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Music Is the New Torture: 8 Songs to Break Detainees Down To
If simulated drowning isn't enough, you can add music to America's weapons of mass degradation. Amped-up tunes are used as "sonic bludgeons" at US military prisons in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo Bay.
Songs such as Britney Spears's "Baby One More Time" are turned up and set to repeat to create fear, disorientation, and a prolonged capture shock.
Front Page: Bush to Keep Guantanamo Open, Obama Leaving Campaign Trail, Saudi Arabia Charges 991 Al Qaeda Suspects
- Bush to Keep Gitmo Open: Though he'd previously stated a desire to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Bush has now decided not to do so, and did not consider proposals from the State Department and Pentagon to transfer the prisoners elsewhere. His current view appears to be that closing the prison would involve too many political and legal risks. It will remain open for the rest of his term.
Front Page: Bin Laden Driver Sentenced, 13 Dead in Texas Bus Crash, Iraq Proposes Timetable
- Bin Laden Driver Sentenced: A panel of military officers have sentenced the convicted former driver of Osama bin Laden to five and a half years in prison. Ignoring the prosecution's pleas for a strict sentence, the 66 month decision means that the first detainee convicted of a war crime in court could complete his punishment by the end of the year. The military judge said he had already planned to give credit for the 61 months the detainee has already served.
- 13 Dead in Texas Bus Crash: A charter bus carrying 55 church members rolled on its side killing 13 instantly and sending 24 to the hospital.
Verdict Issued in Trial of Osama bin Laden's Driver
The military jury's verdict in the Guantanamo Bay trial of Osama bin Laden's driver is in: he has been found not guilty in the more serious count of conspiracy to aid terror, and guilty of material support of terrorism. The sentencing phase of the trial begins this afternoon. The prosecution's case did not prove that he intended to do harm, but that he aided the al Qaeda network in accomplishing acts that caused harm.
Front Page: Guantanamo Secret Footage, Suicide Attack Kills Iraqi Recruits, Bush Press Conference
- Guantanamo Secret Footage: A secretly filmed tape of a detainee being questioned at the US prison camp in Guantanamo Bay has just been released. The video shows 16-year-old detainee, Omar Khadr, being questioned by Canadian officials about events that led to his capture by US forces. The Canadian detainee is accused of throwing a grenade resulting in a US soldier's death in Afghanistan in 2002.
Senate Questions Interrogation Methods, Study Proves Torture
"If the detainee dies, you're doing it wrong." So says John Fredman, then chief counsel to the CIA's counter-terrorism center, explaining in minutes of a 2002 meeting released yesterday, concluding that torture "is basically subject to perception". The minutes were released in conjunction with the Senate Armed Services Committee investigation into the origins of harsh interrogation tactics used on prisoners at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib.
Front Page: Hillary To Drop Out, 9/11 Tribunal, Abbas to Meet With Hamas
- Hillary To Drop Out: Hillary Clinton will endorse Barack Obama on Saturday, ending her 17-month campaign for the White House, according to aides. Her decision was influenced by Democrats' urges to leave the race and allow the party to come together around Obama. She is going to express support for Obama and party unity at an event in Washington, June 7.
The US to Televise Hearings to 9-11 Families. Thoughts?
The US military has decided to televise the Guantanamo trial of accused September 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and five other suspects so relatives of those killed in the attacks can watch the proceedings. The chief prosecutor said, "we're going to broadcast in real time to several locations that will be available just to victim families."
The defendants are charged with murder and conspiracy, and prosecutors have asked that they be executed if convicted of plotting to crash hijacked planes into New York's World Trade Center and the Pentagon in 2001.
The Road to Justice at Guantánamo Bay
Outside my window I can see a faded poster hung in my neighbor's window that reads: "The America I Believe in Would Close Guantánamo Bay." The US military prison houses detainees who have been identified by the government as "enemy combatants" and is certainly controversial. Today, the New York Times reports on the hurdles to justice at the detention center.
Are the Pentagon and Bush Administration to Blame For Torture?
What's being called the Torture Memo (written in 2003 and made public yesterday) sheds a bold light on upper official decrees on the definition of torture at the beginning of the Iraq War. The memo contains language telling Pentagon senior leadership that inflicting pain would not be considered torture unless it caused “death, organ failure or permanent damage.”
It is the most fully developed legal justification that has yet come to light for inflicting physical and mental pressure on suspects, and it was declassified in response to a request by the American Civil Liberties Union under the Freedom of Information Act. Campus Progress has a great breakdown of the quotes and arguments from the memo.
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