"HOODWINKED" Over Agressive Interrogation-Top US General Names Names

[kpete]

Top US general 'hoodwinked' over aggressive interrogation
Richard Norton-Taylor guardian.co.uk, Friday April 18 2008

....................

General Richard Myers, the chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff from 2001 to 2005, wrongly believed that inmates at Guantánamo and other prisons were protected by the Geneva conventions and from abuse tantamount to torture.

The way he was duped by senior officials in Washington - who believed the Geneva conventions and other traditional safeguards were out of date - is disclosed in a devastating account of their role, extracts from which will be published in tomorrow's Guardian.

In his new book, Torture Team, Philippe Sands QC, a professor of law at University College London, reveals:

• Senior figures in the Bush administration pushed through previously outlawed measures with the help of unqualified and inexperienced military officials at Guantánamo.

• Myers believes he was a victim of "intrigue" by top lawyers at the department of justice, the office of the vice president, Dick Cheney, and Donald Rumsfeld's defence department.

• Myers wrongly believed interrogation techniques had been taken from the army's field manual.

The lawyers who pushed through the interrogation techniques - all of them political appointees - were Alberto Gonzales, David Addingon and William Haynes.

Others involved were Doug Feith, Rumsfeld's undersecretary for policy, and Jay Bybee and John Yoo, two assistant attorney generals.

The revelations have already sparked a fierce response in the US from those familiar with the contents of the book.

They are determined to establish accountability for the way the Bush administration violated international and domestic law by sanctioning prisoner abuse and torture.


• Read the full story in Weekend magazine in the Guardian tomorrow and on guardian.co.uk

WAY more at:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/apr/18/usa.guantanamo

[Ichingcarpenter]

1. Hoodwinked was an odd word to use

In 1562, questions like this were posed: "Will you enforce women to hoodwink themselves in the church?" So to hoodwink originally meant to literally cover someone's eyes with a hood,







I THINK HE IS SMELLING WAR CRIMES.

[niyad]

2. how did someone this incompetent and clueless become a general?

[atreides1]

10. By being a Yes Man

And looking the other way. But at least his niece got a position at DHS, after her uncle retired.

Julie L. Myers (born 1969) is the Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. She assumed the job following a recess appointment by President George W. Bush on January 4, 2006. Myers was formerly the Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement at the Department of Commerce. In that capacity, she oversaw 170 employees and a $25 million budget. She is also the niece of former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Richard Myers, and is the wife of John F. Wood, the current U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri and the former chief of staff for the Secretary of Homeland Security. Michael Chertoff is the Secretary of Homeland Security and her boss.

Drugging deportees
Under her administration, ICE officials admitted to administering Haldol and Cogentin to deportees without consent. Haldol and Cogentin are controlled substances that typically require a prescription from a doctor. The ACLU filed a suit on the basis that this violates the bill of rights as well as federal laws and may constitute torture.

Costume party controversy
On Halloween of 2007, Julie Myers hosted a costume party for ICE employees of which she was a judge. They awarded a top costume prize to a white Homeland Security Department employee dressed as a escaped Jamaican prisoner, complete with a prison jumpsuit, dreadlocks and blackface. Although Myers issued an apology after employees complained the costume was racist and inappropriate, she had been photographed smiling with the costumed employee in question. Under Myers, the employee was immediately transferred from the agency headquarters to a field office and an attempt was made to delete the photographs. The photographs, however, were not permanently deleted and the House Committee report featured the shot of Myers smiling with the employee as evidence.

Initially, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff dismissed criticism of Myers, claiming "he was kind of caught by surprise by this and in the middle of the party." However, her nomination has since been delayed. A report by the Democratic United States House Committee on Homeland Security ruled that Myers led a "coordinated effort to conceal" her role in the scandal.

[tech3149]

11. Richard "Oh My" Meyers

I remember his testimony during a hearing about the abuse. When asked to delineate the chain of command at Abu Ghraib, his response was "Oh My, I'm afraid I don't have that information.". He's a typical careerist top level officer. That's the unfortunate side effect of an all-volunteer military.

