April 22, 2009 archive

The Empty Path

In the shiver

of cold dew,

the lake’s mirror ripples.

In the cold dawn,

your footprints leave their mark

on the untrodden grass.

Not one Lakka leaf has fallen here.

But, after a barbaric cycle,

the warm soul of Autumn has returned.

The skiff sails back to the old wharf,

carrying moonlight in its hood.

Thich Nhat Hanh, circa 1966

Do You Really Want An Empire?

I’m talking to you, those who want the U.S. to be an empire, the sole superpower of the world, the ying and the yang.  Is this really what you want?  I’m not criticizing you one way or the other.  It’s just, if this IS what you want, I think there’s a better way.   You see, war and torture and stuff like that kind of pisses most people off.  They don’t like it.  You might be able to contribute to your plan of concentrating more wealth to the wealthy, but in the long run, if you don’t have the people’s support, you’re going to lose.  

So I have an idea to help you with your empire building.  You can actually take this torture issue and turn it to your advantage.  The majority of citizens in this country and the world do not agree with torture.  It is an abominable, inhumane, disgusting practice  and should have been left to rot in the medieval ages.  The chastity belts and torture racks and thumbscrews and stretch racks and water boarding is something we normal humans feel should be left for viewing in museums as an example of human depravity.

But hey, shit happens.  We aren’t the only ones to do it since the middle ages.  There are many examples of it from the Japanese, the Vietnamese, countless countries and agencies including the CIA.  Oops, did I say the CIA?  Maybe a Freudian Slip but I’ve read some stuff that indicates the CIA has actually tortured for decades!  I’m digressing here, we’re talking about the Bush Administration practice of torture, not what we’ve been doing for decades.  My bad.

Anyway, back to my idea.  I think if you conduct an investigation and ultimately prosecute those involved in torture, including Bush, Cheney, Rice, et al, it will actually help your empire building.  Imagine the goodwill you would receive internationally from admitting, investigating, prosecuting, and completely repudiating torture.  It would far exceed the flowers and chocolates we received from liberating Iraq from Saddam. Way far.  

Especially with President Obama as our figurehead.  We all know how inspiring he can be.  Imagine if he had the courage to follow through with these investigations and prosecutions.  It would be like manna from heaven.  The empire would have all the love it could have imagined.  The entire world would be singing, “Praise be to Justice”!

And Empire people, I know you’re smart  You don’t get an empire by being stupid.  You know this would help greatly with your empire building.  You don’t have to get out of Iraq.  You don’t have to get out of Afghanistan.  You don’t have to stop operations worldwide in your quest for empire.  The goodwill you receive from being moral and humane will actually give you greater support for your global endeavors.

So think seriously about this.  Throwing Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice, Wolfiwicz, and whoever else to the wolves is nothing compared to your overall goal and you know it.  So get on with it now.  You’ve got Iran and North Korea and the Caspian Sea to work on.  Finish up this business, put some people in jail, and go forth with the Empire.

Late Night Karaoke

 Sunshine

Military vs CIA; the “I was just following orders” defense

When the Abu Ghraib scandal broke, only because pictures were released, those military members who were involved were scapegoated, tried, convicted, and sent to prison.  The defense of “I was just following orders” didn’t work for them.  

Now that we know, beyond any shadow of a doubt, that the CIA and its contractors tortured detainees, the “I was just following orders” defense is suddenly paramount to President Obama?

More after the fold…

Tea Parties; Taxes and Torture Served

TxTrtr

copyright © 2009 Betsy L. Angert.  BeThink.org

I am a discontent and distressed taxpayer!  “Disgruntled” is a word that might describe my deep dissatisfaction with how my tax dollars are spent.  Yet, on April 15, 2009, typically thought of as “Tax Day,” I felt no need to join my fellow citizens in protest.  I did not attend a “Tea Party”.  I too believe, in this country, “taxation without representation” is a problem.  One only need ponder the profits of lobbyists to understand the premise.  Corporate supplicants amass a 22,000 percent rate of return on their investments.  The average American is happy to realize a two-digit increase.  Nonetheless, as much as I too may argue the point, assessments are paid without accountability, what concerns me more is my duty dollars did not support what I think ethical projects.  

Senate Report: Bush Solicited “Wish List” of Torture Techniques

Crossposted from Antemedius

According to a RawStory article about an hour ago:

A report by the Senate Armed Services Committee released Tuesday night says that torture techniques used at Abu Ghraib prison and approved by officials in the George W. Bush administration were applied only after soliciting a “wish list” from interrogators.

President George W. Bush made a written determination that Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions, which would have afforded minimum standards for humane treatment, did not apply to al Qaeda or Taliban detainees. This act, the committee found, cleared the way for a new interrogation program to be developed in-part based on “Chinese communist” tactics used against Americans during the Korean War, mainly to elicit false confessions for propaganda purposes.

“In mid-August 2003, an email from staff at Combined Joint Task Force

7 (CJTF-7) headquarters in Iraq requested that subordinate units provide input for a ‘wish list’ of interrogation techniques [to be used at Abu Ghraib], stated that ‘the gloves are coming off,’ and said ‘we want these detainees broken,'” the report found.

