Talking Rights

A much-needed oped in Sunday’s New York Times, pointing out that the government’s investigations of legal misconduct on the part of John Yoo and Jay Bybee have not been matched by inquiries into how medical professionals designed and implemented torture.
Leonard Rubenstein and Stephen Xenakis write that “the government doctors and psychologists who participated in and [...]

“If Americans torture and it comes to light — as it inevitably will — it embitters and alienates the very people we need most.“
Charles C. Krulak was commandant of the Marine Corps from 1995 to 1999. Joseph P. Hoar was commander in chief of U.S. Central Command from 1991 to 1994.
Some of the most hard-hitting [...]

The just-released report by the CIA Inspector General (CIA IG) is one of a series of documents released yesterday about the US torture program. The report dates from 2004, but has lots of new detail.
What you need to know about yesterday’s revelations (via Time’s Michael Scherer):

1. The CIA IG concluded that the public had [...]

The Obama Administration just announced the creation of a new, multi-institution group that will take over the questioning of high-value suspects in the “war on terror.” According to the Los Angeles Times, interrogators will “stay within the parameters of the Army Field Manual when questioning suspects,” meaning no torture.
This comes on a day when we [...]

Sotomayor was one of the appeals judges to hear the case of Maher Arar, a Canadian citizen who was suing the US government over his extraordinary rendition in 2002. Suspected wrongly of being a terrorist, Arar was detained at JFK, then flown to Syria, where he underwent 10 months and 10 days of torture.
Unfortinately, the [...]

Just as the second invasion of Iraq was a (not so) carefully coordinated campaign of half truths and whole lies, the justfication for torture is beginning to fall completely apart.
Not that it wasn’t already an evident fabrication, but…
Today’s New York Times reports that in late 2007 ABC’s Brian Ross interviewed a former CIA operative who [...]

This Los Angeles Times editorial on accountability for torture seems well thought out — there have been too many hysterics since the Obama administration released the torture memos and not enough calm thought.
An in-depth and impartial investigation, possible targetted prosecution and a full accounting to the American people. Not much to argue with here.
…As we [...]

There is quite a kerfluffle going on now about Obama’s position on extraordinary rendition.
The Los Angeles Times recently reported that “under executive orders issued by Obama recently, the CIA still has authority to carry out what are known as renditions, secret abductions and transfers of prisoners to countries that cooperate with the United States. Current [...]

Here is a sickening defense of torture — and it is from a coward.  Someone with cojones would have actually used the words:  “I support torture.” But John Yoo is not only wrong and a criminal — he is sin cojones…
I’ve included refutations of his argument in parentheses.
Obama Made a Rash Decision on Gitmo
by John [...]

New Yorker writer Jane Mayer has a new piece on President Obama;s thinking on torture.  A vignette that stands out (and was highlighted by Swampland, the Time political blog) show how deeply our military abhors torture.
Not only is this important for the right to understand; the left, which has a knee-jerk reaction to anything in [...]