George W Bush

Inspire

harryfear — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 19:33:20 +0000

Human tv.. youtube channel.

protectthehumanatshoreditchchurch2010 — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 11:38:04 +0100

Interesting interactivity. showing protect the human project.

Source: Human tv.. youtube channel.

Omar Deghayes on Receiving Letters in Guantanamo

Spectacle — Fri, 21 May 2010 19:21:59 +0100

Rove 'proud' of US waterboarding terror suspects

DrPot — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 09:07:40 +0000

A senior adviser to former US President George W Bush has defended tough interrogation techniques, saying their use helped prevent terrorist attacks.
In a BBC interview, Karl Rove, who was known as "Bush's brain", said he "was proud we used techniques that broke the will of these terrorists".
He said waterboarding, which simulates drowning, should not be considered torture.
In 2009, President Barack Obama banned waterboarding as a form of torture.

Source: Rove 'proud' of US waterboarding terror suspects

Guantanamo guard reunited with ex-inmates

DrPot — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 12:45:51 +0000

"You look different without a cap."
"You look different without the jump suits."
With those words, an extraordinary reunion gets underway. The last time Ruhal Ahmed met Brandon Neely, he was "behind bars, behind a cage and [Brandon] was on the other side". He would say, 'you ever listen to Eminem or Dr Dre' and... I thought how could it be somebody is here who's doing the same stuff that I do when I'm back home
Mr Neely was one of his guards.

Source: Guantanamo guard reunited with ex-inmates

Fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan

DrPot — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 20:53:23 +0000

"I heard Kilo company lit up nine guys today," said Craig, a young US marine, his face illuminated by the flickering flames that separated us.
Craig, square-jawed and of Irish American stock from Boston, looked like a young Kennedy stranded in Afghanistan. Night had fallen over the shattered compound in Now Zad where we were bedding down.
The company that Craig and I were attached to, Lima, had spent its day blasting its way through an area of abandoned farms believed to be host to dozens of Taliban.

Source: Fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan

'Torture documents' can be seen

DrPot — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 17:02:40 +0100

The High Court has ruled that US intelligence documents containing details of the alleged torture of a former UK resident can be released.
Ethiopian-born Binyam Mohamed, 31, who spent four years in Guantanamo Bay, claims British authorities colluded in his torture while in Pakistan.
High Court judges were previously blocked from making the details public.
The UK government denies allegations of collusion and says it will appeal against the court's judgement.

Source: 'Torture documents' can be seen

BBC NEWS | Health | Torturing 'does not get truth'

DrPot — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 13:15:32 +0100

Torture techniques used on suspected terrorists by the Bush administration may have failed to get to the truth, researchers say.
Professor Shane O'Mara of Trinity College, Dublin, said the interrogation techniques had a detrimental effect on brain functions related to memory.
He listed 10 methods of what he called torture used by the US, including stress positions and waterboarding.
His review is published in the journal, Trends in Cognitive Science.

Source: BBC NEWS | Health | Torturing 'does not get truth'

MI6 reports own officer over torture allegations | World news | guardian.co.uk

DrPot — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 14:44:37 +0100

The Secret Intelligence Service, MI6, has reported one of its own officers to the attorney general over allegations of complicity in torture, the foreign secretary revealed today.
David Miliband disclosed the move in a letter to William Hague. The shadow foreign secretary had written to Miliband about allegations made by MPs, first reported in the Guardian, of complicity in torture or ill treatment of detainees and terror suspects by officers in the Security Service, MI5.
Miliband said the case was referred to the attorney general, Lady Scotland, by MI6 on its own initiative, "unprompted by any accusation against the service or the individual concerned".

Source: MI6 reports own officer over torture allegations | World news | guardian.co.uk

US launches probe into CIA abuses

DrPot — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 22:25:17 +0100

A special US prosecutor has been appointed to investigate allegations of abuse of terror suspects.
The announcement of John Durham's selection came as a report was published detailing the allegations of abuse by CIA agents.
Agents threatened to kill a key terror suspect's children and sexually assault another's mother, it is claimed.

Source: US launches probe into CIA abuses

US 'names secret terror suspects'

DrPot — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 11:18:52 +0100

The US military has begun notifying the Red Cross of the identities of terror suspects being held at secret camps in Iraq and Afghanistan, US reports say.
The International Committee of the Red Cross would not comment on the report, which the New York Times carried quoting unnamed US officials.
The policy reportedly took effect this month with no public announcement.
Correspondents say that, if confirmed, the move represents a victory for human rights groups.

