Tag: war on terror

Judge Slams Govt Over Afghan Detainee

A federal judge last week excoriated U.S. government lawyers for advocating the continued detention of a detainee at Guantanamo Bay after his "confession" was ruled inadmissible because it was extracted through torture. Calling the case "an outrage," U.S. District Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle urged the lawyers to "let him out. Send him back to Afghanistan." … Continue reading “Judge Slams Govt Over Afghan Detainee”

Extremist Jihadist Islamist Terrorist

"Recalling the relevant international counter-terrorism conventions and in particular the obligations of parties to those conventions to extradite or prosecute terrorists…" – United Nations Security Council Resolution 1267 [.pdf], Oct. 15, 1999 In the informed debate of the last 10 years regarding "terrorism," there’s a missing acronym to define this dreadful new menace, a menace … Continue reading “Extremist Jihadist Islamist Terrorist”

Obama Maintains Bush Policies on Gitmo Uighurs

Last Thursday, while most U.S. media outlets were focused relentlessly on the marathon endurance test that was Sonia Sotomayor’s Supreme Court confirmation hearing, the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights, and Oversight held a hearing to investigate why the Bush administration had allowed Chinese interrogators to visit Guantánamo to interrogate the … Continue reading “Obama Maintains Bush Policies on Gitmo Uighurs”

Why Torture is Evil

Most defenders of torture rely on the argument that torture saves (American) lives, and that torture is therefore justified and moral. Such defenders often cite fantastic scenarios similar to the following: Imagine a terrorist group is planning to detonate a nuclear bomb in the middle of a major US city. Now imagine that one of … Continue reading “Why Torture is Evil”