I‘ve always liked the restful quiet of an empty classroom. Maybe this is why the large room where we wait to start mealtime duties, here at Pekin Federal Prison, feels comfortably familiar. During breaks, in the dining area, I’ve spent many hours reading, writing, studying Arabic, and staring out the window. Today, looking out the …
Continue reading “Requiem for a Son Killed in Iraq”
From Dahr’s weblog: This became a very popular saying in Iraq after the U.S. ousted Saddam Hussein. The situation continues to degrade in occupied Iraq. I know I’m beginning to sound like a broken record … but the need to describe life on the ground here continues, as I see it slipping from the news …
Continue reading “‘The Student Is Gone; the Master Has Arrived’”
Jose Padilla was arrested two years ago at O’Hare International Airport by the FBI on a “material witness” warrant. Padilla was alleged to have met with senior al-Qaeda operatives in Afghanistan and Pakistan, received training in the use of high explosives, and sent back to the United States “to reconnoiter potential sites” for detonating a …
Continue reading “Dirty Bomb – Not”
Are we now torturing children? A chill went down my spine as I read an account of a recent talk given by Seymour Hersh at the University of Chicago (via blogger Brad Delong): “He said that after he broke Abu Ghraib people are coming out of the woodwork to tell him this stuff. He said …
Continue reading “The Torturers”
How High Does the Abu Ghraib Scandal Go? Thank you for your excellent article. The terrifying and grossly illegal excuse offered by the Defense Department attorneys makes me ashamed of the legal profession – once again. The president’s powers derive SOLELY FROM THE CONSTITUTION of the United States. He cannot derive powers outside the limitations …
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Here are some basic documents surrounding the Iraq prison abuse scandal at Abu Ghraib and elsewhere: Abu Ghraib Prison Photos (updated June 11) Justice Dept. Memo Justifying Torture, Aug. 1, 2002 (Released June 13) Pentagon Memo Legitimizing Torture from March 6, 2003 (Released June 9) Sworn Statements by Agu Ghraib Detainees (May 22) Video of …
Continue reading “Iraq Prison Scandal Resources”
BAGHDAD (IPS) – The Iraq issue today may never have arisen if it were not for the support former U.S. president Ronald Reagan gave Saddam Hussein. Reagan died Saturday June 5 in his Los Angeles home. Reagan’s two terms as President correspond roughly to the Iran-Iraq war, the longest conventional war of the 20th century. …
Continue reading “Iraqi General: US Helped Us as We Used Chemical Weapons”
Conducted by Saul Landau on “Hot Talk” radio Cal Poly Pomona. Check out his other interviews. High Bandwidth (DSL or Cable modem): Low Bandwidth (dial-up modem): Alexander Cockburn is editor of CounterPunch and is the author of the just-published Imperial Crusades.
The biggest single problem the federal government has is its hypocrisy. It talks one way and acts another. It talks of spreading democracy while supporting dictators; it blathers about human rights while violating them; and it claims to promote the rule of law while scoffing at laws it considers inconvenient. If the basis of our …
Continue reading “Hypocrisy: The US Government’s Biggest Single Problem”
UNITED NATIONS (IPS) – As violence against civilians and humanitarian workers escalates in the world’s politically troubled regions, the United Nations and major relief groups continue to shy away from countries such as Iraq, Afghanistan and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) or to significantly downsize their emergency operations. “We have no plans to return …
Continue reading “Aid Agencies Forced to Leave War Zones” 
