Month: April 2009

Calls for Torture Inquiry Aren’t Going Away

A coalition of 19 human rights, faith-based and justice organizations is calling on President Barack Obama to investigate torture they charge was sanctioned by the administration of former President George W. Bush. The group, led by the National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT), is proposing both a special prosecutor and an "independent, non-partisan commission to … Continue reading “Calls for Torture Inquiry Aren’t Going Away”

Wednesday: 73 Iraqis Killed, 116 Wounded

Updated at 11:15 p.m. EDT, Apr. 30, 2009 At least 73 Iraqis were killed and 116 more were wounded in violent attacks. Sadr City and Baghdad suffered the lion’s share of casualties, but as is the norm after such dramatic bombings, reports flooded in from other parts of Iraq. No Coalition deaths were reported, but a U.S. soldier was wounded in Kirkuk when gunmen attack a patrol handing out grants.

DOD Can’t Handle the Truth?

At the height of the Cold War, a U.S. Army corps commander in Europe asked for information on his Soviet opposite, the commander of the corps facing him across the inter-German border. All the U.S. intelligence agencies, working with classified material, came up with very little. He then took his question to Chris Donnelly, who … Continue reading “DOD Can’t Handle the Truth?”

The Wrong Argument Over Torture

The calls currently heard for an independent commission to investigate America’s use of torture in George Bush’s war on terror usually argue that a congressional investigation, or a straightforward criminal investigation under the authority of the Department of Justice, would become so politicized, or be so widely subjected to partisan attack, as to be hopelessly … Continue reading “The Wrong Argument Over Torture”