Turley: Obama statement on torture photos ‘Orwellian’
by David Edwards
President Obama announced on Wednesday that his administration has changed its mind about releasing additional photos of prisoner abuse similar to those already seen from Abu Ghraib.Responding to concerns voiced by his top generals in Iraq and Afghanistan, Obama expressed a belief that release of the photos “would … further inflame anti-American opinion and … put our troops in greater danger.” |
Trouble on Air Obama
by Gail Collins
The helicopter I have now seems perfectly adequate to me. — President Obama at the White House Fiscal Responsibility Summit•The helicopter the president has now does not seem perfectly adequate to me. It was built in 1975! It costs a fortune to operate because of the stupendous maintenance required for its aging innards. Really, it’s kind of like sending your commander in chief whipping around in an airborne Plymouth. |
McChrystal's Rise: More Secrets, Less Daylight
by Tom Hayden
All along there were two US wars in Iraq. There was the public war, in which the Pentagon tried to manipulate the mainstream media into being a "message amplifier," while some intrepid reporters and bloggers fought back. Then there was the secret war carried out by the Special Operations forces, whose existence was denied even by the Pentagon. |
Ex FBI-agent refutes Cheney claims on torture
by JAMES VICINI
Waterboarding and other harsh interrogation methods used during the Bush administration on terrorism suspects produced unreliable evidence and were ineffective, a former FBI agent told Congress on Wednesday.Ali Soufan made the charge before a Senate Judiciary panel in the first congressional hearing since the release last month of Justice Department memos that authorized tactics such as waterboarding, sleep and food deprivation and forced nudity. |
'Ugly' Questions for Gen. Myers
by Ray McGovern
Tuesday evening offered an unusual opportunity to question the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (2001-2005), Air Force Gen. Richard Myers, at an alumni club dinner. He was eager to talk about his just-published memoir, Eyes on the Horizon (and I was able to scan through a copy during the cocktail hour). |
Torture Smoking Gun?
by Scott Horton
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) opened a hearing on the Bush administration's torture policy quoting Tallyrand: "The greatest danger in times of crisis comes from the zeal of those who are inexperienced." Whitehouse promised to separate the "truth" from its "bodyguard of lies." In doing so, the former federal prosecutor brought the shadowy world of intelligence into Room 226 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building. Former star FBI interrogator Ali Soufan, widely described as the bureau's best and most effective interrogator working in the Arabic language, testified off-camera and behind a wooden partition. Concerned for his and his family's security, he made the unusual demand a part of his agreement to appear and testify. |
Senate Panel Probes Legality of Torture Memos
by William Fisher
NEW YORK - "An ethical train wreck" was the phrase used by one witness to describe the legal reasoning behind the Justice Department's recently released memos justifying the use of waterboarding and other forms of "enhanced interrogation techniques".The phrase came during the testimony of David Luban, a law professor at Georgetown University, before a panel on administrative oversight and the courts subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday. |
Change We Can Believe In... And the Beat Goes On
by Maryscott OConnor
The people in that picture...Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face.The President will not be turning his full attention to the plight of BLACK PEOPLE because he is a BLACK PERSON. He will be turning his attention to the plight of ALL PEOPLE because he is the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. |
US Military Policy: don't make the same mistake with Baitullah Mehsud
by Aimee Kligman
Pakistani President Zardari ventured to announce on Monday that Osama ben Laden was dead. Of course, Mr. Zardari, who does not inspire great confidence in what he says or does, according to congressmen who listened to his rhetoric, must have known that when his late announced it to David Frost in an al-Jazeera interview back in 2007. |
Obama Flip Flops Again
by Carrie Cann
He talks the talk, but does not walk the walk. That is Obama, our president.Gives out taxpayer money to big banks with no oversight, and takes advice from the banking industry that messed things up.Gives out taxpayer money to Wall Street with no oversight, and heads up his "oversight" committee with the very people that worked with Wall Street to create the financial boondoggle. |
Why I oppose the Inquirer boycott
by Mary Shaw
There's a new controversy here in Philadelphia. It seems that our once-great newspaper, the Philadelphia Inquirer (aka the "Inky"), has hired John Yoo as a regular columnist. Yoo is, of course, one of the architects of the Bush administration's pro-torture policy and a supporter of warrantless surveillance of U.S. citizens and the unitary executive theory. In other words, Yoo is an anti-law kind of lawyer. |
Obama flip flops on detainee torture photo release
by Caren Bohan
In a reversal, President Barack Obama said on Wednesday he would fight the release of dozens of photographs showing the abuse of terrorism suspects, over concern the images could ignite a backlash against U.S. troops.The decision was a blow to some liberals in Obama's Democratic Party who see the photos as part of a broader effort to investigate Bush-era officials and cleanse America's image abroad. |
NPR censored review of film outing gay politicians
by John Byrne
National Public Radio is under fire after censoring the review of a new documentary that outs conservative gay politicians.Editors say they refused to run a version of its review of the new documentary, “Outrage,” that included the names of the gay politicians the film outs because it would have been inconsistent with network policy. But they included a photograph of Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID) alongside a review of the film — even though they refused to identify Craig — of Minneapolis airport bathroom fame — as gay. |
Palin: Obama believes same thing as anti-gay beauty queen
by John Byrne
Donald Trump isn’t her only supporter. According to Sarah Palin, so is President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.Carrie Prejean, the Miss California beauty queen who found herself embroiled in a national scandal after making remarks critical of same sex marriage, received an unlikely endorsement Wednesday night. Her defender? Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. |
Obama considering 'indefinite detention' for Gitmo prisoners
by Stephen C. Webster
President Barack Obama appears to be drifting to the right of former President George W. Bush on detainee policy.The Wall Street Journal reports: Sen. Lindsay Graham (R., S.C.), who met this week with White House Counsel Greg Craig to discuss the administration's plans, said among the proposals being studied is seeking authority for indefinite detentions, with the imprimatur of some type of national-security court. |
