Something You'll Never See in the Amerik an Press

“what the press is like in the French, Arab, or old Eastern Block countries. Read, discuss, and then think about your new popularity as the Ugliest Amerikan on that European vacation you've been saving up for!
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Briton Tells Of Ordeal
In Bush's Torture Jail
By Paul Harris and Burhan Wazir
The Observer - UK
12-29-2

The letter contained only hints of what Moazzam Begg's interrogators may have done to him. He wrote of hunger and being kept awake by bright lights. 'I still don't know what will happen with me,' he lamented to his wife back home in Birmingham.

Begg, 35, was writing from Bagram military base just outside Kabul. He is the only British prisoner inside a cluster of metal shipping containers at the heart of the United States army part of the base, which serves as a 'jail' for al-Qaeda suspects.

Now the camp is at the centre of a furious row over US behaviour in the war on terror. Evidence is growing that prisoners inside the containers are being tortured by American soldiers and CIA agents. Begg may have written of more damaging details of his own treatment, but many of his previous letters were never delivered.

It appears the US soldiers at Bagram have much to hide. Human rights groups are calling for an inquiry into the methods used by American interrogators at Bagram and other bases in Afghanistan.

US officials have admitted that suspects captured in the region are 'softened up' on their way to detention by brutal beatings from US military police and special forces soldiers. They are confined to tiny rooms, blindfolded and thrown into walls. They are tied up in painful positions, subjected to loud noises and deprived of sleep by having lights shone on them all day and night. Sometimes they are forced to stand for long periods in black hoods or wearing goggles which have been spray-painted so as to render them blind.

The aim is to disorientate and confuse the suspects, as they face a barrage of questions about their activities in Afghanistan and elsewhere. It is believed that some, who had battle wounds when captured, are denied painkillers as a further way of coaxing information from them.

'Pain control is a very subjective thing,' one US official said, deadpan, to the Washington Post last week.

Those who do not crack, or perhaps have nothing to tell, are often handed over to foreign intelligence services such as those of Morocco or Saudi Arabia, where less sophisticated and bloodier torture techniques are regularly employed.

Critics point out that the US forces have picked up innocent men before. In October three Afghan men were released without charge after they had been held for a year at the American base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. They were given $500 compensation between them.

So far the US has admitted that two men held at Bagram have died in custody - one from a heart attack and the other from a pulmonary embolism, or blood clot on the lung. A criminal investigation is now under way, but no reason has been given of what caused the men's injuries.

In the case of Begg, who grew up in the Moseley area of Birmingham, the Americans have been equally silent. Foreign Office officials admit that after 11 months of asking they have still not been able to see him to check on his health. 'We are still pressing the Americans, but as yet we have not been allowed access,' said a spokesman.

Begg has not seen a lawyer, a Red Cross official or any member of his family either since he was arrested in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad last February.

Just why the Briton was sought by the Americans is also a mystery. But they wanted him badly. When the US bombing began in November 2001, Begg closed down the school he had opened in Kabul and moved to Pakistan. It was there that he was arrested, bundled into a car and smuggled back over the border into Afghanistan, first to Kandahar and then to Bagram.

The last time his father, Azmat Begg, heard Moazzam's voice was in a call from a mobile phone as his son lay in the boot of his captors' vehicle. After a few panicky moments the call suddenly ended.

Despite being a devout Muslim, Moazzam Begg attended a Jewish primary school in the West Midlands. He studied law at a Birmingham college but dropped out in 1994 to join a charity delivering aid to Muslims in Bosnia.

His family portray him as a family man who worked as a translator and took his wife and three young children with him to Afghanistan.

'I am worried like a father who would worry about his son,' said Azmat Begg, 64. 'He is a lovely and bright boy and obedient. He never tells lies and always does the right thing. He told me he wanted to start a school in Afghanistan to improve the literacy rates there.'

Certainly his letter to his wife showed a man anguished about his family. 'The most difficult thing in my life is being away from you and the kids,' he wrote.

However, security sources point to raids on Begg's British home by anti-terrorist police. The first was several years ago and the second was carried out last summer, when a computer, five floppy disks and two CD-roms were taken. Neither raid resulted in any charges.

But human rights activists say suspects at Bagram - whether innocent or guilty - should not be tortured. This, they say, undermines the war on terror.

