The current government is Iran is a bunch of damn rascals and thugs, and there are boatloads of questions about the honesty of their last election. The regime’s brutal crackdown on protestors reveals its true character. (But the Iranian government is not novel in this sense: the Syrians have been as brutal with their dissidents, […]
Tag Archives | Torture
Torture and Political Science
Amazing how few political scientists responded to the last 5 years of revelations about torture by the U.S. government. But perhaps this merely continues that profession’s perennial habit of ignoring the dark side of Leviathan. British historian Thomas Macaulay noted in his 1837 essay on Francis Bacon that “he who first treated legislation as a […]
Celebrate Torture Day by Punishing Torturers
The Future of Freedom Foundation is shotgunning out this email today….. Celebrate Torture Day by Punishing Torturers by James Bovard, June 23, 2009 Since 1997, every June 26 has been formally recognized as the International Day of Support for Victims of Torture. Political leaders around the globe take the occasion to proclaim their opposition to […]
Perverse Reading Habits of U.S. Attorneys: Shredding Privacy, Except for Torturers
From the Las Vegas Review Journal: US Attorney subpoenas Las Vegas Review-Journal for info about posters to a web-page story. “On May 26 the Review-Journal published an article about an ongoing federal tax evasion trial. The primary defendant, Las Vegan Robert Kahre, stands accused of tax fraud for using the rather inventive argument that he […]
The Latest Torture Coverup Scam
The Future of Freedom Foundation is shotgunning out an oped I wrote on the latest torture coverup. Alas, this subject continues to be hell on idealists. ***** The Latest Torture Cover-Up Scam by James Bovard, June 10, 2009 The Obama administration appears increasingly devoted to covering up the worst crimes of the Bush era. On […]
Supreme Court Justice Aids Torture Coverup
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Ginsburg approved an Obama administration request to have an additional 30 days to submit their appeal to justify suppressing the photos of US troops torturing detainees in Iraq and Afghanistan. The administration can now dally until July 9 before submitting their brief arguing their case. This is simply one more layer […]
Obama’s Torture Coverup
Does President Obama have a vested interest in covering up the crimes of the Bush administration? His decision to block the release of photos of U.S. troops abusing detainees in Iraq and Afghanistan is a reminder that the nation may still be running on “Cheney time.” As long as the photos are not released, former […]