at the infamous Tower of London described scenes of torture—such as the interrogation of Guy Fawkes, who...

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