It has now come to light that the detainee abuse in Guantanamo Bay, Iraq and Afghanistan started when the Bush administration ordered our interrogators to use a document called: "Communist Coercive Methods for Eliciting Individual Compliance."

This was a 1957 document that showed how the Chinese Communists tortured people -- in order to get false confessions! The only thing we changed was that we dropped the title of the document. Otherwise it is exactly the same. We have been using communist torture tactics that are designed to get false confessions. Meanwhile, The Bush administration has been calling it "enhanced interrogations" and saying we got "valuable intelligence" from it.

More details on the story here:




If you want to read the story of how we came to use this document for our own interrogations, you can click here. This is deplorable. Will anyone ever suffer the consequences for ordering this illegal torture? Will the press question John McCain on why he voted to allow the CIA to continue doing this? I wouldn't bank on it.

But if we do this, and no one ever gets punished for it, can we really say that America doesn't torture anymore?

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We just found out that the person in charge of investigating detainee treatment in the past for the Pentagon said the Bush administration is committing "war crimes." And that the four major Western oil companies have conveniently received no-bid contracts to take the oil out of Iraq.

And what has the press done with these stories? Not a damn thing. War crimes -- don't sweat it. A war that cost thousands of lives so that the oil companies can get no-bid contracts -- don't even look into it. The news editors in this country are a national embarrassment. They wouldn't know news if it slapped them across the face. They're too busy typing out the latest government press release as if it's real news.

Here is the war crimes story and what the press did about it:




Here is the Iraqi oil story and what the press did about it (can you see a pattern here):




The press is supposed to challenge power, not suck up to it. It seems they have completely forgotten this part of the job description. Television is the worst, I don't know why we call those paid actors and models reporters anymore. Other than a handful of quality journalists, the rest of them have no idea what the news is and they are matched in their incompetence and cowardice by their own news editors. God forbid someone actually wants to report on the news, that's when the editors come in to spike the story. This system is fundamentally broken and it will take a long time to repair, if ever.

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The Democrats going on Fox News Channel is a terrible idea for many reasons. They legitimize a propaganda outlet for the Republican Party by agreeing to the fiction that they are a real news organization. They field twisted and slanted questions that set them up for answers that will later be used against them.

Obama fell into this trap last week when he told Chris Wallace that the Rev. Wright controversy was a legitimate political issue. He is trying to be nice to a Fox News anchor, which is just stupid. He is going to use it against you! And he already has. Wallace used Obama's statements to justify several more questions he asked Howard Dean about Rev. Wright this weekend.

But the one reason I never found persuasive for not going on Fox is that the Democrats can't handle it. But there's some chance I'm wrong about that. You can't go and talk to Bill O'Reilly if you're not prepared to challenge him on the obvious bullcrap he's going to toss your way. And that's exactly what Hillary Clinton did. She went in unprepared and pretty much lost a debate on torture. Watch below:





One of our viewers, Tony Daughtrey, made a good point after watching this on our show. O'Reilly keeps calling waterboarding a dunk in the water. You know who else we used to dunk in the water to get confessions? Witches.

Does O'Reilly think we got reliable information out of those women by dunking them in the water during the Salem Witch Trials? Remember, they almost all confessed. So, I guess they must have all been witches after all.

There's a reason why we don't torture people anymore. It's barbaric and useless. They'll tell you whatever you want to hear -- I did it, Iraq is connected to Al Qaeda, I'm a witch, I'm a terrorist, etc., etc.

Finally, we invaded Iraq based on the faulty intelligence we got from one of the guys we tortured. You can read about it here. That wrong information cost the lives of countless people. Is it too much to ask Democrats that they at least learn that one fact and bring that up the next time someone attempts an asinine defense of torture?

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What conservatives don't understand is that America was not made in God's image. It was not born perfect. It is not and should not be immune to change. Challenging the government of America isn't un-American, it's the very definition of being American.

Through these challenges and these changes we continue to make America better and better. We are not the greatest country by birthright or accident of geography; we are the greatest because we hold ourselves to a higher standard.

So, when we do something as hideous as what I explain below, it is our duty as Americans to challenge our government and demand that they do better. We cannot allow them to do this in our name:




Here is the original 60 Minutes story on what we did to Murat Kurnaz. But his story is, unfortunately, not unique. We have done this to countless people at Bagram Air Base, Qaim, Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay. We are better than this. Don't let George Bush tell the rest of the world that this is what we are and what we stand for. We must defend the honor and good name of America, otherwise this is what we become.

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John McCain has sold the last piece of his soul to the right-wing extremists in this country. He just voted to allow waterboarding by the CIA, acting against everything he has ever said or backed in his life up until now. This is not the man I voted for in 2000. This is a sad, sad remnant of that man.

Here's the details of McCain's vote for torture (and find out where Obama and Clinton came out on it, you might be surprised):




At least, John McCain, Joe Lieberman and the rest of the people who voted for torture lost this one (which is shocking, given the consistent failure of the Democratic Congress to stand up to Bush; but you have to give them credit on this one).

Final note to John McCain: You already won the lunatic primary, you're supposed to be running to the center now. The conventional wisdom that you're supposed to be placating your insatiable conservative base is dead wrong and will kill your chances in the general election.

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"Turns out that the Discovery Channel isn't so interested in discovery"

I just learnt that the Academy Award nominated documentary Taxi to the Dark Side had it's rights bought by the Discovery Channel. They told the filmmaker they liked the documentary and wanted to present it to the broad audience on television. Well, the suits at the Discovery Channel changed their minds, saying it's "too controversial", now they own the rights and the film can't be aired for three years.