'How can the US descend to the level of using terror in the war on terror? What sort of victory is that? This is illegal and it is appalling,' said Jamie Felner, a US director of Human Rights Watch.

Amnesty International has also condemned the treatment of detainees such as Begg. 'The US must ensure that its actions in relation to those in custody comply with international law and standards,' said a spokesperson. 'This is crucial if justice is to be done.'

Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2002 http://www.observer.co.uk/waronterrorism/story/0,1373,866168,00.html”

“Isn't the Washington Post or The Boston Globe (both of whom reported this before the Guardian) part of the 'Amerikan' press?”

“The Amerikan press never takes the issue down on a personal level and for the most part they just parrot the official government line. And that line is to repeat infinitum "The United States would never do anything to violate international law...The United States would never do anything to violate the Geneva Convention. We are there to promote democracy, capitalism, and the well being of the Afghani people therefore how could anyone say we would dare to stoop so low .... ad nauseum.”

“Well that's a non sequitor response to Violin proving you wrong.

for the most part they just parrot the official government line

How paranoid. What media do you read? I've seen plenty in the press that has been critical of this and other issues. You really need to read/watch/listen to more media.”

“That’s funny since it appears major sections of the Washington Post story were lifted for the UK paper – in many ways, it paints a far more damaging picture.”

“Having worked the intelligence field for many years I can tell you that 'OPEN SOURCE' intelligence collection is only useful if the sources can be verified....what sources did the Reporter for the Observer use? What is the established reputation of the Reporter? MORE importantly, what is the political leaning of the news service for which he works?

SH- You think the US media is biased, what makes you think that the media in other countries is not? Realize that bias in the media is an INTERNATIONAL problem, and that there are people in the media everywhere that will manipulate the truth for their employers or the governments of their respective countries....

Do I for one minute think that the US Military is innocent of the charges levied...NO!

As a former Special Forces Intelligence NCO (18F - Operations and Intelligence), I have done much worse in the interogation of Prisoners, and under the circumstances faced at the time, I would do so again.

George S. Patton: "Patriotism is not dying for your country, Patriotism is making some other poor bastard die for his."

I support human rights for any individual that disagrees with my viewpoint peacefully....attack me or my country and I will work you over with a blowtorch and a pair of pliers...it takes a lot to stand in the face of death and die for your cause, it also takes a lot to divorce yourself from your humanity and become inhumane for your country...the danger being that once you cross the line there is no promise you are coming back. Been there done that.

Bottom Line: My Country has been attacked. Screw anyone that had a hand in it, they have no rights to humane treatment now. I know my viewpoint differs from the norm...Fruck anybody that doesn't like it.(As for the reverse, the fact that my position could be the same as Mozzam Beggs if I'm captured and interogated, that's the risk we all run; when you live by the gun you die by it...and after 21+ years of military service I'm over due.)”

“don't condone that (wink, wink). These are quotes from the Washington Post article and it's exactly what I said it was.

“U.S. National Security Council spokesman Sean McCormack declined to comment earlier this week on CIA or intelligence-related matters. But, he said: "The United States is treating enemy combatants in U.S. government control, wherever held, humanely and in a manner consistent with the principles of the Third Geneva Convention of 1949."

“While the U.S. government publicly denounces the use of torture, each of the current national security officials interviewed for this article defended the use of violence against captives as just and necessary. They expressed confidence that the American public would back their view. The CIA, which has primary responsibility for interrogations, declined to comment.

If you don't violate someone's human rights some of the time, you probably aren't doing your job," said one official who has supervised the capture and transfer of accused terrorists. "I don't think we want to be promoting a view of zero tolerance on this. That was the whole problem for a long time with the CIA."

“The State Department's annual human rights report routinely denounces sleep deprivation as an interrogation method. In its 2001 report on Turkey, Israel and Jordan, all U.S. allies, the department listed sleep deprivation among often-used alleged torture techniques.”

“U.S. officials who defend the renditions say the prisoners are sent to these third countries not because of their coercive questioning techniques, but because of their cultural affinity with the captives. Besides being illegal, they said, torture produces unreliable information from people who are desperate to stop the pain. They look to foreign allies more because their intelligence services can develop a culture of intimacy that Americans cannot.”

