Top Bush Aides Approved 'Enhanced Interrogation' (Condi chaired the meetings)

[deminks]

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/ABC_Bush_advisors_had_role_in_0409.html

WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush's most senior advisers approved "enhanced interrogation techniques" of top al-Qaeda suspects by the Central Intelligence Agency, ABC News reported on Wednesday (see video below), citing sources it did not name.

ABC reported that the so-called "principals" discussed interrogation details in dozens of top-secret talks and meetings in the White House.

Then-national security adviser Condoleezza Rice chaired the meetings, which took place in the White House Situation Room and were typically attended by a select group of senior officials or their deputies, ABC said.

"Highly placed sources said a handful of top advisers signed off on how the CIA would interrogate top al Qaeda suspects -- whether they would be slapped, pushed, deprived of sleep or subjected to simulated drowning, called waterboarding," ABC reported.

In addition to Rice, the principals at the time included Vice President Cheney, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Colin Powell, CIA Director George Tenet and Attorney General John Ashcroft, the report said.

(end snip)

Oh, wow. I'll bet they enjoyed those meetings. How gruesome. How bushco.

[KansDem]

1. We need to remember that 70-90% of these "al-Qaeda suspects" were innocent citizens...

...caught up in sweeps.

This figure was stated in Jimmy Carter's book, "Our Endangered Values." He credits the International Red Cross and US intelligence for the "70-90%" figures.

From DU, April 2, 2006

And specifically regarding the torture at Abu Ghraib:

This is especially disturbing, since U.S. intelligence officers estimated to the Red Cross that 70 to 90 percent of the detainees at this prison were held by mistake.

DU thread

The Corporate Media need to state this statistic whenever they refer to "top al-Qaeda suspects," otherwise, the US public will think that every person subjected to torture is a "top al-Qaeda suspect."

[tanyev]

4. That's the first thing I thought of when I saw the ABC story.

They only mentioned two Al-Qaeda biggies and how the "enhanced interrogation" did (supposedly) give us valuable information, and I thought, "What about all the detainees at Gitmo and Abu Ghraib?" They got similar treatment, and most of them weren't involved in anything.

[deminks]

2. Reuters has now picked this up

as well as TPM

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2008/04/10/top_bush_aides_approved_interrogation_tactics_report/

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/188167.php

[deminks]

3. Think Progress has also picked up

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/04/09/bush-principals-torture/

Let the trials begin!

[Richard Steele]

5. Grrrecomended

[kentuck]

6. Damn-n-n-n-n !

And Colin Powell was in the meetings also? Why and how could this happen??????

[Ellipsis]

7. A quote from Ashcroft... "History will not judge this kindly."

The ground just shook.

[Raksha]

11. Well, we already know what Cheney would say to that,

and probably did say...

Re "History will not judge this kindly."

SO?

[seafan]

8. ABC: Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice, Tenet, Powell, Ashcroft held many WH meetings on torture techniques

When will US Marshals drag these people away in chains?

War criminals have hijacked our White House.



“History Will Not Judge This Kindly”

By Scott Horton
April 9, 2008

Gripping news: ABC News reports that the senior most advisors of President Bush, led by Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and Condoleezza Rice, met in the White House repeatedly to discuss and approve specific torture tactics, including waterboarding and physical assault, as applied to particular prisoners. Watch this report which resulted from a five month study by ABC News (and in connection with which I was interviewed):


(ABC investigation video at link)


Attorney General John Ashcroft, obviously disturbed as he and his cabinet colleagues discussed specific torture practices, stated that “History will not judge this kindly.” I don’t agree with John Ashcroft on much, but on this point he proves a master of understatement. The seniormost members of the Bush cabinet sat, plotted, advised and directed the implementation of war crimes. And that’s exactly how history will view it.

Kudos to Jan Crawford Greenburg, Howard L. Rosenberg and Ariane de Vogue for this powerful exposure of the utter depravity of the Bush Administration.

[Wilms]

9. .

[ljm2002]

10. Yes, that pretty much sums it up... n/t

[Ellipsis]

12. Stunning!

[Supersedeas]

13. Condi now represents our country to the rest of the 'diplomatic' world