People as well as blame, dear readers:
"Appeals court: American can be transferred to Iraq" July 08, 2011|Nedra Pickler, Associated Press
A federal appeals court has rejected a second attempt by a U.S. citizen suspected of terrorism to stop the U.S. military from turning him over to Iraq.
Shawqi Omar is a dual citizen of Jordan and the U.S. He’s been held by the military in Iraq since 2004 on evidence he supported al-Qaida. He denies the charges.
Omar argues he can’t be transferred to Iraqi custody because he’s likely to be tortured. The Bush and Obama administrations have argued he won’t be.
The Supreme Court unanimously denied Omar’s attempt to avoid transfer in 2008, ruling that U.S. courts can’t intervene in foreign criminal proceedings. Omar’s second case cites a different law than the first. But the federal appeals court in Washington ruled Friday that it is no more persuasive.
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"CIA officer under scrutiny in death of prisoner in Iraq; Abu Ghraib case raises questions on agency’s role" July 14, 2011|By Adam Goldman and Matt Apuzzo, Associated Press
WASHINGTON - A CIA officer who oversaw the agency’s interrogation program at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and pushed for approval to use increasingly harsh tactics has come under scrutiny in a federal war crimes investigation involving the death of a prisoner, witnesses said.
Steve Stormoen, who is now retired from the Central Intelligence Agency, supervised an unofficial program in which the CIA imprisoned and interrogated men without entering their names in the Army’s books.
The so-called ghosting program was unsanctioned by CIA headquarters....
Now, nearly eight years after a photo of an Army officer grinning over prisoner Manadel al-Jamadi’s body became an indelible image in the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal, federal prosecutors are investigating whether his death amounted to a war crime....
Stormoen, 56, was part of the CIA’s paramilitary arm, the Special Activities Division, after leaving the Army. He retired after Jamadi’s death and received a letter of reprimand for his role in Abu Ghraib. He has since rejoined the intelligence community as a contractor working for a company called SpecTal, which was acquired last year by BAE Systems, a leading defense contractor....
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"Iraq delays taking militant amid doubts in US" July 23, 2011|By Lara Jakes, Associated Press
BAGHDAD - Iraq’s government said yesterday that it would delay taking custody of a top Hezbollah commander from the US military after American senators asked the Pentagon “to take whatever steps’’ necessary to block the transfer for fear he would escape or be released.
The move puts new pressure on Washington to decide whether, and where, to prosecute Ali Mussa Daqduq before a year-end deadline when the US military hands over all detainees it is holding in Iraq.
The US military has been holding Daqduq, a Lebanese militant from that country’s Shi’ite Hezbollah guerrilla group, since he was captured in 2007 in the Iraqi Shi’ite holy city of Karbala.
Dubbed by a former CIA officer as “the worst of the worst,’’ Daqduq is accused of working with Iranian agents to train Shi’ite militias who targeted US soldiers in Iraq. He was linked to a brazen 2007 raid in which four American soldiers were abducted and killed in Karbala....
War with Iran, anyone?
Congress and the White House have slowed his case by feuding about whether to bring him to the United States for trial or send him to a military court at the Navy base at the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba....
Numerous high-profile terror suspects have escaped from Iraq’s prisons, including some whom investigators said likely had inside help.
Like an INSIDE JOB?
Additionally, Iraq has released tens of thousands of terror suspects who were captured by US forces during the height of the war because of what Baghdad has described as little evidence tying them to crimes.
Or, US officials fear, Iraq’s Shi’ite-led government will simply free Daqduq, given Baghdad’s recent efforts to improve diplomatic ties with Iran, which has funded training for Shi’ite militias. In a slap to the Obama administration, Iraq’s government in 2009 released two of Daqduq’s acolytes - Laith and Qais al-Khazali, who also were implicated in the Karbala attack - after being lobbied by the Iranian-linked Asaib Ahl al-Haq militia.
So WHEN is the FALSE FLAG ATTACK and SUBSEQUENT ATTACK and INVASION? This SEPTEMBER?
In a letter dated Thursday, 20 US senators asked Defense Secretary Leon Panetta “to take whatever steps you can to block Daqduq’s transfer to the Iraqi government and out of US custody.’’
“If he is released from United States custody, there is little doubt that Daqduq will return to the battlefield and resume his terrorist activities against the United States and our interests,’’ the senators wrote in the letter signed by 19 Republicans, including Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Senator John McCain of Arizona, top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee. Senate Homeland Security Committee chairman Joe Lieberman, an independent senator from Connecticut, also signed the letter....
That makes 20 Repuglicans and another slap.
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Yeah, HOW CONVENIENT that JUST as we are ABOUT TO LEAVE.... awww, never mind!
And let's transfer some blame, too:
"American once held in Iraq can sue Rumsfeld, judge rules; Ex-contractor says he was tortured by US" August 04, 2011|By Nedra Pickler, Associated Press
WASHINGTON - A federal judge has ruled that former defense secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld can be sued personally for damages by a former US military contractor who says he was tortured during a nine-month imprisonment in Iraq.
