Photo credit: Witness Against Torture It was painful enough to live through the U.S invasion of Iraq that caused untold devastation and human misery for no justifiable reason. Now we are again reminded of the grim Bush legacy with President-elect Biden’s nomination of Avril Haines for Director of National Intelligence. Haines, who has an inside-the-beltway […]
Documentarians Ray Nowosielski and John Duffy joined me this week to discuss their new book, The Watchdogs Didn’t Bark: The CIA, NSA, and the Crimes of the War on Terror. Ray and John talked about their earlier work covering 9/11. They discussed how they first got involved, and the subsequent hurdles that this sort of journalism presented. They spoke about the CIA’s threats against them after completing their second documentary Who is Rich Blee?
When the Senate Intelligence Committee begins questioning CIA director-nominee Gina Haspel on Wednesday they should ask these questions, especially whether torture was used to build a rationale for war, argues Sam Husseini. By Sam Husseini Gina Haspel’s nomination to be…Read more →
ProPublica erred when it reported in 2017 that Gina Haspel was in charge of a secret prison in Thailand during the infamous interrogation of Abu Zubaydah. (PP) — On Feb. 22, 2017, ProPublica published a story that inaccurately described Gina Haspel’s role in the treatment of Abu Zubaydah, a suspected al-Qaida leader who was imprisoned by the […]
Like his predecessors, President Trump made nice with the rich royals of Saudi Arabia, despite damning evidence that they have supported Islamic terrorists, including the 9/11 attackers, notes 9/11 widow Kristen Breitweiser. By Kristen Breitweiser President Trump has cut a…Read more →
The floor of the main lobby of the Central Intelligence Agency in Langley, Va., Saturday, Jan. 21, 2017. (AP/Andrew Harnik)
(REPORT) — In August of 2002, interrogators at a secret CIA-run prison in Thailand set out to break a Palestinian man they believed was one of al-Qaida’s top leaders.
The seal of the Central Intelligence Agency at CIA headquarters in Langley, Va. (AP/Carolyn Kaster)
(REPORT) — Despite intense efforts to keep most of the details of their use of torture secret over recent years, the CIA’s most recent release of documents included several which shed new light on the practice of torture, as well as underscoring an intense internal debate within the agency about the policy.
Evil old ladies, broken chessboards and technical shutdowns + this day in history w/the Munich massacre and our song of the day by Hamilton Leithauser and Rostam on your Morning Monarchy for September 6, 2016.
Exclusive: The ugly legacy of George W. Bush’s torture program continues to haunt U.S. foreign policy as the “poster child” for waterboarding, Abu Zubaydah, makes an appeal for his release from Guantanamo, writes Marjorie Cohn. By Marjorie Cohn Last week,…Read more →
(COMMONDREAMS) After 14 years of being held without charge, Guantánamo prisoner Abu Zubaydah, who was subject to brutal torture and is known as the “guinea pig” for the Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA) “enhanced interrogation program,” made his first appearance on Tuesday before the Periodic Review Board and requested to be set free.
