The New York Times likes to think of itself as the finest newspaper in the world. Sometimes it produces essential stories, such as this recent piece about a death at Guantanamo Bay. Then, at other times, it becomes craven in the face of criticism.
Showing all posts tagged torture
How to torture, the American way
A new analysis by NBC News reveals that more than a quarter of all footnotes in the 9/11 Commission Report refer to controversial interrogation techniques. Ie. torture. Welcome to America.
Crushing balls for “intelligence”
American-style torture is now known throughout the world. Iraq was a testing ground for various forms of humiliation, harassment and outright torture, all condoned by the American government. A whistle-blower, who ran the military intelligence at Abu Ghraib, speaks out.
We matter, they don’t
Human rights preservation, Washington-style: Out of the dozens upon dozens of reports of abuses by private contractors as part of the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, only one prosecution of a contractor has taken place. This, says a new report from Human Rights First, epitomises the woefully insufficient response by the U.S. government to…
Friends who torture
Who knew? Canada’s foreign ministry has put the United States and Israel on a watch list of countries where prisoners risk being tortured and also classifies some U.S. interrogation techniques as torture, according to a document obtained by Reuters on Thursday. The revelation is likely to embarrass the minority Conservative government, which is a staunch…
“Life-saving compassionate torture”
“Life-saving torture is not cruel. It is motivated by a compassionate desire to avert moral catastrophes and it is morally justifiable because the right to life of innocent people trumps the physical integrity of wrongdoers.” This idea, written by pro-torture advocate Mirko Bagaric, argues that when the US tortures individuals it’s done with the greatest…
A blogger against a regime
Wael Abbas, one of Egypt’s leading bloggers and anti-torture campaigners, recently received the 2007 Knight International Award for Excellence in Journalism. It is a rare occasion indeed for a blogger to be awarded internationally for his bravery in the face of government repression:
Taking Bush far further
More here on a man who would undoubtedly cause America to be hated around the world more than it is already.
Jews for torture
Most American Zionist organisations are now little more than apologists for Israel or supporters of genocide-denying nations (Turkey.) And most remain seemingly incapable of deciding if torture should be outlawed: The American Jewish Committee last week became the first, and to date only, mainstream Jewish group to give strong public backing to proposed legislation that…