Pioneers of Torture

When the Abu Ghraib photos were released in 2004, it seemed that most Americans were shocked by such novel and horrific images, but at least one was not. I'm talking about Alfred McCoy, who had been following the Central Intelligence Agency since the early 1970s, when...

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The Chimera of Total Security

"No one can terrorize a whole nation unless we are all his accomplices." - Edward R. Murrow Let's talk about the next terrorist attack. We cannot know what form it will take, where it will occur, or what the casualty count will be. But one thing we do know:...

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Out of Guantánamo and Into Court

In a move that seems to open up a route out of Guantánamo for prisoners accused of having an active involvement with international terrorism that does not involve reviving the much-criticized system of trials by military commission, the Justice Department...

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Unexceptional Americans

Murder, torture, abuse… and photos of the same. We've seen some of them, of course. Now, evidently under pressure from his top generals, President Obama has decided to fight the release of other grim photos from the dark side of the Bush years of offshore injustice –...

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Pelosi-CIA Contretemps May Spark Wider Probe

Congressional Democrats and many Washington journalists are predicting that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's current dispute with the Central Intelligence Agency may ultimately hasten the push toward the last thing Republicans want – a comprehensive investigation of...

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