July 2007

by Marco Rosaire Rossi

When the Democrats were swept into power last November, Americans were hoping they would clean up the havoc waged by the Bush Administration. One of the things on that list was the closing down of the gulag at Guantanamo Bay. An online poll from http://www.about.com showed that almost 60% of those polled wanted the detention center shut down. As of June, the Democrats still haven't done their job -- even though reports are coming in that the situation for the prisoners there is getting worse.

January 2006

by Erin Genia

President Bush recently declared, "we do not torture," but ample evidence contradicts his claim. Perhaps most glaring is Vice President Cheney's attempt to immunize the CIA from torture prohibitions.

In the so-called "war on terror," the rule of law has been corroded by torture, prisoner mistreatment, indefinite detentions and "disappearances" by U.S. hands. Documented abuses include hooding, stress positions, withholding necessities, physical and sexual assault, religious animosity and humiliation. "Rendition" -- the transferral of detainees to countries that practice torture . . .

December 2005

by Marco Rosaire Rossi

In his book Against All Enemies, Richard Clarke, the former counter terrorism chief, describes how George W. Bush sought to set a new standard for human rights after September 11. In the evening after the terrorist attacks on the world trade center, George Bush had a special meeting with Donald Rumsfeld and Clarke. The president said to the two: "I want you all to understand that we are at war . . . any barriers in your way, they're gone. Any money you need, you have it . . . I don't care what the international lawyers say, we are going to kick some ass." Apparently, what . . .