[The Magistrate]

3. This, Ma'am, Should Make An Excellent Prosecutor's Brief

There is no doubt whatever the persons named, and those they reported to, violated international and U.S. law. Failure by U.S. authorities to prosecute fixes responsibility for their acts on the U.S. government as a whole, and makes international prosecution not only legitimate, but proper and necessary.

[Richard Steele]

4. Key word being "should", I fear.

I have little hope that any of these felons will ever face justice.

[The Magistrate]

8. We Share That Fear, My Friend

But the right and necessary course still must be stated at every opportunity, by all who love and cherish our country.

"My Country, right or wrong: when right to be kept right, when wrong to be put right."

[The Doctor.]

9. Here's a bit of hope;

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/attytood/Barack_on_torture.html

Just another reason.

[Uncle Joe]

5. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, kpete.

[housewolf]

6. Bit by bit, stuff is coming out...

Much as we may have wished it had all come out several years ago, it's nonetheless heartening when bits like this come out. It gives hope that eventually, the whole story will come out and, perhaps, justice can be done.

[madokie]

14. and bit by bit Americans are waking to the fact that their pResident and vIce are criminals

traitors of the first degree. Don't we still hang traitors will be the battle cry soon.

[warren pease]

7. Appalled, astounded, dismayed, duped again...

How is it possible that all these presumably smart, experienced, accomplished people keep getting snookered by an administration fronted by the stupidest man to ever occupy the White House?

This is an administration that has lied about virtually every single policy or action of even modest importance since grand theft election 2000 and the silent coup -- and been caught in most of those lies by any of the half-dozen or so remaining investigative reporters bothering to work in the US. And by numerous bloggers, virtually the entire international media, non-corporate US media and even, once in a great while, US mass media (when they're off their meds for half a day).

Ms. Clinton says she was fooled into voting for the IWR, officially known as the Resolution to Authorize the Use of United States Armed Forces Against Iraq, because she was told by various administration shills that they were just kidding, ha ha, oh my my my, that it didn't actually mean what the title says it means and that she wasn't really voting to authorize the use of US armed forces against Iraq.

John Kerry says he was fooled by the same group of liars, although he later squirmed his way out of it and publicly admitted that he screwed up.

A while ago, the nominal heads of the 9/11 Commission were absolutely beside themselves to learn that they'd been manipulated by that very same administration. Shockingly, one of its more ardent supporters, Phillip Zelikow, a known Bushie suck up, Condi confidant and partisan hack, was fobbed off on them as a credible choice for executive director. And of course, they bought it.

So... are all these people that stupid? Or do they think we're all so stupid that we'll just lap this garbage up uncritically, ask no questions, sit the hell down and shut the hell up?

I don't know... Just asking.


wp

[wildbilln864]

12. k and friggin r!

When are the arrests coming? :grr:

[judasdisney]

13. We are fools if we take Myers' word at face value -- he's Dirty

Myers' decision to be forthcoming after the damage has been done is a testimony to his poor character, but beyond this, Myers is Dirty with a capital D. Myers' evasive testimony before the 9/11 Commission, his refusal to answer the questions of the Jersey Girls and 9/11 families, and his shady involvement with the treasonous abyss of 9/11 all point to Myers' new "hoodwinked" revelations as being extremely suspect and probably a strategic ploy, not merely to save his own hide, but to advance the unfinished coup d'etat that Myers is already a party to.

[Ichingcarpenter]

15. He did the stand down with NORAD AND 911

He's a criminal already

[Disturbed]

16. Gen Myers insisted that Torture be brought to Abu Grahib.

This was not merely "a few bad apples" perpetrating abuse & Torture upon Detainees. This was
a deliberate Program approved & acted upon from the top level of command.

[BR_Parkway]

17. Almost as pathetic as the German's "I was just following orders" defense

Perhaps the man is a little afraid of answering for his complicity at the Hague....

[Jack Rabbit]

18. Cheney, Gonzo, Rummy, Feith, Yoo, Bybee, Addington, Haynes: Report immediately

We want to ask you some questions.



The Palace of Peace, The Hague
Home of the International Criminal Court
Photo: Koninkrijk der Nederlanden

[fed-up]

19. kicking for more recs nt