American Exceptionalism

Torture Whitewash from The Dark Side

By Pepe Escobar

Without accepting full responsibility for torture - and illegal, pre-emptive wars - and without accountability, there can be no catharsis in America. Obama is enough of a smart operator to know that if his "going forward" is perceived like "look the other way", this whole thing will come back to haunt and even destroy his presidency. And if it walks and talks like a whitewash, that's because it must be ... a whitewash.

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From Bunker Hill to Baghdad

Pinter's Dispatch to Obama

By Mike Whitney

"The crimes of the United States have been systematic, constant, vicious, remorseless, but very few people have actually talked about them. You have to hand it to America. It has exercised a quite clinical manipulation of power worldwide while masquerading as a force for universal good. It's a brilliant, even witty, highly successful act of hypnosis...It's a scintillating stratagem."

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Andy Worthington: CIA Torture Began In Afghanistan 8 Months Before DOJ Approval:

I don't know about you, but from my reading of this story, a number of the highest-ranking officials in the Bush administration need hauling up before the courts as soon as possible.

New Evidence of US Torture Prison in Poland:

It has long been clear that the CIA used the Szymany military airbase in Poland for extraordinary renditions. Now there is evidence of a secret prison nearby.

Truth commission to proceed despite Obama’s wishes:

Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) plans to proceed with a special commission to investigate alleged Bush administration abuses of power, despite lacking President Barack Obama’s support, according to a report Tuesday.

Yes, We Did Execute Japanese for Waterboarding:

It's kind of awkward to argue that waterboarding is not a crime when you hanged someone for doing it to our troops.

Reagan's DOJ Prosecuted Texas Sheriff for Waterboarding Prisoners:

Federal prosecutors secured a 10-year sentence against the sheriff and four years in prison for the deputies. But that 1983 case - which would seem to be directly on point for a legal analysis on waterboarding two decades later - was never mentioned in the four Bush administration opinions released last week.

US Must Prosecute Bush Torture Memo Lawyers: UN Envoy:

The U.S. is obligated by a United Nations convention to prosecute Bush administration lawyers who allegedly drafted policies that approved the use of harsh interrogation tactics against terrorism suspects, the U.N.'s top anti-torture envoy said Friday.