Beautiful Horizons

Private Manning

While the government clearly has a right to detain and prosecute Private Bradley Manning for his violation of security clearances in the Wikileaks case (although a broader issue of the nature and sanctity of the "secret" classification also obviously exists in a government rife with "official" leaking as a strategy for dealing with select media), there are very serious questions being raised about the terms of his detention and solitary confinement. Glenn Greenwald has the best round-up of information here.  

Solitary confinement is inherently punitive and over extended periods such confinement constitutes a form of imposed stress that is, in effect, torture. It literally can drive an individual crazy.  And using extended punitive or extreme stress measures to extract acquiescence in one's own prosecution or implication of others is essentially the textbook definition of  Inquisition-style "justice."  

This apparent treatment of Manning goes far beyond bargaining away charges or other routine prosecution measures to gain leverage with a defendant.  Manning's case needs to be brought into the light - but the "mainstream media" seems to be avoiding even minimal journalistic responsibility.  (Imagine the press outcry if Judith Miller had been subjected to this treatment when she was incarcerated.)

Precisely Why George W. Bush is a Coward

I watched a segment of Matt Lauer's interview with former President George W. Bush. When asked about waterboarding, Bush commented that it was legal because a lawyer(s) told him so.

Notwithstanding the fact that the matter has not been adjudicated, and while lawyers are certainly capable of giving advice, but it is not definitive. That's why we have courts - and I'm sure the former president does not want to have a day in court on this matter. One can question in which direction Bush's moral compass, assuming he has one, is pointing. If his lawyer told him it was legal to crush a detainee's testicles would he have that done?

But here's where his cravenness comes to light. Lauer attempted to ask Bush how he would respond if  US soldier faced such treatment, upon which Bush interrupted him by saying that he didn't want to debate this question.

One can certainly understand why: any time a US soldier is a POW and gets tortured, Bush has pissed away our moral authority to protest torture. He, of course, despite the swagger, is too much of a coward to acknowledge this.

Brilliant

Not content to let John Yoo figuratively wipe his ass with the Convention Against Torture, an enterprising artist has found a way for him to do so literally:

Sweet

John Yoo and Dick Cheney get punked:

The takeaway from the Yoo portion, by the way is watching him run out of the room only to return with a middle-aged woman to defend him.

A Sensible Proposal

What James Wimberly said here.

Back tomorrow.

More on Making a Difference

As a follow up to this post, Physicians for Human Rights has a link here for New York State Residents to push for the passage of Assembly Bill A6665 and its corresponding Senate bill, S4496.

It will enable you to send an e-mail to your Assemblymember and Senator. Please do so; they'll pay attention.

The text of the bill can be found here.

Making a Difference

Are you as tired of cursing the darkness as I am? Here's one possible candle.

New York State Assemblymember, Richard Gottfried is sponsoring along with several other members assembly bill A06665. Simply put, as New York State licenses ay number of healthcare providers, and as healthcare providers are often involved with the practice of torture, participation by a NYS licensed healthcare provider in torture is illegal under state law and may result in sanctions including, but not limitedto revocation of their license.

The bill also has two important provisions:

• A requirement by healthcare providers to report incidents of torture.
• Protection for whistleblowers.

If you live in New York, I urge you to contact your assemblymember and state senator and urge them to support this legislation. If you don't live in New York, please bear in mind that all states license healthcare providers. Urge your state repreentatives to develop and pass legislatio along these lines.

Would you want yourself, a friend or a family member to be treated by someone who facilitated torture?

When Healers Harm

Last Thursday,May 14, I attended a symposium entitled When Healers Harm: Accountability for Health Professional Abuse of People in Custody, sponsored by the Center for Constitutional Rights and  Physicians for Human Rights (PHR).

Monster

Dick Cheney!
Here..

Harold E. Fischer, Jr.

Harold E. Fischer, Jr. died on April 30. He does not appear to be a man who sought out celebrity, but had it thrust upon man. He was a fighter pilot in the Korean War who was shot down and landed in Chinese territory.

Captured by the Chinese he was eventually tortured with this result:

Nine months into his captivity, Captain Fischer managed to escape by digging a hole through the wall of his cell. He was re-captured at a railroad station. Relentless interrogation, led by a guard named Chong, began.

“He wanted me to admit that I had been ordered to cross the Manchurian border,” Captain Fischer told Life magazine. “I was grilled day and night, over and over, week in and week out, and in the end, to get Chong and his gang off my back, I confessed to both charges. The charges, of course, were ridiculous. I never participated in germ warfare and neither did anyone else. I was never ordered to cross the Yalu. We had strict Air Force orders not to cross the border.”

“I will regret what I did in that cell the rest of my life,” the captain continued. “But let me say this: it was not really me — not Harold E. Fischer Jr. — who signed that paper. It was a mentality reduced to putty.”

Fischer was tortured by the Chinese. The SERE program  - which served as the basis for the Bush administration's enhanced interrogation torture program - was developed from torture practices of the Chinese.

Fischer confessedd to committing acts that he did not do. Of course the mouth breathers on the right will still trot out the "ticking time bomb" scenario or some other example based more on fantasy and less on reality.

Perhaps they should spend a few days in Mr. Fischer's shoes before trumpeting the effectiveness of torture. On the other hand, perhaps their mentalities have already been reduced to putty.