Tag Archives | Torture

Happy Dictatorship Day

The prize for the headline of the year goes to today’s Washington Post for the following gem: “Many Rights in U.S. Legal System Absent in New Bill” The Post article on the military tribunal bill the Senates passed yesterday  details some of the legal and procedural rights that people seized as “enemy combatants” will not […]

Continue Reading

Republican Honor Roll on the Torture-Tribunals Bill

The following Republican members of the House of Representatives voted against the Torture-“Terrorist” Tribunal bill (HR 6166) today. Ron Paul, Roscoe Bartlett, Wayne Gilchrest, Walter Jones, Steven LaTourette, James Leach, Jerry Moran. These folks deserve hearty applause for their courage in rebuffing the surge of authoritarian sentiments now sweeping the Grand Old Party. The final […]

Continue Reading

A Divine Torture Cartoon

The Washington Post’s Tom Toles has a cartoon on Congress and torture that is worth its weight in thumbscrews. The cartoon perfectly captures how Congress is partnering with the Bush administration in sanctioning U.S. barbarity. The cartoon is here – at least for today (9/26). Yet, as long as congressmen blindfold themselves to any and all atrocities committed […]

Continue Reading

The United States of Barbarism

The Future of Freedom Foundation is shotgunning out today an oped I wrote on the torture deal.   FFF is one of the few places that has remained true to its principles since 9/11.  FFF chief Jacob Hornberger refused to compromise or kowtow no matter how high Bush’s approval ratings rose.  The United States of Barbarism by James Bovard, […]

Continue Reading

Torture, the Law of the Land – and The Torture Mastermind Reviewed

The key players in the U.S. Senate have agreed with the Bush administration to retroactively legalize torture by U.S. government agents. The compromise deal struck yesterday will block prosecution for CIA officials who tortured detainees since 9/11.  I would expect that, in the name of “fair play,” someone will begin pushing similar legislation to give […]

Continue Reading

How to Pry the Truth out of Congressmen

The Los Angeles Times ran a piece of mine today on fair play for our elected representatives.  Online here (registration required?) and following: Modest Proposal: Waterboard Congress Maybe White House-favored interrogation techniques would coax lawmakers to tell the truth about U.S. anti-terror policies. By James Bovard JAMES BOVARD is the author, most recently, of “Attention […]

Continue Reading

Redefining War Crimes out of Existence

The Washington Post today details how the Bush administration is desperately scrambling to get Congress to pass a law to retroactively legalize torture. OK, this is not exactly what the Post said — they would not be so ill-mannered towards the government. But the Supreme Court’s decision last month declaring that the Bush order on […]

Continue Reading