Torture; to investigate or not to investigate.

August 12, 2009 6:29 AM

Scott Horton discussesthe latest reports about the pending appointment of a torture special prosecutor with Keith Olbermann. Last week, British judges revealed that the British Secret Services fed questions to the CIA in the full knowledge that the Agency was systematically using torture in interrogations; a clear violation of international law. Meanwhile BBC Newsweek airs "Confessions of an Uzbek KGB officer". Shortly after 11.00 mins in the video Yakobov refuses to comment more on Secret Rendition claiming his life could be in endangered. In a Sept. interview Yakubov's most interesting evidence is that he accompanied a CIA man to an interrogation, and that the CIA man was actually in the room during the torture of a detainee.
bradblog attempts to unravel the web of deceipt.
posted by adamvasco (11 comments total)

I like 'deceipt'. It's like breaking the law but with a handy paper trail, like credit card charges from the escort service.

Hopefully, these guys burn hotter than your average tax cheat.
posted by rokusan at 6:31 AM on August 12 [7 favorites]

Sheesh, a KGB guy claiming he can't talk because his life is in danger. Could we get any less credibility?
posted by Bovine Love at 7:08 AM on August 12

Bovine Love: "Sheesh, a KGB guy claiming he can't talk because his life is in danger. Could we get any less credibility?"

Putin doesn't kill KGB squealers, polonium kills KGB squealers.
posted by boo_radley at 7:21 AM on August 12 [2 favorites]

Could we get any less credibility?

We could have Karl Rove or Dick Cheney.
posted by DU at 7:23 AM on August 12 [2 favorites]

Once you've violated the Constitution and Bill of Rights, that whole "international law" thing seems pretty inconsequential.
posted by tommasz at 9:13 AM on August 12

** Today is the 60th anniversary of the 1949 adoption of the Geneva Conventions **
posted by adamvasco at 9:29 AM on August 12 [3 favorites]

I have a filthy, filthy mouth and a vast, wide vocabulary spanning a number of languages. But, oddly, I often find myself lacking, in the multitude, variety and ferocity of profanity I'd like to employ.
posted by Smedleyman at 12:59 PM on August 12 [1 favorite]

What a tragedy. What does it take, to engender such a callous disregard for human life and suffering?
posted by smoke at 4:58 PM on August 12

What a tragedy. What does it take, to engender such a callous disregard for human life and suffering?

A toxic mix of fear and ignorance.
posted by Mental Wimp at 5:06 PM on August 12

Horton on Democracy Now: Alleged Obama-Era Rendition Victim Accuses US of Torture, Coercion
posted by homunculus at 2:04 PM on August 13

Prison Ships
posted by adamvasco at 12:16 AM on August 14