Dispatches from the Bush Posse #17

Ten 'Torture' Techniques Blessed by Bush from the Times [of London]

"These ten techniques are: (l) attention grasp, (2) walling, (3) facial hold, (4) facial slap (insult slap), (5) cramped confinement, (6) wall standing, (7) stress positions, (8) sleep deprivation, (9) insects placed in a confinement box, and (10) the waterboard."

Four Key Players in the Bush 'Torture' Memos from the Times [of London]

Memos Track 9/11 Claims that Mastermind's Children were Tortured with Insects from RawStory

Deeply disturbing if true.

"Bush Administration memos released by the White House on Thursday provide new insight into claims that American agents used insects to torture the young children of alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed."

Interrogation Memos Detail Psychologists' Involvement; Ethicists Outraged from the Washington Post

This is going to complicate Obama's efforts at protecting CIA interrogators from prosecution.

"The role of health professionals as described in the documents has prompted a renewed outcry from ethicists who say the conduct of psychologists and supervising physicians violated basic standards of their professions."

Turley: Torture Investigation Would 'Go Directly to the Doorsteps of President Bush' from RawStory

"Turley believes that Obama is backing off from any investigation of war crimes “because an investigation will go directly to the doorstep of President Bush … and there’s not going to be a lot of defenses that could be raised for ordering a torture program.”"

CIA Memos Could Bring More Disclosures from the New York Times

This was very predictable after Thursday's releases.

"The new revelations are fueling calls by lawmakers for an extensive inquiry into controversial Bush administration programs, and Mr. Obama now faces a challenge making good on his promise to protect from legal jeopardy those intelligence operatives who acted within Justice Department interrogation guidelines."

'Torture Memos' Embolden Dems from Politico

No surprise here.  One can only wonder where there "courage" has been for the last five years.

"President Barack Obama’s decision to release the so-called “torture memos” has emboldened civil-liberties activists and top Democrats in Congress to step up their demands for ever broader disclosure of the most closely held secrets of the Bush anti-terror fight. "

Bush Officials Defend Physical Abuse Described in Secret Memos from the Guardian [of London]

"Senior members of the Bush administration today defended the physical abuse of prisoners by CIA operatives at Guantánamo and elsewhere round the world set out in graphic detail in secret memos released by president Barack Obama."

The Significance of Obama's Decision to Release the Torture Memos (Glenn Greenwald) from Salon

"In the United States, what Obama did yesterday is simply not done.  American Presidents do not disseminate to the world documents which narrate in vivid, elaborate detail the dirty, illegal deeds done by the CIA, especially not when the actions are very recent, were approved and ordered by the President of the United States, and the CIA is aggressively demanding that the documents remain concealed and claiming that their release will harm national security.  When is the last time a President did that?"

The Bigger Picture (Andrew Sullivan) from the Atlantic

A VERY astute look at the contradictions of the Bush Administration revealed by the torture memos!  See also this other posting by Sullivan which in some ways addresses my comments from the other day about Lindy England.

"Looked at from a distance, the Bush administration wanted to do two things at once: to declare to the world that freedom is on the march, and human rights are coming to the world with American help, while simultaneously declaring to captives that the US has no interest in the law, human rights, accountability, transparency or humanity. They wanted to give hope to all the oppressed of the planet, while surgically banishing all hope from the prisoners they captured and tortured."

Laid Out in the Light from the Economist [of London]

"Memos on CIA interrogation methods have been published. Could prosecutions for torture follow?"

Nightmares Made Law from the Guardian [of London]

"This is the stuff of dark nightmares, the rubber-stamping of policy rather than legal advice in the sense usually understood. It indicates how far the Bush administration fell, the kind of reasoning that infected a raft of policies and to which the British government often turned a blind eye. It has caused untold damage to US national security, and to its reputation."