Former terrorist suspects detained by the United States were tortured, according to medical examinations detailed in a report released Wednesday by a human rights group.
The Massachusetts-based Physicians for Human Rights reached that conclusion after two-day clinical evaluations of 11 former detainees, who had been held at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and in Afghanistan.
Read more »
Pakistani journalist Ahmed Rashid on the disastrous effects of the Bush administration’s “war on terror” policies. Democracy Now!, June 10: Read more »
My latest New Matilda column is about the myth of “humanitarian intervention”:
Last week’s Australian withdrawal of combat troops from Iraq saw a flurry of establishment commentary on the rights and wrongs of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s decision. Read more »
The Chief of Defence Force (CDF) Air Marshall Angus Houston, told the Senate Estimates hearing today that the war in Afghanistan may last another ten years. Not only that, but the CDF said that without a lot more troops on the ground, we face “strategic failure” in Afghanistan.
An uncomfortable Minister Faulkner sat stone [...]
Clive Stafford Smith, attorney, Democracy Now!:
…According to the most recent official figures, the United States is currently holding 27,000 secret prisoners around the world…
Anatol Lieven, Financial Times, June 11:
In public, defeat in Afghanistan is unthinkable for western governments. In private, for many it already seems inevitable – at least if the western definition of “victory” remains the vastly overblown goals set since the overthrow of the Taliban, within any timeframe that is likely to be acceptable to western electorates. Read more »
Several soldiers who have returned from combat zones talk with the American News Project about what they say is the widespread practice of using “drop weapons” to cover up the killing of innocent civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan:
One thing that’s puzzled me for a long time is how Australia has been able to continue to deploy soldiers to all manner of risky spots without significant casualties. Did our diggers have some kind of movie-style good-guy bullet repulsion field? Read more »
The Islamic Republic may soon be targeted by the Bush administration: Read more »
Blogotariat is a platform to enhance the role of blog commentary and its growing influence on Mainstream Media and the political process – the great contest of ideas essential to a civil society. If you wish to contribute editorially or add your blog please use the Contact menu to send some info.