Source: US 'names secret terror suspects'

CIA hired Blackwater for al-Qaida assassination programme, sources say

DrPot — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 19:19:04 +0100

The CIA enlisted the infamous security company Blackwater in a secret programme to track down and kill al-Qaida leaders, US intelligence sources confirmed today.
Blackwater staff, many of whom are former members of US special forces and former members of the CIA, were recruited in 2004 as part of the programme, estimated to have costs millions of dollars. No raid to capture or kill al-Qaida leaders was ever carried out and the programme was closed down this year.
But the employment of Blackwater raised new questions about the legality of the CIA's behaviour during the Bush administration and about the agency's widespread use of outside contractors.

Source: CIA hired Blackwater for al-Qaida assassination programme, sources say

From Gitmo to Bagram | Sean Duggan | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

DrPot — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 21:08:54 +0100

It is disappointing that the panels responsible for reviewing the Obama administration's detention policy at Guantánamo Bay and its interrogation policy overall announced on Tuesday that they would need more time to complete their evaluations. Thankfully, though, the pending review of the Afghan prison and judicial system is on track to be completed swiftly and thoroughly by the US military at this critical juncture in the nearly eight-year-long conflict.

Source: From Gitmo to Bagram | Sean Duggan | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

CIA and US military planned programme to assassinate al-Qaida operatives in friendly countries, former US intelligence officials say | World news | guardian.co.uk

DrPot — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 20:05:06 +0100

Dick Cheney, the former vice president, ordered a highly classified CIA operation hidden from Congress because it pushed the limits of legality by planning to assassinate of al-Qaida operatives in friendly countries without the knowledge of their governments, according to former intelligence officials.
Former counter-terrorism officials who retain close links to the intelligence community say that the hidden operation involved plans by the CIA and the military to launch operations, similar to those by Israel's Mossad intelligence service, to hunt down and kill al-Qaida activists abroad without informing the governments concerned, even though some were regarded as friendly if unreliable.

Source: CIA and US military planned programme to assassinate al-Qaida operatives in friendly countries, former US intelligence officials say | World news | guardian.co.uk

Saddam Hussein's gun to go on display at George Bush's presidential library | World news | guardian.co.uk

DrPot — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 19:52:31 +0100

George Bush is not a man who does irony. It's not in his personal vocabulary. Take the exquisite irony behind the story of Saddam Hussein's gun.
The weapon, a 9mm Glock 18C, was discovered by Delta Force special troops when they dug Hussein out of his fox hole outside Tikrit on 13 December 2003. The legendary beast of Baghdad emerged from the 8ft-deep hole bewildered and disorientated; with his shaggy beard and unkempt mop of hair he looked closer to a dishevelled elf than one of the world's great dictators.
The Iraq war at that point was still in its infancy, Bush was feeling buoyant. In his eyes the pistol represented a fundamental triumph of good over evil.

Source: Saddam Hussein's gun to go on display at George Bush's presidential library | World news | guardian.co.uk

Rape In Mahmudiya

legofesto — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 21:58:58 +0100

Abu Ghraib

legofesto — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 21:37:44 +0100

US elected to UN rights council

DrPot — Tue, 12 May 2009 18:05:17 +0100

The United States has been elected to a seat on the UN Human Rights Council for the first time.
The council had been shunned by the Bush administration, which accused it of admitting states with poor rights records and having an anti-Israel bias.
But the Obama administration has reversed its predecessor's policy of boycotting the Geneva-based body.
The US was one of 18 countries elected to the 47-seat council in a vote by the UN General Assembly.

Source: US elected to UN rights council

Convention on Modern Liberty in Belfast

Linda J — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 16:39:20 +0000

Mike Ritchie at the Convention on Modern Liberty in Belfast

Linda J — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 16:43:38 +0000

Amnesty Blogs - Is Guantanamo really, really going? Really?

DrPot — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 18:15:35 +0000

Well, I say going…..on paper yes, but in practise it will be a year before physically it's removed from our planet. And not a day or hour or minute too soon. It's been a blight on the face of Western democracy since its inception and it's been defended by some warped interpretation of the Geneva Convention. It's been the place of suicides, mental breakdowns, torture techniques and detention without fair and disclosed (to the prisoner) legal proceedings. It's been a political vote winner and the international face of the Bush Presidency.

