The CIA official who ordered the destruction of videotapes that had documented the treatment of terror suspects, says he told Gina Haspel what he intended to do.
bush administration
The Shame of Guantanamo, 11 Years On
The irony should not be lost on us that our congressional district is represented by Ron DeSantis, the sort of fanatic who had no trouble advertising his brief service in Guantanamo’s kangaroo courts as a badge of honor while leaving silent his employment with a more legitimate Florida corporate law firm. With political charlatans like that in Congress, it’s no wonder Guantanamo endures.
Missing Memorials to Two Lost Wars
This week marks the 10th anniversary of the beginning of the Iraq war, but as Iraq and Afghanistan have been lost, the focus of memorials has shifted from wars to the cult of the soldiers, while victims of war are as always passed over in silence.
Zero Dark Thirty’s Tortured, Losing Premise
Zero Dark Thirty is a movie the CIA wants you to see. Torture is illegal under U.S. and international law and it is utterly immoral. It doesn’t “work,” but that’s beside the point to the movie-makers, argues Chris Toensing. The result is disturbing for all the wrong reasons.
57 Republicans Who Voted for Bush’s Katrina Aid Voted Against Obama’s Sandy Aid
When Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005, Congress passed two relief bills almost unanimously. But when it comes to Hurricane Sandy,179 Republicans and one Democrat opposed aid. Signal differences are the occupant in the White House and the states getting help.
0.2% Stupor: Protecting 350,000 Millionaires At the Expense of 160 Million Workers
There’s a very simple way to ensure that this country goes the way of old, bankrupt empires, and it doesn’t take flying planes into building or suckering the world’s mightiest military into pointless wars halfway around the globe. All it takes is voting Republican.
Incomes at Their Worst Since 1996, Poverty At a 52-Year High, Inequality Deepening
Florida’s poverty rate rose to the highest level in 16 years, with 3 million residents—one in six—living under the poverty line in 2010. Nationally, most economic and health insurance indicators are worsening to historic levels.
Since 9/11: A Reckoning
Moving tributes and grief aside, one lesson of the last 10 years is that we have yet to learn the lesson of the last 10 years: we are not only on a spiral downward. We are feeding the spiral, collectively and consciously. We should all be mourners, and not just for 9/11’s victims.
Room for Debate
Bin Laden Death Photos and Videos: Should They be Released?
A dead and bloodied photo or video of Osama bin Laden may be “gruesome,” as the White House claims, but why should the public not have a full accounting of the raid and of bin Laden’s burial?
THE END OF BIN LADEN,
The Endings Yet to Come
There is an inevitable, visceral, justifiable need to celebrate the death of Osama bin Laden. Let’s just not repeat the mistakes of 2011 and let the visceral dictate the next chapter of wars still looking for an ending.