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De Facto The Republican Presidential nominee in America, John McCain, is veteran of the Vietnam War.
LEGACY OF WAR The loss of human life by the end of George W Bush’s reign will be enormous.
Waterboarding across the USA
De Facto Liamy McNally
The current Republican Presidential nominee in America, John McCain, is a war vet. He attended the US Naval Academy, like his father and grandfather. In 1967, he was shot down in Vietnam on his 23rd mission and held as a prisoner for over five years. During this time he was beaten and tortured. He also spent two years in solitary confinement and still carries battle scars today. Senator McCain has now been formally approved as the party candidate by the current White House incumbent, George W Bush. Senator McCain is a supporter of the current occupation of Iraq by US, British and troops from other countries. During the selection campaign he is quoted as stating that ‘waterboarding’ is against the Geneva Convention.
WATERBOARDING Waterboarding is an acknowledged form of torture by using simulated drowning tactics on a prisoner. Waterboarding is carried out in several ways. The most common form is to tie a person down, lying on his back, with the head inclined downward and pouring water over the mouth and nose. This causes partial suffocation and the inhalation of water, making the person gasp for breath because he thinks that he is drowning. Waterboarding, as with any form of torture, can leave lasting damage on a person, physical and psychological. Waterboarding gained international attention some years ago when it emerged that the CIA used waterboarding in the interrogation of some prisoners with the full authorisation of the US Justice Department. Historically, America regarded waterboarding as a crime, even to the point of prosecuting people who carried it out in the past. One such case was during World War II when a Japenese officer was sentended to 15 years hard labour by the US for ‘waterboarding’ an American civilian. In 2006, the US Department of Defense released an updated Army Field Manual, entitled 'Human Intelligence Collector Operations'.This prohibits waterboarding by any US military. The manual was adopted amid widespread criticism of how the US dealt with ‘prisoners’ in their ‘War on Terrorism'. The Wikipedia web sites states: “In November 2005, ABC News reported that former CIA agents claimed that the CIA engaged in a modern form of waterboarding, along with five other 'Enhanced Interrogation Techniques', against suspected members of al Qaeda. On July 20, 2007, US President George W Bush signed an executive order banning torture during interrogation of terror suspects. While the guidelines for interrogation do not specifically ban waterboarding, the executive order refers to torture as defined by 18 USC 2340, which includes 'the threat of imminent death', as well as the US Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Reaction to the order was mixed, with the CIA satisfied that it 'clearly defined' the agency's authorities, but Human Rights Watch saying that answers about what specific techniques had been banned lay in the classified companion document and that "the people in charge of interpreting [that] document don't have a particularly good track record of reasonable legal analysis'.On September 14, 2007, ABC News reported that some time in 2006 CIA Director Michael Hayden asked for and received permission from the Bush administration to ban the use of waterboarding in CIA interrogations… On November 5, 2007, The Wall Street Journal reported that its ‘sources confirm... that the CIA has only used this interrogation method against three terrorist detainees and not since 2003'. John Kiriakou, a former CIA officer, is the first official within the US government to openly admit to the use of waterboarding as an interrogation technique, as of December 10, 2007.”
LOOMING DEATHS Talk about going out with a bang! The Bush administration is intent on heading out of office under fireworks before November. Apparently they are not content with simply fading away in the comet of disappearing power; no, these boys want to light up the sky. They want to see six men die before their administration enters into the sphere of bad memories, botched operations, misinformation and irrelevance. The current White House crew has done more damage to the great name of America in its two terms of power than the culmination of previous administrations. To cap their lust for power and blood they want to see six men, whom they have detained for years in Guantanamo, swing from the gallows. They are accused of being behind the 9/11 massacre. From a US administration point of view, these men are already guilty. There is no thought given to the issues surrounding their arrest, incarceration and eventual ‘court’ hearing. Guilt by association seems to be sufficient to satisfy the blood lust. The master of war, George W, wants to see them sway before he exits Washington. A check of the noted website on the current number of deaths following the Iraq invasion is frightening. See www.iraqbodycount.org: “The project tries to establish an independent public database of civilian deaths in Iraq resulting directly from military actions by the USA and its allies.” The site states: “Iraq Body Count is an ongoing human security project which maintains and updates the world’s largest public database of violent civilian deaths during and since the 2003 invasion. The count encompasses non-combatants killed by military or paramilitary action and the breakdown in civil security following the invasion. Data is drawn from cross-checked media reports, hospital, morgue, NGO and official figures to produce a credible record of known deaths and incidents.” The figures for this day last week, Tuesday, March 5, show that 21 people were killed: Baghdad – gunmen kill a lorry driver, Shaab; roadside bomb kills one, Mahmoudiya; 4 bodies. Salahuddin Samarra – a suicide car bomb kills two Sahwa members. Balad – two villagers are killed by gunmen; roadside bomb kills one. Kirkuk – gunmen kill academic; roadside bomb kills one. Ninewa Mosul – gunmen kill four policemen; three bodies found, one decapitated. Diyala Udhaim – one killed by roadside bomb. Since the invasion began, up to January 23, 2008, between 81,632 and 89,103 non-combatants lost their lives in Iraq. “This data is based on 13,794 database entries from the beginning of the war to January 23, 2008. The most recent weeks are always in the process of compilation and will rise further. The current range contains 1,034 – 1,086 deaths (1.3 per cent to 1.2 per cent, a portion which may rise or fall over time) based on single-sourced reports… Gaps in recording and reporting suggest that even our highest totals to date may be missing many civilian deaths from violence.” SAMI AL-HAJ Perhaps, as a gesture, before Bush and crew depart from the White House they could release one man who has been held in Guantanemo. In December 2001, Sami Mohy El Din Muhammed Al Hajj, or Sami Al-Haj, was captured in Pakistan on his way to work in Afghanistan as a cameraman for the Al Jazeera television station. He had a legitimate visa and is being held as an 'enemy combatant'. He is reported to be the only journalist held in Guantanamo, Internee Security Number 345. He is being force-fed since going on hunger strike in January 2007. He has been beaten, sexually assaulted and interrogated about 130 times. Thankfully, there are no reports of waterboarding, a small blessing in the world of American justice.
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