Colbert: The Word — Catch 2012
| The Colbert Report | Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| The Word – Catch 2012 | ||||
|
||||
January 9th, 2012
Posts filed under 'Rights and Liberties'
The Torture Report: What the Documents Say About America’s Post-9/11 Torture Program
An important forthcoming book The Torture Report: What the Documents Say About America’s Post-9/11 Torture Program described by the author:
The “war on terror,” brought to light by Freedom of Information Act litigation. As the lead author of the ACLU’s report on these documents, Larry Siems is in a unique position to chronicle who did what, to whom and when. This book, written with the pace and intensity of a thriller, serves as a tragic reminder of what happens when commitments to law, common sense, and human dignity are cast aside, when it becomes difficult to discern the difference between two groups intent on perpetrating extreme violence on their fellow human beings.
Divided into three sections, The Torture Report presents a stunning array of eyewitness and first-person reports—by victims, perpetrators, dissenters, and investigators—of the CIA’s White House-orchestrated interrogations in illegal, secret prisons around the world; the Pentagon’s “special projects,” in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba; plots real and imagined, and much more.
January 9th, 2012
Occupy Livestream staff arrested
Word comes that the NYPD has arrested those in the GlobalRevolution headquarters responsible for providing live feeds of Occupy events. Thyis action is not that surprising. After the encampments were crushed in most major cities around the country, the powers that be will likely move to destroy the infrastructure that supported the movement to prevent future protests. As the reaction to the Occupy protests demonstrated, free speech by dissidents is only tolerated when it is ineffective.
1 comment January 4th, 2012
Xenakis: Healers, Torture and National Security
Gen. Stephen Xenakis (Ret.), psychiatrist, has written a new article on health providers and torture. He succinctly reminds us of the history of the dangers of blurred boundaries and the the reasons to keep health providers far away from participation in interrogations:
Healers, Torture and National Security
by Stephen N. Xenakis
In 2004, the news that Americans had committed abuse and mistreatment in Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo was shocking. Even more alarming, were the revelations that physicians, psychiatrists, and other mental health professionals had assisted with interrogations that bordered on torture.
In the span of just two generations, the United States had drifted from condemning Nazi physicians at the Nuremberg Trials for their collusion with torture, inhuman experimentation and cruel mistreatment to justifying waterboarding in the pursuit of better intelligence.
As a retired brigadier general and Army psychiatrist, committed to a strong military and national defense, I find these scandals to be most disturbing. The complicity of psychiatrists and other physicians clearly deviated from the fundamental ethical principles of the medical profession and military medicine. My generation of soldiers, who had served during the Vietnam War, vowed not to repeat the misdeeds of the My Lai massacres and rampant indiscipline we witnessed.
However, after the attack on the World Trade Towers, fear and anger dominated the country’s emotional climate and the principles of our profession were hijacked. The incessant drumbeat of political rhetoric that “the war on terror is a war like no other” and that “we must take all measures possible to stop the enemy” made it somehow easier for psychiatrists to apply their skills and training to exploit the vulnerabilities of prisoners. To this day, former government officials justify cruel and inhuman treatment of detainees at Bagram and Guantanamo with unsubstantiated assertions that their confessions led to the trail of Osama bin Laden. The public supported such conduct and the television show “24″ gained wide popularity as viewers were captivated by threats of violence and new gimmicks for bringing the bad guys down. Even the presidential candidates in 2008 were ambushed by questions that judged their fitness to be commander in chief by their willingness to torture a suspect who planted a “ticking bomb.”
But, there is no evidence to confirm the assertions that torture of prisoners has helped the war effort at all.
The plain fact is that nothing that has been claimed in the name of defending our country can justify cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of another man or woman. Torture, in any form – light or heavy – is not a tool of interrogation or useful for gathering good intelligence. It is a propaganda tool and degrades the perpetrator as well as the victim. This is not just the rhetoric of bleeding heart progressives. It is the opinion of over fifty retired admirals, generals(1) and senior government officials convened by Human Rights First to discuss this issue, and our conclusions can be stated simply:
- Torture Is Un-American. Gen. George Washington laid down the directive that American soldiers will treat the enemy humanely and conform to high moral & ethical principles on the battlefield.
