Buck Naked Politics

New Images from Abu Ghraib

Posted by Damozel | I've seen in one second about all I can stomach of these.  Look at them if you can and draw your own conclusions.  From The Raw Story:

The following images, published today at Wired.com, have been compiled so viewers can see them in their entirety without having to reload pages. Wired obtained them from  an expert defense witness in the Abu Ghraib case, psychologist Philip Zimbardo. Zimbardo speaks tomorrow at a conference, delivering a talk that reflects on his book, "The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil." Read about it here.

In their publication, the magazine wrote, "Many of the images are explicit and gruesome, depicting nudity, degradation, simulated sex acts and guards posing with decaying corpses. Viewer discretion is advised."

Gordon Brown 'Disappointed' in Failure of Bush to Disclose Landing of 'Torture Flights' in British Territory

Posted by Damozel | Yeah, welcome aboard,  Prime Minister. 

Apparently those CIA torture flights---I don't know why I or The Independent put the words 'torture flights' in inverted commas since that's what they were---landed in the British territory of Diego Garcia on their way to the 'harsh interrogation' of suspected terrorists.  (The Independent)  Since former Prime Minister Tony Blair and prominent Labour minister Jack Straw (who seems to wear a lot of hats, politically speaking) had 'categorically denied' this, it was all rather embarrassing for  current Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Foreign Secretary David Mililband.

Bush on Darfur & More: The Matt Frei Interview

by Damozel | BBC journalist Matt Frei interviewed George W. Bush, who defends US policy in Darfur and his own "seminal decision"€™ (sic) not to commit troops to Darfur (BBC transcript).  I can'€™t upload the 15 minute video here, but you can see it here or read a summary here. But that didn’t last. Grim as most of the subjects the two of them canvassed were, and are, several of the things he said evoked mocking laughter or incredulous giggling.  But other parts just made me shake my head in disbelief.   Still others made me feel vaguely ill.  Others evoked the usual helpless rage.  The worst part is that I can still see, in a way, why people the people who liked him liked him, and why some might like him still.  It was kind of an emotional roller coaster.

A Great Fall: McCain Votes Against Bill to Ban Waterboarding

Posted by Damozel |  Here's a development that has genuinely saddened me.  I must not be as cynical as I claim.   Today, John McCain voted against a bill that did exactly what he himself has advocated doing in the past:  adopted the Army Field Manual interrogation standards for the US government. Anti-torture advocates, such as the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, supported this crucial  billl.

In a Republican presidential debate on Nov. 28, McCain said that the Army Field Manual should be the gold standard for interrogations:

CIA Director Admits to Use of Waterboarding

Posted by D. Cupples |  Yesterday, while most media obsessed over Super Tuesday, intelligence officials testified before Congress.  Director of National Intelligence Michael McConnell begged for retroactive legal immunity for telecom companies that broke laws while helping the Bush Administration spy on Americans.

CIA Director Michael Hayden also testified, admitting to Congress that his agency had engaged in waterboarding, an interrogation technique that many people think is torture and, as such, is illegal.  ABC News reports:

Do the American People Deserve Better? Mukasey's Testimony

Posted by Damozel | There's certainly an argument that we get the government we deserve.  It's just that I feel that I personally deserve better.

About the best we can say about Attorney General Michael Mukasey’s testimony Wednesday in the Senate is that he was no Alberto Gonzales, with the frequent memory lapses and possibly intentional misstatements. But that is a very low bar.(New York Times)

It certainly is.

Canadian Ministry's Training Document Included the States on "Torture List"

by Cockney Robin |  A training document produced by the Canadian Foreign Ministry lists the US as a country where prisoners are at risk of being tortured. (BBC News)  Also included on the list: Israel, China, Iran and Afghanistan.  (BBC News)  The Bush Administration must be so proud.

Blackwater Reportedly Destroyed Evidence

by D. Cupples |  After Blackwater guards allegedly shot Iraqi civilians in September, the company repainted and repaired  the vehicles that were on the scene (including removal of at least one radiator) -- essentially destroying evidence that might have helped investigators determine whether or not the guards were responding to enemy gunfire.

Now, investigators will have to rely more on witness statements.  Making matters worse, efforts to obtain some testimony have been "hampered by a State Department deal that gave Blackwater guards limited immunity for their statements following the incident." (Washington Post)

This latest news isn't surprising, because Blackwater has come under fire for all sorts of questionable conduct.

"J'accuse!": George McGovern Urges Impeachment of Bush & Cheney

by Damozel (photo from Wikimedia Commons) | Remember George McGovern?  He lost in a landslide to a certain Republican incumbent called "Richard Nixon."   He also lost in a landslide at my South Carolina junior high school presidential straw poll. (Naturally, I voted for him).   

And today, more years later than I care to count, my adolescent belief in McGovern's courage and integrity---written off in the day as teenage rebellion--- has been confirmed by the "J'accuse" he has published in The Washington Post.  Calling the Bush administration the most destructive in our national history, he lays out the case for impeachment.