Sotomayor In Action

This is video of Sonia Sotomayor questioning a Bush Justice Department lawyer about when is it legal to torture. The attorney told the Second Curcuit Court bench under the interests national security and foreign policy torture is acceptable. The attorney later backed off that stance from grilling by Sotomayor. The defense of torture argument quickly falls apart in a legal setting.

The case the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit was hearing was Arar v. Ashcroft. Maher Arar was captured by the C.I.A. and sent to Syria to be tortured into a confession. The C.I.A. and Syrians eventually realized they had the wrong Maher Arar and released him.

Arar has duel Canadian and Syrian citizenship. The Canadian government has asked the United States to clear Arar's name. President Obama's brand of change is to continue to keep Arar on the terrorist watchlist. To quote Pete Townsend, "Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss."

Why We Should Care About Torture

"Why does the media care So much about torture?"

Jim Johnson, of State of Sunshine.

We should all care about torture. It is an act of violence that is morally unacceptable. The Geneva Conventions make clear torture is illegal.

To this end the following acts are and shall remain prohibited at any time and in any place whatsoever with respect to the above-mentioned persons:

(a) Violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture;

(b) Taking of hostages;

(c) Outrages upon personal dignity, in particular, humiliating and degrading treatment;

(d) The passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions without previous judgment pronounced by a regularly constituted court affording all the judicial guarantees which are recognized as indispensable by civilized peoples.

The U.S. Constitution grants Habeas corpus. The U.S. Supreme Court decision Boumediene et al v. Bush allowed detainees to file Habeas corpus petitions. The Eighth Amendment forbids the use of "cruel and unusual punishments inflicted." Torture fits the definition of unconstitutional treatment of prisoners. Boumediene does not give detainees the same rights as American citizens. Conservatives argue it is okay to waterboard detainees because they are foreigners. Xenophobia trumps conducting interrogations that would produce quality intelligence.

The question that should be asked is why conservatives care so little about torture. The evidence is torture interrogations did not produce the intelligence the Bush administration claimed. Conservatives rightfully bash repressive regimes for torturing political prisoners. Why is torture good if the United States does it? Repressive if done by China.

Conservatives use the argument of jihadists beheading prisoners as evidence the Bush administration tactics are justified. Conservatives made the simplistic argument two wrongs make a right. Are we suppose to start beheading detainees because terrorists do? The question is asinine. As is waterboarding Khalid Sheik Mohammed 183 times and expecting new information.

The United States has sent Maher Arar sent to Syria to be tortured. He was released because the CIA mistaked him for someone else. Arar was held and tortured in Syria for ten months. Not only do we torture like repressive regimes - we outsource work to these countries

I hope that answers Jim Johnson's question.

Civil Rights Is Not A Laughing Matter

Karl Rove and Bill Kristol literally laugh off serious claims that the Bush administration profiled and violated the civil rights of American Muslims. Even if you agree with the Bush administration's detainment policy (which I don't), Kristol and Rove show a childish lack of sensitivity.

KRISTOL: What have we done to Muslims in America? What has happened?

JENKINS: Arrested them.

KRISTOL: We’ve arrested Muslims in America? [LAUGHTER]

JENKINS: Incarcerated them without trial.

KRISTOL: We’ve incarcerated Muslims in America without trial?

ROVE: Rounded them up? Rounded, rounded them up? Name one?

KRISTOL: Nonsense.

ROVE: Name one instance.

JENKINS: The, [UNCLEAR] belabor me all day with lists of people who have vanished. Vanished.

ROVE: You know-

KRISTOL: Well, that-

ROVE: This is on the border of lunacy, with all due respect.

JENKINS: But you didn’t need to do it, you didn’t need to do it-

ROVE: We didn’t do it!

The United States just aren't detaining American citizens. Canadian Maher Arar was detained during a JFK International Airport layover. He was rendition to Syria and tortured. The Canadian government has cleared Arar. The Bush administration will not talk publicly about Arar's case.

"The information is also significant because it shows that the CIA was involved, and that two days after Maher was jetted out of the U.S., before anyone knew where he was, CSIS (Canadian Security Intelligence Service) officials thought the U.S. wanted to send him to a country that 'could have their way with him' -- confirming that the U.S. officials who sent Maher to Syria did so to have him interrogated under torture," she said.

"The revelations from last week about complicity and torture confirm our worst suspicions of the dangers of unchecked executive power in a democracy," Jason Gratl, president of the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association, told IPS in an interview.

"The willingness of the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) to mislead the judiciary with respect to the origins of the information derived from torture demonstrates once again that balance of power must be rectified."

Kristol and Rove are delusional. They are less scary than torture architects Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld. The latter felt the United States was too timid and wanted even harsher torture.