Saturday, March 8, 2008

248. TORTUROUS BROADCASTS

From the Archives. (September 2006) Well the boy emperor is no longer even denying the existence of the secret CIA prisons abroad.

How many years has it been now that he’s been holding these people without trial? Five? And now he’s moving 14 who are purported to be the “world’s most wanted Islamic extremists.”

(Um, except for bin Laden, whom you cannot seem to catch?)

Consider, for a moment, what is not said in this sentence: “Most of the detainees have been interviewed extensively and are believed to have little remaining intelligence value.”

Despite evidence of water-boarding, the boy emperor said “I want to be absolutely clear with our people, and the world. The United States does not torture. It’s against our laws, and it’s against our values. I have not authorized it and I will not authorize it.”

Nope. You just send your prisoners to offshore torture houses and avert your eyes while other people do it.

Interesting timing to announce the existence of 14 detainees purported to have orchestrated 9/11 just days before this somber anniversary and weeks after losing a case in which the government insisted that it is authorized to hold prisoners without trial for as long as they damn well feel like it.

(Oh and just 2 months before the midterm elections in which Republicans are floundering.)

Meanwhile Blair refuses to set a date when he will leave office.

Time to re-read Coetzee’s Waiting for the Barbarians, folks.

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