- Torture Is Ineffective. Experienced interrogators acknowledge that information extracted by the use of torture is unreliable.
- Torture Is Unnecessary. Veteran FBI agents and military interrogators have spoken out publicly against the use of physical pressure in interrogation.
- Torture Is Damaging. “… a person who is tortured is damaged, but so are the torturer, the nation and the military. [3]“
Torture has long been associated with political repression and with regimes without any semblance of an independent judiciary or media. The Soviet Union’s imprisonment of dissenters and forced use of psychotropic medication on them, the Khmer Rouge’s torture of thousands of people in Cambodia and the Augusto Pinochet regime’s brutality against prisoners in Chile all bear witness to the association between totalitarian or authoritarian regimes and their use of torture.
As the human rights lawyer Leonard Rubenstein and I wrote [4] in March 2010, “the medical staff at the C.I.A. and the Pentagon played a critical role in developing and carrying out torture procedures. Psychologists and at least one doctor designed or recommended coercive interrogation methods including sleep deprivation, stress positions, isolation and waterboarding. The military’s Behavioral Science Consultation Teams evaluated detainees, consulted their medical records to ascertain vulnerabilities and advised interrogators when to push harder for intelligence information. Psychologists designed a program for new arrivals at Guantánamo [5]that kept them in isolation to ‘enhance and exploit’ their ‘disorientation and disorganization.’ Medical officials monitored interrogations and ordered medical interventions so they could continue even when the detainee was in obvious distress. In one case, an interrogation log obtained by Time magazine shows [6] a medical corpsman ordered intravenous fluids to be administered to a dehydrated detainee even as loud music was played to deprive him of sleep.”
We cannot dismiss the psychiatrists and psychologists, who participated in interrogations in Guantanamo and helped devise the abusive practices, as mere rogues or outliers. They were actors on a much larger stage. They were swept up by a pervasive and persuasive attitude that subsumed the country and energized a military plan to “hunt down the criminals wherever they may be hiding.” The Department of Defense (DoD) issued policy accordingly and the Office of Assistant Secretary for Health Affairs contended that the legitimate objective of fighting terrorism trumps the ethical responsibility of the healing practitioner. In their eyes, “the ends justify the means” and a few brutalized prisoners were a small price to pay for protecting the citizens of the United States.
But, in truth, the use of torture and practices of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment detracted from the military mission and compromised the international stature of our country, while also undermining the effectiveness, credibility and ethical foundations of the medical professionals. To a certain extent, the administration realizes this. Now, ten years into the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the White House has changed the national strategy and President Obama has insisted, “human rights is both fundamental to American leadership and a source of our strength in the world.” In his words, it “does not merely represent our better angels …” Standing up for human rights has come front and center both as a matter of national strategy and measure of human decency. Historically, the human rights stance against torture has been unequivocal, one of the few absolutes in human rights law: It is never permitted, never excused, never to be balanced against national needs or interests – even in cases of national emergency. Torture is also forbidden under the laws of war. It is considered a war crime under the Geneva Conventions [7].
This is important and good, but it is not enough. The political leadership of our nation does not have an appetite for investigating the misdeeds that were committed in the past ten years. A change for the better that is not informed by an honest assessment of the sins of the past is not likely to be either permanent or fully integrated into the power structure. Several human rights groups have called for a Commission of Truth and Reconciliation to spur corrective action. By this, they are referring to comprehensive programs that were undertaken in South Africa and in the former Soviet Union to bring to justice the perpetrators of misdeeds and examine the range of responsibility that society as a whole had for the injustices of the past. Mental health professionals understand the power of confession and repentance, for individuals, communities and institutions. Something is needed that goes beyond apology, regret or even a vow to do better. A Commission of Truth and Reconciliation is a step toward corrective action.