Source: Amnesty Blogs - Is Guantanamo really, really going? Really?

Obama acts on Guantanamo trials

DrPot — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 08:57:12 +0000

Barack Obama has requested the suspension of all military tribunals at Guantanamo Bay, in his first major act as the new US president.
The request would halt proceedings in 21 pending cases, including one against five men accused of plotting the 11 September 2001 attacks.
The halt would give Mr Obama time to review the tribunal process.

Source: Obama acts on Guantanamo trials

Senior Guantánamo official admits 9/11 suspect was tortured

Bellter — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 15:21:50 +0000

Senior Guantánamo official admits 9/11 suspect was tortured
Torture left alleged '20th hijacker' Mohammed al-Qahtani with serious heart problems, says Susan Crawford.

A senior Bush administration official has admitted that a Guantánamo Bay detainee was tortured by the US military, leaving him in a "life-threatening condition".

Susan Crawford, the Pentagon official in charge of military tribunals at the camp, said Mohammed al-Qahtani, a Saudi suspected of involvement in the September 11 terrorist plot, was subject to sustained isolation, sleep deprivation, nudity and prolonged exposure to cold. She said the torture meant he could not be prosecuted.

Source: Senior Guantánamo official admits 9/11 suspect was tortured

Barack Obama's Guantánamo challenge: a boy soldier's trial

Bellter — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 15:01:53 +0000

Obama's Guantánamo challenge: a boy soldier's trial

• One week to halt tribunal and signal closure of camp
• Fears of 'human rights window dressing'

Barack Obama has seven days after he enters the White House before the looming war crimes trial of a former child soldier will force the new president to demonstrate his resolve to swiftly shut the Guantánamo Bay detention camp.

Source: Barack Obama's Guantánamo challenge: a boy soldier's trial

Iraq rally for Bush shoe attacker

fionamc — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 13:55:45 +0000

Thousands of Iraqis have demanded the release of a local TV reporter who threw his shoes at US President George W Bush at a Baghdad news conference.

Source: Iraq rally for Bush shoe attacker

Obama and human rights: 100 days to counter terror with justice (Amnesty Blogs: Belfast and Beyond)

Patrick Corrigan — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 00:58:33 +0000

Hopes are riding high on an Obama presidency. Not least among human rights campaigners in America and internationally who have had a tough few years trying to reconcile old fashioned concepts like the Geneva Conventions and the taboo on torture with the Bush-Rumsfeld-Cheney crowd in the White House.

Source: Obama and human rights: 100 days to counter terror with justice (Amnesty Blogs: Belfast and Beyond)

The SWISH Report (12) | open Democracy News Analysis

Patrick Corrigan — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 23:36:03 +0000

A ninth report from the South Waziristan Institute of Strategic Hermeneutics to the al-Qaida Strategic Planning Cell (SPC) on the progress of the campaign.
Thank you for inviting us to submit a further report on the progress of your movement.

Source: The SWISH Report (12) | open Democracy News Analysis

So, what are we fighting for today? Soldiers demand an end to 'farcical' lack of war leadership - Home News, UK - The Independent

DrPot — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 20:53:07 +0000

On this Remembrance Sunday, British soldiers standing in dusty battle fatigues in Afghanistan will remember a friend whose death was so recent that the feelings are still raw.
Yubraj Rai was shot during an ambush by the Taliban. Medics tried to save him, but they couldn't. The 28-year-old died in a land where the poppy does not mean remembrance. It means opium, money and power. And death.

Source: So, what are we fighting for today? Soldiers demand an end to 'farcical' lack of war leadership - Home News, UK - The Independent

Nation Finally Shitty Enough To Make Social Progress | The Onion - America's Finest News Source

damianrafferty — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 12:06:28 +0000

Carrying a majority of the popular vote, Obama did especially well among women and young voters, who polls showed were particularly sensitive to the current climate of everything being f****d.

Source: Nation Finally Shitty Enough To Make Social Progress | The Onion - America's Finest News Source

Obama: the choice of a new generation? (Amnesty Blogs: Belfast and Beyond)

Patrick Corrigan — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 17:15:41 +0000

You don't hear much about the Pepsi taste challenge these days, but I find myself recalling it every four years when Americans are called to elect a new President.

Source: Obama: the choice of a new generation? (Amnesty Blogs: Belfast and Beyond)