The report is available as a .pdf file from the Senate Armed Services Committee site, and opens with this extraordinary paragraph:

On February 7, 2002, President Bush signed a memorandum stating that the Third Geneva Convention did not apply to the conflict with al Qaeda and concluding that Taliban detainees were not entitled to prisoner of war status or the legal protections afforded by the Third Geneva Convention. The President’s order closed off application of Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions, which would have afforded minimum standards for humane treatment, to al Qaeda or Taliban detainees. While the President’s order stated that, as “a matter of policy, the United States Armed Forces shall continue to treat detainees humanely and, to the extent appropriate and consistent with military necessity, in a manner consistent with the principles of the Geneva Conventions,” the decision to replace well established military doctrine, i.e., legal compliance with the Geneva Conventions, with a policy subject to interpretation, impacted the treatment of detainees in U.S. custody.

Senate Report: Bush Solicited “Wish List” of Torture Techniques

According to a RawStory article about an hour ago:

A report by the Senate Armed Services Committee released Tuesday night says that torture techniques used at Abu Ghraib prison and approved by officials in the George W. Bush administration were applied only after soliciting a “wish list” from interrogators.

President George W. Bush made a written determination that Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions, which would have afforded minimum standards for humane treatment, did not apply to al Qaeda or Taliban detainees. This act, the committee found, cleared the way for a new interrogation program to be developed in-part based on “Chinese communist” tactics used against Americans during the Korean War, mainly to elicit false confessions for propaganda purposes.

“In mid-August 2003, an email from staff at Combined Joint Task Force

7 (CJTF-7) headquarters in Iraq requested that subordinate units provide input for a ‘wish list’ of interrogation techniques [to be used at Abu Ghraib], stated that ‘the gloves are coming off,’ and said ‘we want these detainees broken,'” the report found.

The report is available as a .pdf file from the Senate Armed Services Committee site, and opens with this extraordinary paragraph:

On February 7, 2002, President Bush signed a memorandum stating that the Third Geneva Convention did not apply to the conflict with al Qaeda and concluding that Taliban detainees were not entitled to prisoner of war status or the legal protections afforded by the Third Geneva Convention. The President’s order closed off application of Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions, which would have afforded minimum standards for humane treatment, to al Qaeda or Taliban detainees. While the President’s order stated that, as “a matter of policy, the United States Armed Forces shall continue to treat detainees humanely and, to the extent appropriate and consistent with military necessity, in a manner consistent with the principles of the Geneva Conventions,” the decision to replace well established military doctrine, i.e., legal compliance with the Geneva Conventions, with a policy subject to interpretation, impacted the treatment of detainees in U.S. custody.

This brings tears! Unexpected tears from an unexpected soul!

You will forgive me.  I just need a night’s break from the torture issue.  I wake up in the middle of the night, not every single night, but so many, obsessing about what we’ve done — then I can’t get back to sleep for several hours later.  I will never be able to “embrace” this country as I had in the past, if we cannot change the course of our direction as a nation, and a statement made, thereby, by all of us collectively!  I am sure many of you feel the same way!

Today, I digressed, and listened to a most extraordinary experience — one that literally brought me to tears.  Why?  So many reasons.  An extraordinary voice, and a soul, a soul, the kind we don’t see a lot of these days.  As I listened to this wondrous voice and the most dear of expressions, the tears just wouldn’t stop.  

Perhaps, some of you have had the experience, as well. Perhaps, some have not.

I introduce you to Susan Boyle, from England, who entered a contest — Britains Got Talent!

I would so much like to embed this for you, but it seems that it has been requested that it not be allowed. There’s a part of me that understands that!

So, take time to listen to her here, if you can.  Full Version. Win Susan Win. Susan Boyle – Britains Got Talent

This article has some interesting comments in relation to this wonderfully lovely, joyful woman.

Susan Boyle Has Captured Hearts Around the World

By Tina Brown, The Daily Beast. Posted April 21, 2009.

Susan’s joyous little jig spoke for millions of women who feel unappreciated, ignored, and ridiculed by modern society.

Will Susan Boyle’s epic moment last week on Britain’s Got Talent (not a BBC show) turn out to be a choreographed piece of TV manipulation? Probably. But that’ll just mean that something false gave rise to something true.

Captain Richard Phillips of the good ship Maersk Alabama-and Sully Sullenberger splashing down his crippled airliner in the Hudson River-broke through the poisonous smog of economic depression and Wall Street skullduggery with a reminder that pure individual heroism is a daily occurrence if we know where to look for it. Susan Boyle is another avatar of global yearning.

The YouTube clip of Susan’s angel voice soaring from the unkissed mouth of that scrunchy-faced, eyebrow-enforested, unprepossessingly dumpy representative of anonymous humanity was the third irresistible message to us all to get over ourselves. Until things get better, we will all go on being unusually receptive to such epiphanies from the news. They remind us what uncomplicated strength of character looks like. . . .

Well, I don’t expect that everyone should completely agree with the article, nonetheless, it has a great deal of merit, IMO!

For me, I had a very beautiful experience today — to listen to Susan Boyle, to see Susan Boyle. and to cry and love her simplicity and beautiful voice!

Transcript 04-21-2009 WH Press Briefing, Robert Gibbs

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secrectary

For Immediate Release

April 21, 2009

PRESS BRIEFING BY PRESS SECRETARY ROBERT GIBBS

James S. Brady Press Briefing Room

2:08 P.M. EDT

[snip intro and discussion of Obama trip to Missouri – skip to first substantive question]

Mr. Babbington, wearing a Carolina blue shirt but not a Carolina blue tie, go ahead.

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