"They cut all over my private parts." But the evidence is suppressed

By GottaLaff

This piece by Naomi Wolf is a jaw-dropper. Maybe Judy Miller should read it and realize what a misguided liar she is. Maybe the Obama administration should read it and rethink their decisions:

For four years now, I have been following the fates of the hundreds of men who have been -- and the 200 plus men who still are -- being held at Guantánamo Bay, and, the record is now clear, most of whom have been tortured. But until this week I had never actually heard such a single man's actual voice. [...]

No one is permitted to talk to them. Prisoners in the US have many rights to speak, even from prison; but silencing the Guantánamo detainees has been a key to maintaining a working injustice, as well as a key to manipulating US popular opinion. [...] But if the perpetrators are to continue to spin America, the prisoners' voices have to continue to be silenced. [...]

Recently I have been in touch with Binyam Mohamed, who is the UK resident who was released from Guantánamo in February -- after seven years' captivity without charges -- and who last Friday won a major victory when a British court ruled that the US and the UK could not continue to conceal from the public seven paragraphs in documents that describe the horrific torture of Mr Mohamed in 'black sites' and at Guantánamo. He is also suing Boeing for its part in rendering him to 'black sites.' [...]

[O]fficials have told reporters that one action that the paragraphs describe is the cutting of genitals with a razor; waterboarding, this official said dryly, is well down on the list of atrocities Mr. Mohamed suffered.

President Obama has sought to keep these seven paragraphs under seal. Hillary Clinton has also. Joe Lieberman drafted an amendment to a bill to conceal photographs relating to this abuse.

Why are our leaders still trying so desperately to cover up what Mr. Mohamed's record will show?

The most common argument against revealing this kind of information is that it will fan the flames of hatred of those who already hate us. To me, that's redundant and isn't a good enough reason to interfere with democracy.

Physicians for Human Rights have fully confirmed that prisoners were often violated anally with objects. [...]

As Mr Mohamed told the UK Daily Mail, "they cut off my clothes with some kind of doctor's scalpel. I was totally naked.... One of them took my penis in his hand and began to make cuts. He did it once, and they stood still for maybe a minute, watching my reaction.

"I was in agony, crying, trying desperately to suppress myself, but I was screaming.... They must have done this 20 to 30 times in maybe two hours.... They cut all over my private parts."

See that, Judy Miller? Waterboarding is not the only form of torture, and it did not stop after the first few months. As for our policies...

This form of torture, Mr. Mohamed told David Cole of the Daily Mail, was repeated many times over the next 15 months.

Mr Mohamed said further that when he was later taken into direct US custody, a female official was sent in daily to photograph his intimate wounds, saying that the photos were "for Washington." These photos are almost certainly among the images that President Obama, Lieberman and Mrs Clinton are seeking to suppress.

Here comes the part I really, really don't like to report:

His lawyer, Clive Stafford Smith of the UK rights organization Reprieve, was threatened with six months in prison by the US -- Obama's team -- for writing a letter to President Obama describing what had happened to his client.

In a masterpiece of perversity, the US classified the torture used against the prisoners -- so that IF THEY TELL THEIR OWN STORIES they are illegally releasing 'classified information.'

This is exactly what I have been telling you since my first post about Fayiz al-Kandari. This is the evidence innocent detainees need for their own defense.

Oh, and about inflaming Muslim anger? Naomi agrees with what I said earlier:

The US's argument has been that if the paragraphs and photos of this particular torture emerge, it will inflame Muslim anger against us. It is no secret in the Muslim world, though, what happened to Mr. Mohamed and others situated like him. And as for here in the West? Well, that argument doesn't hold water any more: I just told a million people what is in the seven paragraphs, and in at least some of the photos.

Next excuse?

Please, please read the rest of Naomi's piece here.

H/t: Mark Karlin at BuzzFlash

*****

Lt. Col. Barry Wingard is a military attorney who represents Fayiz Al-Kandari in the Military Commission process and in no way represents the opinions of his home state. When not on active duty, Colonel Wingard is a public defender in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

All my previous posts on this subject matter can be found here; That link includes one specific to only Fayiz al-Kandari's story here. Here are audio and video interviews with Lt. Col. Wingard, one by David Shuster, one by Ana Marie Cox, and more. My guest commentary at BuzzFlash is here.

If you are inclined to help rectify these injustices: Twitterers, use the hashtag #FreeFayiz. We have organized a team to get these stories out. If you are interested in helping Fayiz out, e-mail me at The Political Carnival, address in sidebar to the right; or tweet me at @GottaLaff.

If you'd like to see other ways you can take action, go here and scroll down to the end of the article.

Then read Jane Mayer's book The Dark Side. You'll have a much greater understanding of why I post endlessly about this, and why I'm all over the CIA deception issues, too.

More of Fayiz's story here, at Answers.com.

