Internal CIA documents reveal a meticulous protocol that was far more brutal than Dick Cheney’s “dunk in the water”
gangstalking | March 9, 2010
Mar 9, 2010
Internal CIA documents reveal a meticulous protocol that was far more brutal than Dick Cheney’s “dunk in the water”
By Mark Benjamin
Self-proclaimed waterboarding fan Dick Cheney called it a no-brainer in a 2006 radio interview: Terror suspects should get a “a dunk in the water.” But recently released internal documents reveal the controversial “enhanced interrogation” practice was far more brutal on detainees than Cheney’s description sounds, and was administered with meticulous cruelty.
Interrogators pumped detainees full of so much water that the CIA turned to a special saline solution to minimize the risk of death, the documents show. The agency used a gurney “specially designed” to tilt backwards at a perfect angle to maximize the water entering the prisoner’s nose and mouth, intensifying the sense of choking – and to be lifted upright quickly in the event that a prisoner stopped breathing.
The documents also lay out, in chilling detail, exactly what should occur in each two-hour waterboarding “session.” Interrogators were instructed to start pouring water right after a detainee exhaled, to ensure he inhaled water, not air, in his next breath. They could use their hands to “dam the runoff” and prevent water from spilling out of a detainee’s mouth. They were allowed six separate 40-second “applications” of liquid in each two-hour session – and could dump water over a detainee’s nose and mouth for a total of 12 minutes a day. Finally, to keep detainees alive even if they inhaled their own vomit during a session – a not-uncommon side effect of waterboarding – the prisoners were kept on a liquid diet. The agency recommended Ensure Plus.
Judge allows lawsuit against Rumsfeld over torture of US citizens
gangstalking | March 9, 2010
Judge allows lawsuit against Rumsfeld over torture of US citizens
Daniel Tencer
March 8th, 2010
Judge allows lawsuit against Rumsfeld over torture of US citizensTwo Americans claim they were tortured by US officials after making bribery allegations
A federal judge in Chicago ruled on Friday that a lawsuit against former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, brought by two Americans who had worked for an Iraqi contractor, can be allowed to proceed.
In his ruling (PDF), US District Judge Wayne R. Andersen said the plaintiffs had provided enough concrete evidence of torture to allow the suit to go forward. The judge dismissed Rumsfeld’s arguments that his position near the top of the executive branch immunized him from lawsuits involving the authorization of torture, the Associated Press reported.
Travelers file complaints over TSA body scanners
gangstalking | March 9, 2010
Travelers file complaints over TSA body scanners
March 08, 2010,
By Jaikumar Vijayan
Documents obtained by the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) shows complaints have been lodged with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) over the use of whole body scanners at U.S. airports.
More than two dozen complaints were filed by travelers who were subjected to whole body scans over the past year or so, and were included in a document obtained by EPIC as the result of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit.
The 51 pages of documents show that travelers were often not fully informed about the scans or what the process involved. Some complained about a lack of instructions or signage regarding the scanning machines, while others said they were not informed about a pat down alternative available to those who don’t want to be scanned. Travelers also expressed concern about their privacy being invaded, of feeling humiliated, of radiation risks to pregnant women and of children being subjected to the scans.
ID Card for Workers Is at Center of Immigration Plan
gangstalking | March 9, 2010
MARCH 9, 2010
ID Card for Workers Is at Center of Immigration Plan
The biggest objections to the biometric cards may come from privacy advocates, who fear they would become de facto national ID cards that enable the government to track citizens.
“It is fundamentally a massive invasion of people’s privacy,” said Chris Calabrese, legislative counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union. “We’re not only talking about fingerprinting every American, treating ordinary Americans like criminals in order to work. We’re also talking about a card that would quickly spread from work to voting to travel to pretty much every aspect of American life that requires identification.”
Mr. Graham says he respects those concerns but disagrees. “We’ve all got Social Security cards,” he said. “They’re just easily tampered with. Make them tamper-proof. That’s all I’m saying.”
ACLU to Obama: ‘Change or more of the same?’
gangstalking | March 8, 2010
ACLU to Obama: ‘Change or more of the same?’
By Stephen C. Webster
March 7th, 2010
ACLU to Obama: Change or more of the same?The American Civil Liberties Union has never treated the Obama administration with kid gloves, but with their latest ad buy it’s become increasingly clear that their patience for the continuance of some Bush-era policies has run quite thin.
“What will it be Mr. President?” the ACLU asks in a full-page New York Times advertisement published Sunday. “Change or more of the Same?” The ad also features a portrait of Obama that morphs into Bush.
The ACLU’s images of the subtle transition between presidents is filtered and lacking in detail, and spans just four frames. However, it appears to be a take-off of a protest image that circulated Facebook and some progressive blogs late last year, showing a similar transition in eerie detail.
Pak lawmakers refuse body scan, cut short visit to US
gangstalking | March 8, 2010
Pak lawmakers refuse body scan, cut short visit to US
Mar 8, 2010
ISLAMABAD: A delegation of Pakistani lawmakers refused to subject themselves to a controversial full-body scan at a Washington airport, a media report said on Sunday.
The six-member group of the parliament members from Pakistan’s restive tribal region cut short their official US visit immediately to return home, the Pakistani Express News channel said. It was the first official delegation that refused to go through the body scanners since they were installed at 19 US airports last month.
Abbas Afridi, the head of the delegation, said the US state department had invited them to Washington to discuss security and development projects in the tribal region, with a promise that they would not be subjected to body scanning. “We were not scanned when we arrived on March 28 in Washington from Pakistan, but on Saturday when we wanted to travel to another city the authorities told us that we would be scanned,” said Afridi.






