Latest from Iraq: When Violence Goes Beyond "Violent Semi-Peace"

In January, just after the US Status of Forces Agreement with Iraq, we had a go at the construction in The New York Times of a "violent semi-peace". It seemed to us that the authors were trying to salvage a back-slapping congratulations of a US accomplishment even though violence and political instability were likely to continue in Iraq.

After the series of bombing in the last 48 hours that have killed more than 150 people, it is not a question of returning to that exchange with a "see, we told you so". The situation is far too serious for that.

Juan Cole, as always, has been incisive in his analysis, noting that there has been almost 30 major bombings in Iraq this month. Yesterday's assault on the shrine of Imam Musa al-Kazim in northern Baghdad is "much more dangerous", however, because of the symbolism: Musa Kazim is the seventh of twelve Imams for Shi'a. If the shrine had been destroyed, the incident could have sparked retaliations such as those that followed the destruction of the Samarra mosque in 2006.

The concern has an eerie feel this morning as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has landed in Baghdad has landed for a surprise visit. Her assurance --- in the manner of January's New York Times --- that Iraq is "on the right track" is to be expected.

What is more disturbing is her blame of "rejectionist efforts" for violence: that is uncomfortably close to Donald Rumsfeld's confidence in 2003 that it was only "dead-enders" causing trouble in Iraq.

Discovering How the US Became a "Torturing Democracy"

Related Post: Fox News Anchor: "We Do Not F****** Torture!"

By coincidence, as the latest furour over torture escalated, I was writing chapers on the early months of the Bush Administration. That, in part, is why I have been unsettled by the spin, diversions, and outright lies of former Bush officials: the evidence offers no gray area in which to hide. The Bush Administration authorised torture, under the label "enhanced interrogation", and persisted in that authorisation even though there was no evidence of its effectiveness, let alone its legality or morality.

One of the sources I have been using is the website for the documentary Torturing Democracy. It is invaluable for its interviews, documents, and commentary (and the full documentary is on-line). A few of many notable examples:

Richard Armitage, former special forces officer, Deputy Secretary of State in the Bush Administration: "There is no question in my mind -- there's no question in any reasonable human being, there shouldn't be, that [waterboarding] is torture."

Moazzam Begg, detainee in Camp Bagram in Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay:

The CIA, the military intelligence, and the FBI had decided in May 2002 to begin my interrogation in earnest, which included during that period me being tied, "hogtied" as I call it, also as they call it in America, with my hands tied behind my back to my ankles and being left like that for hours on end at various points....They brought photographs of my family, which they'd taken off my laptop computer, which they'd seized in Pakistan, which include pictures of my children that they waved in front of me and asked me, "Where do you think they are? Do you think they're safe? What do you think happened to them? Do you think you're going to see them again?" And during this period hearing the sounds of a woman screaming. The implication of which was it was my wife being tortured next door; they didn't say as much, but they didn't have to.

Martin Lederman, Department of Justice Legal Adviser:

The purpose of the torture memo [of August 2002] was to give the CIA absolute assurance that no matter what it did, in terms of interrogation, that it would never be subject to any criminal culpability. None of its agents would ever be exposed to criminal culpability under domestic law, putting aside foreign tribunals.

Michael Gelles, Chief Psychologist, Naval Criminal Investigative Service:

We know that people who are tortured provide information. We just don't believe that in most cases that information is accurate and reliable. Because people will provide information to stop the discomfort.

Death and Deprivation for Sri Lanka's Tamils: Has Anyone Noticed?

There is a great deal to ponder in why, amidst headline crises elsewhere in the world, the humanitarian situation in Sri Lanka has attracted little attention. There are estimates that up to 6500 Tamil civilians have died and ten of thousands have fled in recent weeks in a worsening civil war that has stretched out over decades.

Tom Fenton of Global Post reveals and considers the situation:

What the Tamils and Palestinians Have in Common

LONDON — For the past three weeks, dozens of flag-waving Tamils have been camping out in Parliament Square, trying to draw attention to the desperate plight of their ethnic minority in far-off Sri Lanka. Several are on a hunger strike. Busy Londoners seem to ignore them, except when the demonstrators hold up traffic. The Tamils are one of the world’s least popular causes.

An estimated 70,000 of them have been killed in the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam's decades-long struggle for independence against the Sri Lankan government. Civilians trapped between the Tamil Tigers and government troops are in particularly dire straits right now. But their suffering is largely unseen by the world.

The Sri Lankan government has barred independent news organizations and most aid agencies from the combat zone in the northeast, where a dwindling band of rebel militia members is making a last-ditch stand against the Sri Lankan army. Tens of thousands of Tamil civilians are trapped in the war zone and trying to flee. Almost 3,000 have been killed in the fighting in the past two months. The government is pushing hard to finish off the rebellion and believes that if the cameras are not there, the world won’t care what happens.

Read rest of article....

Video: Corporal Rick Reyes on Afghanistan and "Creating Enemies Out of Civilians"

Former Marine Corporal Rick Reyes appeared before a Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Afghanistan yesterday. In less than seven minutes, he offered an eloquent warning against the idea of a military-first solution:

We weren't fulfilling our objective of capturing terrorists, but instead creating enemies out of civilians. As a Marine trying to ensure justice, I began losing sight of why I was there and the conviction began to fade.

Because our mission was to capture suspected Taliban and had no successful way of being able to distinguish them, we had no other choice but to suspect the entire civilian population, innocent or not....Almost 100 percent of the time we would find that suspected terrorists turned out to be innocent civilians. I began to feel like we were chasing ghosts, fighting an enemy that we could not see or that didn't allow itself to be seen. How can you tell the difference between the Taliban and Afghan civilians? The answer is that you can't. It all stopped making sense....

Sending more troops won't make the US safer. It will only build more opposition against us.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypwrq4mbiQw[/youtube]

Fox News Anchor: "We Do Not F****** Torture!"

Related Post: Discovering How the US Became a “Torturing Democracy”

Warning: Language in clip below may offend

Only three months after the Bush Administration left office, American society has passed a "tipping point" on the question of torture. In January 2009, even though those following the story knew the details of how George W. Bush and advisors set out the path to torture in December 2001 and formally authorised "enhanced interrogation" in summer 2002, it was not considered a "fact" in public discussion.

Now there is so much discussion of torture that even a 24/7 newssite can't keep up with the political developments. For now, here's a passionate, symbolic marker of the US crossing the Rubicon of the illegal, immoral activities of the Bush years.

On Fox News --- yes, Fox News --- anchor Shepard Stone, upset by attempts to rationalise torture's effectiveness, said clearly and loudly, if colourfully, ""We are America. I don't give a rat's ass if it helps. We are America! We do not fucking torture!"