I suppose the LAWSUIT is the NEXT BEST THING to a WAR CRIMES COURT!
The suit lays out a dramatic tale of the disappearance of the then-civilian contractor, an Army veteran in his 50s whose identity is being withheld from court filings for fear of retaliation.
Attorneys for the man, who speaks five languages and worked as a translator for Marines collecting intelligence in Iraq, say he was preparing to go home to the United States on annual leave when he was abducted by the US military and held without justification while his family knew nothing about his whereabouts or whether he was alive.
The government says he was suspected of helping pass classified information to the enemy and helping anticoalition forces get into Iraq. But he was never charged with a crime, and he says he never broke the law and was risking his life to help his country.
Court papers filed on his behalf say he was repeatedly abused while being held at Camp Cropper, a US military facility near the Baghdad airport dedicated to holding “high-value’’ detainees, then was suddenly released without explanation in August 2006.
Two years later, he filed suit in US District Court in Washington arguing that Rumsfeld personally approved torturous interrogation techniques on a case-by-case basis and controlled his detention without access to courts in violation of his constitutional rights....
Related:
"In addition to Bush, suspects in the alleged conspiracy include a who’s who of top officials in Bush’s first term, principally Dick Cheney, Condoleeza Rice, Colin Powell, John Ashcroft, Donald Rumsfeld, George Tenet and their aides, says ABC News."
So when do the prosecutions begin?
The Obama administration has represented Rumsfeld through the Justice Department and argued that the former defense secretary cannot be sued personally for official conduct.
So much for change and justice coming along with it.
The Justice Department also argued that a judge cannot review wartime decisions that are the constitutional responsibility of Congress and the president.
But Judge James Gwin rejected those arguments and said US citizens are protected by the Constitution at home or abroad during wartime.
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Can SOMEONE TRANSFER HIM to the HAGUE?
"Abu Ghraib abuse ringleader freed early from military prison" by David Dishneau, Associated Press / August 7, 2011
NEW YORK - The convicted ringleader of detainee abuses at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq was released yesterday from a military prison, an Army spokeswoman said.
Wow, is that ever deft use of words to distort.
I'm not defending the guy, but the orders came down from on high and no one has been held responsible.
Charles Graner Jr., 42, was released from the US Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., about 10 a.m. after serving more than 6 1/2 years of a 10-year sentence, spokeswoman Rebecca Steed said. He will be under the supervision of a probation officer until Dec. 25, 2014, she said.
Steed said she could not release any information about Graner’s whereabouts or his destination after release. Neither Graner nor his wife - who was a fellow Abu Ghraib defendant - has responded to interview requests. Calls and e-mails to Graner’s father and lawyer were not immediately returned.
Graner was an Army Reserve corporal from Uniontown, Pa., when he and six other members of the Maryland-based 372d Military Police Company were charged in 2004 with abusing detainees at the prison in Iraq. The strongest evidence was photographs of grinning US soldiers posing beside naked detainees stacked in a pyramid or held on a leash.
Or worse (see above).
The obfuscation and distortion is quite amazing, isn't it?
Plus, there are hundreds of horrid photos we have not seen.
The pictures complicated international relations for the United States and provoked debate about whether harsh interrogation techniques approved by the Pentagon amounted to torture.
Yeah, they MADE US LOOK BAD! That's the concern. Not the INHUMANE and BARBARIC TREATMENT based on LIES!!!!!
Graner was convicted of offenses that included stacking the prisoners into a pyramid, knocking one of them out with a head punch and ordering prisoners to masturbate while soldiers took pictures. He maintained that the actions were part of a plan directed by military intelligence officers to soften up prisoners for interrogation.
Graner is the last Abu Ghraib defendant to be released from prison and received the longest sentence.
Hana Adwar, an Iraqi human rights activist said the “easy’’ release of a criminal who “committed a war crime’’ would be met with outrage in Iraq.
Steed said Graner’s obligation to the military ends at the end of 2014. Until then, his supervised release could be suspended. She said Graner, who was a civilian correctional officer, was released before serving his maximum sentence under rules that include days off for good behavior.
During his deployment, Graner fathered a son with Lynndie England, former private first class, of Fort Ashby, W.Va. England was given a three-year sentence for her role in the prison scandal.
After his conviction, Graner married another member of his unit, Megan Ambuhl, a former specialist, of Centreville, Va. She was discharged from the Army after pleading guilty to dereliction of duty for failing to prevent or report the maltreatment.
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Related: 3 people killed in Iraq prison break
Also see:
Memory Hole: Iraq's Jails
Memory Hole: Torture Rules
Memory Hole: Camp Nama and Task Force 6-26
Occupation Iraq: New Torture Techniques Revealed
Occupation Iraq: Winter Soldiers Speak
