Gitmo Whistleblower Talks To BBC About Torture

Former Gitmo guard Chris Arendt has told a BBC interviewer about the abuses he saw there. He was quite clear that what he saw was ''torture'' and that some of his fellow guards were so violent as to be ''psychotic.''
Here's Arendt talking at the "Winter Soldiers" press conference hosted by IVAW back in April last year.


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The Bush Administration's Most Despicable Act

"This is not the America I know," President George W. Bush said after the first, horrifying pictures of U.S. troops torturing prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq surfaced in April 2004. The President was not telling the truth. "This" was the America he had authorized on Feb. 7, 2002, when he signed a memorandum stating that the Third Geneva Convention — the one regarding the treatment of enemy prisoners taken in wartime — did not apply to members of al-Qaeda or the Taliban. That signature led directly to the abuses at Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo Bay. It was his single most callous and despicable act. It stands at the heart of the national embarrassment that was his presidency.

The details of the torture that Bush authorized have been dribbling out over the years in books like Jane Mayer's excellent The Dark Side. But the most definitive official account was released by the Senate Armed Services Committee just before Christmas. Much of the committee's report remains secret, but a 19-page executive summary was published, and it is infuriating. The story begins with an obscure military training program called Survival Evasion Resistance and Escape (SERE), in which various forms of torture are simulated to prepare U.S. special-ops personnel for the sorts of treatment they might receive if they're taken prisoner. Incredibly, the Bush Administration decided to have SERE trainers instruct its interrogation teams on how to torture prisoners. (Read "Shell-Shocked at Abu Ghraib?")

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Cheney, Gonzales Arraignment Set For Friday

RAYMONDVILLE, Texas — A Texas judge has set a Friday arraignment for Vice President Dick Cheney, former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and others named in indictments accusing them of responsibility for prisoner abuse in a federal detention center.
Cheney, Gonzales and the others will not be arrested, and do not need to appear in person..

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Mother sues daughter over bestselling 'abuse' memoir

A British lawyer who wrote a popular book recounting a childhood of alleged emotional and physical abuse is being sued for libel by her mother, who says the claims are fantasy.
Constance Briscoe defends the veracity of her book, "Ugly" -- the nickname she says her mother threw at her as a child. Her lawyer told London's High Court on Tuesday that the book contained some errors but was "quite properly put in the biography section of the bookshop, not the fiction section."
With its harrowing, inspirational and ostensibly true story, "Ugly" has sold more than half a million copies in Britain since it was published in 2006. It was followed by a sequel, "Beyond Ugly."
The child of Jamaican immigrants, Briscoe, 51, grew up in a poor part of London but went on to become a lawyer and one of the first black women in Britain to be appointed a recorder, or part-time judge.
In "Ugly," Briscoe alleges that her mother regularly beat and starved her before abandoning her when she was 13.
The book claims Briscoe's stepfather once stubbed a cigarette out on her hand, and says that as a teenager Briscoe needed surgery on her breasts because of trauma caused by her mother's assaults.
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Video of Riot Police Arresting "Anonymous Leader" in Atlanta

Just kidding - there's no such thing as an anonymous leader. Cops are also pulling over random people for showing support to anonymous. Protest cult - go to jail.

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Email: Join Me - Restore America's Honor

An e-mail I got from Democrats.com-Unity;

Please read this note from Gen. David Irvine, who taught interrogation for 18 years, about ending torture in America's name. At a time when our leaders aren't giving us straight answers, Gen. Irvine gets to the point: Torture is never the answer.

Please join me in signing the petition to all presidential candidates.

Bob Fertik

Dear Friend,

I taught prisoner of war interrogation for 18 years to U.S. Army soldiers. Neither I nor the Army taught torture: it's morally wrong, it endangers our own troops who may be taken prisoner, it undermines our values, and it does not produce reliable information.

Torture is un-American. One year from today, we can elect a President who 'gets it' - and rejects it. Thirty seconds from now, you can make a difference. Sign the petition today!

I've listened to some of our current leaders say that we should use torture - what they call "enhanced" interrogation techniques - to combat terrorism. Abandoning our principles is never the answer. An expert interrogator needs to be clever, not inhumane.

Strong presidential leadership is needed to restore our nation's stature in the eyes of the civilized world. This week, one year from the presidential election, I am adding my name to Human Rights First's petition, urging all of the presidential candidates to restore our nation's honor. You can do the same .

Take 30 seconds to put your name next to mine. Restore what America stands for: human rights and the rule of law.

This isn't about being tough on terrorists. It's about what's in the strategic interest of the United States. Torture doesn't produce reliable information but it does harden hearts and minds against us, and torture by any agency of our government puts our own troops at greater risk. It's time to stop playing semantic games about what torture is.

If you're like me, you want a President who is truly devoted to this country , its longstanding laws, and its fundamental values. A President who will:

• Stop shipping prisoners to countries known to torture
• Close Guantanamo
• Restore the right of habeas corpus
• Ensure that torture is never again a part of U.S. policy

In one year, we could be celebrating the election of a leader who understands what's at stake. But only if we demand it today! Thank you for joining me and Human Rights First as we end torture and abuse in America's name.

Yours sincerely,

Brigadier General David R. Irvine, USA (Ret.)

Human Rights First is a nonpartisan, 501(c)(3), international human rights organization based in New York and Washington D.C. We do not favor or oppose any candidate for public office.

Help and Links for Domestic Violence sites...

Links and Help on Domestic Violence;

Your Online Domestic Violence Survival Kit


The National Domestic Violence Hotline


National Hotline
1-800-799-SAFE

For Military Families...

National Coalition Against Domestic Violence

Domestic Violence and Abuse:Warning Signs and Symptoms of Abusive Relationships

National Center on Domestic and Sexual Violence

National Network to End Domestic Violence

Domestic violence toward women: Recognize the patterns and seek help

Jane Doe, Inc.

Domestic Violence: Protecting Yourself and Your Children

I Got Flowers Today

a well known poem about domestic violence...

I got flowers today 
It wasn’t my birthday or any other special day. 
Last night we had a fight and he hit me, 
But I know he is sorry 
Cause I got flowers today

I got flowers today 
It wasn’t our anniversary or any other special day. 
Last night he threw me against the wall and started to choke me, 
But I know he’s sorry, 
Cause I got flowers today

I got flowers today 
It wasn’t Mothers day or any other special day 
I was so swollen and bruised I was ashamed to answer the door 
But I know he’s sorry, 
Cause I got flowers today

If I leave him, where will I go? 
What about money? what about my kids? 
It’s getting worse every time but I’m afraid to leave 
But I know he’s sorry 
Cause I got flowers today

I got flowers today 
My family and friends filed by to see me 
Asking why I never left him, 
If I only had the strength and courage to, but I didn’t 
So I got Flowers today

© Allen "Two Trees" Dowdell
September 1991

Victims by Chance....Survivors by Choice!: Poetry of Abuse - I Got Flowers Today

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