Torture and Truth

GOOD MORNING FLINT!
4/23/09 By Terry Bankert
http://flintfamilylaw.com/
posted first to flinttalk http://flinttalk.com/viewtopic.php?p=43461#43461

ITS TIME TO KNOW THE TRUTH We have suffered too many valueless National administrations filled with heretics hiding under the skirts of a narrowly focused Religious Right selling and forcing its dogma on the American people of all walks of life. Its time for a change. American must fight for “common” values in public policy. As a nation of laws these values are embedded in our national and state constitution and international treaties. Its time to hold the human rights violators of American and International Law (criminals) in our midst .....accountable. Its time to know the truth.

TRUTH COMMISSION House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has stepped up Democrats' calls to form a torture "truth commission," urging President Obama not to give immunity to anyone who illegally abused terror thugs.[1] House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday endorsed the establishment of a formal truth commission to investigate Bush administration anti-terrorism policies, including an examination of former top Justice Department lawyers who crafted the legal justifications for what critics say was torture[3] On investigating use of extreme interrogation tactics used by CIA during the Bush administration: [Nancy Pelosi stated]"My thinking has always been that we should have some kind of truth commission as suggested by Sen. Leahy. Where we had some difference of opinion was that the thrust in the Senate side had been with immunity, and I thought we should be more selective in terms of granting immunity. I believe that the direction that we're going in the investigation by certain committees of the House will be useful. It might be further useful to have such a commission so that it removes all doubt that how we protect the American people is in a values-based way."[5]

PROSECUTE BUSH ADMINISTRATION Pelosi on Wednesday seized on Obama's openness to prosecuting top Bush administration lawyers who formulated policies to strip, slap, shove and waterboard detainees said to be among Al Qaeda's worst in U.S. custody after 9/11. [1]

NO IMMUNITY FOR HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATORS "It gives further impetus among members to have some kind of truth commission as to what happened," Pelosi said. "I do not think immunity should be granted to everyone in a blanket way," she added. [1]

REPUBLICANS DO NOT WANT TRUTH
Republicans oppose a probe. [1]

HOLD THE PEOPLE AT THE TOP ACCOUNTABLE Obama has insisted that CIA operators who grilled detainees shouldn't be charged for following orders from Washington. But he suggested ex-President Bush's legal team might not be off the hook, and Attorney General Eric Holder said prosecutors will "follow the evidence." [1]

183,183,183,183,183......

Waterboarding is a form of torture that consists of immobilizing the victim on his or her back with the head inclined downwards, and then pouring water over the face and into the breathing passages. By forced suffocation and inhalation of water, the subject experiences drowning and is caused to believe they are about to die.It is considered a form of torture by legal experts,politicians, war veterans,intelligence officials,military judges,and human rights organizations. As early as the Spanish Inquisition it was used for interrogation purposes, to punish and intimidate, and to force confessions.[6] Complicating matters was the disclosure that the CIA used waterboarding - which simulates drowning - on 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed 183 times. [1]

UNTRUTH But ex-CIA Director Michael Hayden claimed at a congressional hearing last year that the practice ceased within a week of Mohammed's March 1, 2003, capture. CIA officials could not explain the seeming discrepancy. [1]

THWARTS.... Former Vice President Cheney claims waterboarding helped thwart plots against the U.S. [1]

CHENEY UNTRUTH MONGER Several former officials disputed Cheney. One retired counterterror official who had read CIA cables said most were plots that Mohammed "was only remotely thinking of undertaking [that] didn't even reach the planning stage." [1]

FROM THE TROLL CAVE danr Apr 23, 2009 5:17:46 AM Hey, Nancy, why don't you just invite all of those terrorist thugs out to dinner, and give them all keys to the city? You are the all time WORST politician EVER. First, you want to give ILLEGAL aliens money from hard working Americans SS, now, you want to blame people who did their jobs. How come not ONE word about the over 2,000 innocent people killed on 9/11? Oh, yeah, most of them were Americans, weren't they? You are a total disgrace to this country. [1] twotap 4/22/09 I am saying do what it takes to protect America if your boy Barrack thinks differently he should be impeached. By the way you along with your lib cohorts played your hand long ago. Get Bush get Cheney even if it means screwing America. 2010 here we come.[2] Sid Love 04.22.09“Move On”, “Focus on the Future”, “Not Dwell on the Past”. B.S. They broke the law and perverted our Constitution. Corrupted law is worse than no law at all. Let us have some accountability at a higher than Sargent level. The Justice Department lawyers who wrote these abominable “Memos” should be disbarred and prohibited from government service. The cabinet heads who encouraged or signed off on these “Memos/Findings” need to be punished. They swore to uphold and protect our Constitution. It is obvious that they did the opposite.[4]

REAL AMERICAN VALUES

In a sit-down with reporters in her Capitol Hill conference room, Pelosi, a San Francisco Democrat, said the advantage of such a commission would be that "it removes all doubt that how we protect the American people is in a values-based way." .[3]

LIBERAL DEMOCRATS LEAD IN BATTLE FOR TRUTH

Liberal Democrats have been pressing the issue for months with little traction, given the Obama administration's reluctance and fierce Republican resistance, but now are re-energized. Republicans moved to dash what they called a retrospective tribunal that would unfairly target officials who followed legal guidance at the time and intimidate officials going forward.[3]

DEMOCRATS PROMOTE VALUES , REPUBLICANS OPPOSE SAME

“The President of the United States is taking the exact right approach,” she said, referring to controversy this week over whether the Obama administration should prosecute those who abused detainees or who drafted the policies that enabled abuse. Obama has said that no one is above the law, but that he wants to keep the focus on the future, not the past.[4] “He has to look forward. We have inherited a tremendous economic crisis in our country, enormous challenges internationally, including two wars and the threat of Al Qaeda that’s still unresolved seven-and-a-half years after 9/11. The president has enormous tasks ahead and he is right to address the challenges that he faces in a positive way going forward,” she said.[4] But she also endorsed proposals for a “truth commission” to investigate abuses of detainees during the Bush administration. “It might be further useful to have such a commission so that it removes all doubt that we protect the American people in a values-based way,” she said.[4]

Posted Here by Terry Bankert 4/23/09
You are invited to continue this discussion on my Face Book Page. http://www.facebook.com/people/Terry-Bankert/645845362 -


[1] http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2009/04/23/2009-04-23_pelosi_ups_pressure_for_truth_panel_on_torture.html
[2] http://www.flinttalk.com/viewtopic.php?p=43448#43448
[3] http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/04/22/MNAK1774SQ.DTL&type=politics
[4] http://features.csmonitor.com/politics/2009/04/22/nancy-pelosi-in-the-political-hot-seat/ [5] http://hotlineoncall.nationaljournal.com/archives/2009/04/pelosi_on_energ.php
[6] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterboarding

Sphere: Related Content