Here is the films trailer.
and my Sifting friends are asking - Is It OK for Iran to Waterboard Americans?

More following up of the Canadian Torture List controversy that's stirred things up around here a little. Since the US, Guantanamo and Israel are being removed from the list, Iran now calls our list biased, got that link via an editorial from Seattle.

TRN spoke with Michael Ratner and asked for some background and details in regards to the controversy.

Well, that didn't last long. America complained "forcefully" to our government. Upset for being included on the Canadian torture watch list. Because the Canadian Government has no balls, the torture manual will be re-written with America's name removed. CBS News Reports....

The listing drew a sharp response from the U.S., a key NATO ally and trading partner, which asked to be removed from the manual.

"We find it to be offensive for us to be on the same list with countries like Iran and China. Quite frankly it's absurd," U.S. Ambassador David Wilkins told The Associated Press. "For us to be on a list like that is just ridiculous." He said the U.S. does not authorize or condone torture.

"We think it should be removed and we've made that request. We have voiced our opinion very forcefully," Wilkins said...Read More on CBSNews....

So there you have it, if you want to read this news from other sources they are starting to creep in on Google News. I don't have much to add, I just felt obligated to provide this follow up from last weeks posting about America being put on the Torture Watch List, I know torture talk upsets a lot of people in America and if I hurt any feelings, I apologize. Just wanted to pop by and remind you all, waterboarding was once torture.

The video today is a Fox News clip discussing Waterboarding.

From the NewsHounds.us archive.

*Post Updated: Jan 21st

*update - Canada has removed USA from the list.

I've blogged enough about torture to give off the impression that it's something I am concerned about, and today I've learnt Canada has added America and Guantanamo Bay to the Torture Watch List. My observations conclude, Americans are stuck in a debate between "Torture" and "advanced interrogation techniques." Truth of the matter is, if America simply went back to following the rules our World War fighting (grand)fathers left us there wouldn't be a debate.

Naturally your efforts of reading my post will be rewarded with a moving picture, here is one from the Keith Olbermann Archive.

In honour of Guantanamo Bay's sixth birthday (Happy Birthday GB!!) I've found a documentary that I am sure will serve as educational and interesting. Also this post comes day a few ex-detainees failed to sue Rumsfeld.

Guantanamo Bay is an interesting place, it's been under control by the USA thanks to a old treaties dating back to the Spanish/American war, The USA pays Castro roughly $4,000 a year to lease Guantanamo bay. Castro however has never cashed a single check because America has broken the treaty in so many ways Cuba now calls America's use of Guantanamo Bay an "Occupation."

Below is the Trailer, to watch the full length Docudrama click here and for synopsis and links visit this Wikipedia page.

/More January Docs

Here is a review of January 2007 presented by Democracy Now! with Amy Goodman. Below is the just the review of January 2007, you can watch the full year in review on Youtube.

2007 began with Saddam Hussein and the ever so civilized "Death by Hanging" - Some say the death of Saddam made Iraq even worse. Here are some statistics that do show more casualties in 2007 over the previous years of the war.

Next, Nancy Pelosi takes over the house, the first woman in such a position.
Next, America bombs Somalia...What? It's true.
Next, Although the majority of people want war to end, Bush adds 20,000 new troops in Iraq.
Next, Alberto Gonzales gets ripped into by Patrick Leahy in regards to the Maher Arar torture case. You should watch this video.

Next, Hrant Dink is assassinated.
Next, Bush adds another SOTU notch in his belt, much to the delight of everybody.
Next, Dennis Kucinich and others March during a anti-war rally that attracted thousands.

Go Forward to February.

You can also read my article "How Torture Cost Lives" to see evidence of how torture cost us countless American lives, rather than saving them.

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WASHINGTON (AP) - The House approved an intelligence bill Thursday that would prohibit the CIA from using waterboarding, mock executions and other harsh interrogation methods. The 222-199 vote sent the measure to the Senate, which still must act before it can go to President Bush. The White House has threatened a veto...Associated Press...

/via thinkprogress.org

... thanks to my rant from yesterday.

I don't get it, forgot David Levin already? In America the people say they are tired of the war and fed up with George Bush, yet he still sits in the White House. He is breaking International law and it's driving me nuts, when I grew up I was under the impression America was policing the world protecting us from the type of people who would torture us, or at least that is how the country was marketed to youth.

The good guys are suppose to be better than torture, use American super power brains, to fight the angry Arabs without resorting to pre-WWII tactics. Remember, our grand fathers didn't fight for that. Today with technology and science, we have an upper hand. We beat the friggen Nazi's, these islamofascists (or whatever you call 'em) should be a breeze, why are you bankrupting your country? You should be fighting for a world that people want to be apart of, not one that we are afraid of. How on earth did the great American democracy descend into such a dividing war.

Not long ago, Bill Clinton was President, but he was almost booted out of office because of a blowjob and/or a lie about a blowjob (he lied Under Oath! OMG.) Don't tell me America is going to roll over and let the douchebag George W Bush get away with this. A little birdy told me there was a man running for President trying to impeach the Bush, hmmm. Please enlighten me, by explaining to this Canuck why Clinton got impeached and Bush is still ruling the world?

In the light of the latest torture controversy.

Transcript portion from Crooksandliars.com

Schieffer: "Is THAT our message to the world? That we are a government of laws except when it is inconvenient? If so, then what was done in the name of security has greatly harmed security. Weapons keep our enemies at bay, but our real security risks are whether the rest of the world comes to share our values, or the values of those who oppose us."