United States: Equal Opportunity Torture

The case of Aafia Siddiqui, the Pakistani woman who was likely tortured in U.S. custody, underscores the depravity of the current defects in our approach to intelligence gathering. Even the best intentioned of torturers should be educated about the value of information obtained through such methods. A victim of torture will tell his torturers anything they want to hear, eventually, but rarely tell the truth. They are merely desperate to make their suffering end.

We've tortured kids. Now it seems we've tortured women as well. Not only that, but the U.S. has denied ever having her in custody before last month. That claim has been vigorously disputed. Credible claims have been made that she has been in custody for years.

Look at the picture of her taken last month.


Tell me she wasn't horribly abused. The released photograph is interesting in itself. Why would such a photo be released? It was probably to make Aafia look bad. That's not how it comes across, however. She looks traumatized, and she probably was.

CNN: The New Fox News

Atrios brought a CNN press release to my attention. Here are the new additions to the high quality team of unbiased journalists:

· David Brody, senior national correspondent for the Christian Broadcasting Network. A veteran journalist of more than 20 years, Brody writes the political blog, “The Brody File.”
· Alex Castellanos, a Republican strategist and former campaign consultant for Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign. Castellanos is a partner in National Media Inc., a political and corporate consulting firm.
· Dana Milbank, a Washington Post staff writer and author of the thrice-weekly “Washington Sketch” column. A veteran of political coverage, he has also worked for The New Republic and The Wall Street Journal, and his latest book is Homo Politicus: The Strange and Scary Tribes That Run Our Government.
· Hilary Rosen, a Democratic strategist and currently the political director and Washington editor-at-large for HuffingtonPost.com. In a previous role, she was chairman and CEO of the Recording Industry Association of America.
· Tara Wall, deputy editorial page editor and columnist for The Washington Times. Previously, she served as director of the office of public affairs at the Administration for Children and Families, a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and as director of outreach communications for the Republican National Committee.

Dana Milbank is the brainiac who wrote the article painting Obama as arrogant and presumptuous based on a quote taken completely out of context. Just to rehash, here are the original words:

It has become increasingly clear in my travel, the campaign, that the crowds, the enthusiasm, 200,000 people in Berlin, is not about me at all. It's about America. I have become a symbol of the possibility of America returning to our best traditions.

And here's what Milbank wrote:

Inside, according to a witness, he told the House members, "This is the moment . . . that the world is waiting for," adding: "I have become a symbol of the possibility of America returning to our best traditions."

That succinct bit of comparison came from Mathew Yglesias, and about a million other people.

Steve Benen wrote at length about the wingnutification of CNN. Anybody who watches the channel probably already knew how far the channel has gone to the right. I personally quit watching it when I became concerned I might smash my television set one day. Somebody referred to CNN as the "liberal media" the other day, which caused me to laugh until tears poured down my cheeks. They apparently never watch anything but Fox News, or they would know that CNN could bring them great pleasure.

Tony Snow worked there before he died. We all know Tony "Never Tell The Truth" Snow. I think I waited long enough to finally say this without being called insensitive. I hope he's in a heaven full of liberals, progressives, African Americans, GLBT people, poor people and honest folks. He would probably consider that hell.

Frances Frago Townsend also got a job from CNN. Townsend, the former White House homeland security advisor, approves of torture, and everything else the Bush administration does or has done. Townsend said of our use of torture, "... we start with the least harsh measures first..." and stop "... if someone becomes cooperative." Nothing screams objective journalism like employing an advocate of torture.

Hey, at least they threw in one token Democrat. Yeah, that will get me to watch it again.

Spray and Pray

Wednesday Army Brigadier General Gregory Zanetti gave honest testimony about the method used to charge prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. Air Force Brigadier General Thomas Hartmann wanted cases that would "capture the public's imagination." Some of the sexiest cases involved very young men, like Mohammed Jawad and Omar Ahmed Khadr, who were only teenagers when the threw hand grenades at Americans. Hartmann pushed for speedy charges, and bullied anyone whose opinion differed from his own.

The testimony shines a light on the driving force behind some of the "war crimes" trials centering on Guantanamo prisoners. The trials were meant to be publicity for the Bush administration's detention of "enemy combatants." Hartmann wanted cases that would make the public adore the idea of Guantanamo and military tribunals. Hartmann probably hadn't expected the Supreme Court of the United States to disagree with George Bush, and probably didn't think his role would ever come into question. What's the use of a kangaroo court if the masterminds become exposed?

Update: The Miami Herald ran the same story from a different angle. Hartmann has been disqualified from further involvement with the cases.

''The judge found that in the interests of justice General Hartmann is disqualified from further action in this case,'' said Air Force Maj. Gail Crawford, a military attorney serving as spokeswoman for the trials.

The information further buttresses the notion that the proceedings are a sham. Many writers use the term "kangaroo court" when referring to the military tribunals. Such a proud time for the rule of law...