By reflecting on the ethical principles and traditions of the healing professions, a stronger case can be put forward against torture and mistreatment:
- First, do no harm. The victims of torture and mistreatment breed political instability and discontent, weakening governments and societies.
- Beneficence. Torture and mistreatment violate the intents and purposes of medical healers and participation in any way corrupts the ethical foundations of the practitioners and professions.
- Professional role. Physicians are not interrogators, any more than they are fighter pilots or infantrymen. The military and other governmental agencies have other professionals to do those tasks and calling on physicians to fill such roles is irresponsible and ineffective.
- Trust. Physicians enjoy special trust and confidence across almost all societies. That trust is undermined with participation in harmful, coercive and abusive conduct that is neither doctor-like nor appropriate.
In 1947, our nation and its allies tried and sentenced the Nazi physicians who violated basic principles of medical ethics. In 2003, the political dynamics and national sentiment induced physicians and psychiatrists and other health care professionals to commit actions that violated core ethics. The healing professions can lead corrective action, help the country recover the “high ground” and prevent future lapses in professional conduct and policies that violated human rights. Human rights are vital to national security in the 21st century.
Much has improved since the dark days of 9/11, but our nation has been damaged. Where once the symbol of our great democracy was the Statue of Liberty – it has now become the image of that poor hooded man in detention with wires strung from his hands and feet. Our men and women on the front lines are endangered because of the increased risk of retaliatory measures. We are not safer because of these misguided policies and how we have acted as a country.
1. I have recent experience that confirms my opinions on the ineffectiveness of harsh interrogation techniques, their unethical nature and harmful consequences. In the past five years, I have been asked to assess several detainees and review the medical records of many more on behalf of defense attorneys. Many detainees subjected to harsh interrogation, as designed and approved by clinicians working for the CIA and DoD, still suffer with the prolonged injuries and adverse psychological effects of their treatment. The evidence of negative effects of the harsh interrogations has been compelling. Moreover, the information gleaned in interrogations that involved harsh treatment has not been allowed in court proceedings.
December 15th, 2011
Music: Miley Cyrus Rock Mafia – It’s a Liberty Walk
This is Dedicated to the thousands of people who are standing up for what they believe in.
Miley Cyrus
December 15th, 2011
Menino’s Day of Infamy
Boston’s Mayor Menino is proud of his police’s ability to use overwhelming force to crush nonviolent protesters at Occupy Boston. He crows about the ease with which they arrested 46, as if ease in crushing dissent is what matters.
After crushing the demonstrators, Menino criticized their “leadership”:
He said that the protesters who had camped out in Dewey Square since late September had the “wrong leadership.”
“The leadership changed every hour and twice on Sunday,” he said.
Presumably he, like most leaders, is completely unable to understand people’s self-organization.
Menino has returned Dewey Square to the use of the people, so that it can remain empty and largely unused as before.
One of the persistent criticisms of the Greenway is that people just don’t use it enough. Of course now the Occupiers may have used it too much.
Better to be unused than to be used by hundreds, when the hundreds oppose the powerful. Silence is preferable to free speech, as Mayors around the country have clarified.
Menino revealed the iron fist as he pledged to crush any future occupations:
Menino said that protesters, who have scheduled another general assembly at 7 p.m. this evening on the Boston Common to discuss next steps, will not be allowed to take over any city parks.
“They’re trespassing. Any park they go into now is trespassing. The Parks Department has strict rules and regulations about sleeping in the parks,” he said.
“It’s over,” he said. “We have got to figure out how to channel their energies to be positive … I feel like they have an opportunity.”
Occupy Boston was the most important thing to happen to Boston in decades. Mayor Menino has now crushed it. The city of Boston should be ashamed of its Mayor today, just at it should be proud of the occupiers who stood up for the 1%.