“The Bush administration maintains a legal distance from any mistreatment that occurs overseas, officials said, by denying that torture is the intended result of its rendition policy. American teams, officials said, do no more than assist in the transfer of suspects who are wanted on criminal charges by friendly countries. But five officials acknowledged, as one of them put it, "that sometimes a friendly country can be invited to 'want' someone we grab." Then, other officials said, the foreign government will charge him with a crime of some sort.”

SuperTroll'
"Bottom Line: My Country has been attacked. Screw anyone that had a hand in it, they have no rights to humane treatment now. I know my viewpoint differs from the norm..."

Sadly you are the norm. And the lowest common denominator as well.”

“I can live with that...and sleep soundly at night to boot. My goal is to ensure that the enemies of my country can not; ever again.”

“...here's some more $hit ya won't see in the 'Amerikan Press' (who publishes that, anyway?)

Ridiculous News
by Holly Burnside
Staff Writer

“OHIO TOWN PLANS TO RING IN NEW YEAR WITH, OF ALL THINGS, A FIBERGLASS SAUSAGE”

“CHIMPANZEE SANCTUARY APPROVED IN SENATE VOTE”

“An Amish man who says state traffic regulations violate his religious beliefs faces a contempt charge for failing to pay a ticket.... Jonas Swartzentruber, 22, of rural Carrollton in Cambria County was fined 25 dollars for not displaying a large orange reflective triangle on the back of his horse-drawn buggy as required by law.... State Rep Gary Haluska said he was visited by members of the Amish order that Swartzentruber belongs to, who told him that they are not allowed to display bright colors on their belongings....”

“Peter Perno pleaded with a county judge Monday to give his mentally-ill wife, Mary, a lenient sentence for shooting him five times in January. Says Mary, ‘I wasn’t aware I did that. I wasn’t aware that I shot my husband. I thought I was shooting at the wall.’”

“SHA-ZAM!... or A-MEN!? Pope John Paul II has joined Captain Marvel and Spiderman in the legion of comic-book heroes. Hitting news stands in Italy this week, the new Vatican-approved serial depicts the real life and true adventures of ‘Karol Wojtyla: Pope of the Third Millenium….”

“Terrorists Misuse Nike. Not content with stealing Nike’s name, trademark pirates are using it to glorify America’s No. 1 terrorist suspect. T-shirts have shown up in Afghanistan and in neighboring Pakistan that feature the U.S. sportswear company’s logo alongside a drawing of an AK-47 assault rifle and praise for Osama bin Laden, ‘The great holy warrior of Islam....’”

“‘BRONCO BOB’ TO THE RESCUE — Morgan City, LA — A six-foot-7,372-pound pro wrestler used brute strength to pry open the jammed door of a burning pickup truck and save the driver’s life. Chad Bonvillain, a bail enforcement officer who wrestles under the name Bronco Bob, was driving by when Gary Smith’s pickup collided with a tractor-trailer Saturday about forty miles south of New Orleans....”

“A sixty-three year-old man who tended his garden wearing only shoes and a watch was found guilty of indecent exposure.... Prosecutor Lance Marshall said he was recommending two years of probation and hoping a judge ‘tells him to keep his pants on....’”

“Pittsburgh Penguin Matthew Barnaby was suspended for four games by the NHL on Thursday following an altercation with a fan in Miami. Moments after losing a fight Wednesday, Barnaby grabbed the arm of Keith Hubbell. ‘All I said was, ‘How many fingers am I holding up?’ because he had one eye closed and looked a little beat up,’ Hubbell, indicating he had two fingers up, told the Miami Herald. ‘Maybe he thought I was shooting him the bird….’”

“Wappapello, Missouri — ICE NEARLY CRUSHES MAN. A 500-pound chunk of ice that had built up at the top of a van was blown off, crushing the roof and windshield of a passing car. The driver suffered a bump on the head and other minor injuries but kept control of the car and pulled into a parking lot. The van driver stopped briefly but drove off without checking on the man.... The impact knocked his rear-view mirror into the back seat, and the front edge of the roof ended up about six inches from his head.”

“Portland, Oregon — An Air Force man who allegedly went AWOL and got trapped in deep snow for sixteen days surviving in his car on M&M’s and orange juice, was released from a hospital Wednesday and turned over to military officials....”

So, solitary, who are you anyway, the illegitimate spawn of 'the backpacker' or 'g.d. evildoer', perhaps? No wonder you're solitary, LOL!”