By Kenneth J. Theisen
Psychologist returns Award to Protest American Psychological Association (APA) Stand on Torture
Psychologist Mary Pipher has returned a 2006 award she received from the APA to protest the organization’s recent vote to allow it members to be involved in interrogations at U.S. military sites such as Guantanamo. In her letter of protest she stated, “”I do not want an award from an organization that sanctions its members’ participation in the enhanced interrogations at CIA Black Sites and at Guantanamo. The presence of psychologists has both educated the interrogation teams in more skillful methods of breaking people down and legitimized the process of torture in defiance of the Geneva Conventions.”
APA leaders claim the presence of psychologists prevents interrogation abuses but opponents, such as Pipher, state that their presence constitutes an endorsement of this system of abuse. In an interview about why she took her strong moral stand on this issue, Pipher stated, “I know a lot about trauma… innocent people are tortured, and torture victims never recover. We are not innocent bystanders at those sites”We are responsible for training these interrogators. …We are the only people left, the only medical professionals, who are lending (the torture sites) legitimacy.”
Federal Court Legalizes Bush Regime Secrecy
On September 4, 2007, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the CIA may keep presidential daily briefings secret for decades if the intelligence agency concludes that disclosure would hurt national security. In the case before the court a political science professor sought the CIA’s briefings presented to President Johnson on August 6, 1965, and April 2, 1968. The professor was doing research on the Vietnam War.
The CIA briefs presidents daily on so-called intelligence matters. President Bush received one such briefing a month before 9/11 that disclosed that Osama bin Laden was determined to attack within the United States. The Bush regime did not act on that briefing and has come in for criticism from Democratic Party leadership for this.
According to the court there are 13,500 daily briefings in existence and only some 25 or so have been revealed through leaks or with government approval. The professor, Larry Berman, claimed that the briefs revealed historically valuable information without harming national security. But the court held that CIA records were entitled to “near-blanket” secrecy under federal law. In the particular case, the CIA’s information review officer claimed every word in the two documents had to be kept secret because they identified the CIA’s sources and methods and the court agreed with this ridiculous claim. Judge Raymond Fisher wrote that, “Judges are poorly positioned to evaluate the sufficiency of the CIA’s intelligence claims” and must therefore defer to the CIA’s judgment.
This ruling will only encourage the Bush regime to continue with its policy to keep the public in the dark about virtually all of its actions in the “war on terror.” It cloaks its actions under terms such as national security and executive privilege while it creates a fascist dictatorship allegedly protecting us from evil.
General Sets Stage for Keeping Troop Surge
On September 4, 2007 Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno, the number two commander in Iraq, claimed that the U.S. had made security gains from the recent escalation of the war and that these gains could be lost if troops leave too soon. He further stated it might be possible to maintain security in Iraq with fewer U.S. troops if attacks by insurgents do not increase in the next month and a half leading up to Ramadan and throughout the Islamic holy month. Odierno stated, “That would be a big indicator to me, if we can hold it through Ramadan.”
This is obviously the latest Bush regime line. On Labor Day, President Bush in a speech stated that, “”if the kind of success we are now seeing continues, it will be possible to maintain the same level of security with fewer American forces.” Bush went on to say, “You can’t fix it through military action. You’re going to have to have government policy that is going to take political action in order to really solve this problem, and I think that comes later on.” In other words, he needs more time for the surge to work. Maybe a decade or two will be enough.
Soon we will have a political dog and pony show in Washington when Ambassador Crocker and General Petraeus tell the public that the escalation is working and it just needs some more time. Bush will then approach Congress for more war funding which will “reluctantly” be granted. In the meantime thousands will die in Iraq as the war drags on.
GAO Gives Failing Grades to Iraq Quagmire
A study released on September 4, 2007 by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) challenges the Bush regime’s recent optimistic assessment of the Iraq War. The GAO contends that only three benchmarks set by Congress and the administration have been achieved in Iraq, while 11 have not been achieved.
The GAO report indicated “that violence has remained high through July 2007.” It also found that fewer Iraqi security forces are capable of acting independently of U.S. forces, and the Iraqi government has failed to reach major political agreements needed to halt sectarian violence.
The White House dismissed GAO’s findings despite its successful pressure to modify some of the findings in the report. Because of this Bush regime pressure, the GAO concluded that Iraq has partially met four out of 18 benchmarks, two more than in a draft report. In July, Bush stated that Iraq had made satisfactory progress in eight of the 18 benchmarks.
But GAO stuck with its original contention that only three goals had been achieved while 11 had failed. The minor goals that were allegedly met include establishing joint security stations in Baghdad, ensuring minority rights in the Iraqi legislature and creating support committees for the Baghdad security plan.
White House spokesman Tony Fratto tried to “spin” the report by saying, “Everyone was aware that some progress on the benchmarks could be seen on a number of the benchmarks. One didn’t really have to travel to Iraq to come to that conclusion. I’m not aware that anyone expected the benchmarks to be completed by September.”
But many supporters of the regime in Republican congressional ranks have said that they wanted to see substantial improvement by now and will be hard pressed to find any such “improvement.” But that will not deter the regime. Next week the Bush regime will try to fool the public once again when General David Petraeus, and U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, brief Congress on “progress”achieved in Iraq. One of Bush’s main supporters, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, responded to the report by saying that he would like have a long-term U.S. presence in the Middle East to fight al-Qaeda and deter Iran. He will undoubtedly be pleased by the Bush regime game plan over the next few weeks when various Bush spokesmen tell us to ignore reality and rely on illusions in their effort to prolong the Iraq war.