The Occupiers have issued a statement:
You cannot evict an idea whose time has come. Boston’s Occupiers will persist in rejecting a world created by and for the 1%. We might have been evicted, but we shall not be moved. We remain invested in the future of our movement. We will continue to challenge Wall Street’s occupation of our government.
The crushing of occupations around the country, often by “liberal” mayors shows once again that liberal politicians, with all too few exceptions, are agents of the powerful 1% as are their “conservative” opponents. Their liberalism means they will be liberal in their use of police power to crush dissent, from Oakland to Boston, from Portland and UC Davis to DC. Phil Ochs understood liberalism decades ago.
December 10th, 2011
Music: “I’ll Occupy” Recruitment Song: The 99 is Pissed and We Will Not Be Dismissed!
Lyrics:
“I’ll Occupy”
I first was pepper sprayed
Just standing on the side
But it took me being blinded
to open up up my eyes
Cause I’d read the daily news,
and not responded actively
and I realized then and there
this revolution needed me
So here I am,
camped in a tent
Which is really so convenient
cause I can’t afford my rent
But they came with shields and mace
In the night while it was dark
A NYPD army
Sent to clear Zuccotti ParkWe’ll protest on, with catchy phases
We’re going global
From London to Uc Davis
If you think that your batons are going to get us to go home
GO on and hit me, I’ll just upload it from my phone.Until I die,
I’ll occupy
As long I know how to sit
And hold this heavy sign
cause the 99 is pissed
and we will not BE dismissed
I’ll occupy
I’ll occupy
hell yeahCall us “hippies” call us “homeless,”
yeah we’re fed it.
And we “don’t know what we want,”
to our discredit.
But if you’re reading all the news, funded by the corporations
Its no mystery
How you’ve missed our declarationWe’re armed too
Yeah, we’ve got twitter
We’re a techno savvy nation
And we’re bitter
There’s no Marie Antoinette
We’re dragging to the Guillotine
Got non-violence, you bet!
Cause we aim to keep this cleanWe will not go! Bring on the snow!
Got your faceless cooperate body
One peaceful badass foe
We’re awake, we saw Wall-e, and you know we’re organized
Did you think we’d crumble?
Did you think we’d lay down and not try?Until I die,
I’ll occupy
As long I know how to sit
And hold this heavy sign
cause the 99 is pissed
and we will not be dismissed
I’ll occupy
I’ll occupy
HELL yeah
HELL yeah!We’re off our Meds, we’re watching Ted
And we’re into Zombie culture,
But we’re not the walking dead
If you want to fight for justice join the masses, we are strong
And it wouldn’t hurt to take a
minute to repost this song!Until we die,
We’ll occupy
As long we know how to sit
And hold these heavy sign
cause the 99 is pissed
and we will not be dismissed
We’ll occupy
We’ll occupy
HELL yeah
1 comment December 4th, 2011
Video shows two cops pepper spraying nonviolent demonstrators
Due to the outrage, the Chancellor, who lauded their restrained actions earlier has now placed the two on leave. However, every cop who was there and stood by is complicit. And the Chancelor who called them in after seeing the violence by UC Berkeley police earlier had to know that such violence was a likely possibility. She is responsible. If she had ordered that violence not be used, the results might have been different. She must go as well as these brutal officers. The fish stinks from the top.
November 20th, 2011
Watch police calmly plan and execute the UC Davis
Another video shows the calm deliberation of the police as they plan the pepper spraying of UC Davis students. It is now clear that a large sector of the campus police force is dedicated not to protecting students but to brutalizing them. Any decent university would disband the entire force and start over with a force dedicated to preserving peace and the right to dissent:
I must say that UC Davis is giving its students an excellent education in the true nature of the modern “liberal” state, dedicated as it is to the preservation of privilege and power at all costs. as the first Mayor Daley expressed so beautifully after the police riot in 1968: “The police aren’t here to create disorder. They’re here to preserve it.“
November 20th, 2011