Hey Judith Miller, call Fayiz al-Kandari. He begs to differ about "model prison" Gitmo, torture

By GottaLaff

Via former jailbird Judith Miller, that paragon of fine reporting, we get "news" that is simultaneously clearly laughable and utterly despicable:

In an interview with PJTV's Bill Whittle on Friday, former New York Times reporter and now Fox News pundit Judith Miller had nothing but praise for the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, and claimed that not only was no one ever subjected waterboarding there, but that any harsh treatment took place only during the first four months of its opening.

Hey Judith, you might try interviewing Lt. Col. Barry Wingard. He'll be happy to introduce you to what many of us like to call "facts".

Oh wait. He's unavailable for awhile, because he's in the middle of Fayiz al Kandari's Gitmo hearings. See, Fayiz has been imprisoned and mistreated for about 8 years now. Most of those 8 years were spent in a cell at Gitmo, where stuff like this happened.

Tell you what, Judy: If you don't think any of those things constitute torture, I'm sure someone would be more than happy to subject you to one tenth of what Fayiz has been through and see what you call it then.

Asked by Whittle if Gitmo still had a bad reputation overseas, Miller expressed dismay that, indeed, Gitmo carried the stigma of many media reports of torture and abuse at the facility, "Even though this hasn't been true for many, many years now," she explained. "No one was ever waterboarded at Guantanamo, according to Guantanamo officials," Miller continued. "Torture as ordinary people would call it took place only during four months when it first opened...like sleep deprivation, being doused with ice cold water...things that don't meet current standards."

Here's an excerpt from an op-ed Barry wrote a short time ago, aptly called "It’s Not Just About Waterboarding." He sent it to me in an e-mail:

At Guantanamo, he was again shackled into stress positions for extended periods of time. He was also urinated on and subjected to sleep deprivation, strobe lights, ear piercing music, cell extractions, and extreme heat and cold conditions in his cell via temperature controls, and of course the faith generated female interrogation.

All told, Al-Kandari has been interrogated approximately 400 times and abused throughout the time he was in U.S. custody.

To this day, Fayiz, NOT a high-value detainee, continues to be abused. Oh wait. Judy the Expert believes the Gitmo officers, because they have no reason to lie whatsoever:

"Although it's true that a 2005 Pentagon report concluded, after examining 26 complaints from FBI agents involving a small portion of more than 24,000 interrogations at Gitmo, that a few "high-value detainees" had been subjected to treatment that was "degrading and abusive," it "did not rise to the level of prohibited inhumane treatment" or torture. Furthermore, those techniques -- such as loud music, sleep deprivation, temperature manipulation and prolonged shackling -- ended long ago at Gitmo, officers say."

Just ignore the Kuwaiti guy whose confidential attorney-client correspondence has been stolen, read, re-sealed (by those Boy Scouts who work at Guantanamo Bay), and finally sent on to Lt. Col. Wingard. Who are you going to believe, him or the Gitmo thugs who continue to put him through hell? After all, they'd have no reason to cover their sorry asses, now would they?

Video from Pajamas Media TV, broadcast Oct. 23, 2009:

*****

Lt. Col. Barry Wingard is a military attorney who represents Fayiz Al-Kandari in the Military Commission process and in no way represents the opinions of his home state. When not on active duty, Colonel Wingard is a public defender in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

All my previous posts on this subject matter can be found here; That link includes one specific to only Fayiz al-Kandari's story here. Here are audio and video interviews with Lt. Col. Wingard, one by David Shuster, one by Ana Marie Cox, and more. My guest commentary at BuzzFlash is here.

If you are inclined to help rectify these injustices: Twitterers, use the hashtag #FreeFayiz. We have organized a team to get these stories out. If you are interested in helping Fayiz out, e-mail me at The Political Carnival, address in sidebar to the right; or tweet me at @GottaLaff.

If you'd like to see other ways you can take action, go here and scroll down to the end of the article.

Then read Jane Mayer's book The Dark Side. You'll have a much greater understanding of why I post endlessly about this, and why I'm all over the CIA deception issues, too.

More of Fayiz's story here, at Answers.com.

Video- Judith Miller declares insurance companies have the "right" to lie about health care reform

This explains so much Judy.

VIDEO: Judith Miller cites her time in prison to argue that U.S. facilities can hold terrorists.

By GottaLaff


This is one of those times Judith Miller has some credibility. She has actual hands-on (so to speak) experience:

This morning, the hosts of Fox and Friends brought up FBI Director Robert Mueller’s recent comments warning that if Guantanamo detainees are allowed into U.S. prisons, they may turn to “radicalizing” other inmates. Fox News contributor Joel Mowbray said that it would be dangerous putting detainees into U.S. prisons because guards “know how to handle rapists and murderers and drug dealers,” but “they do not know how to handle terrorists.” Former New York Times reporter Judith Miller took issue with Mowbray’s conclusions, saying, “We know how to do this.” To back up her point, she pulled out her street cred and cited her time serving in prison.

It's all about commercializing and politicizing yet another issue: Us against them. The Big Dueling Speeches. Chris Matthews insisted on asking (paraphrased), who's going to win America to their side?

Yes, Chris, it's all one big game show.

Congratulations.