by Debra Sweet, World Can't Wait
The Associated Press article reports -- in a series of meetings coinciding with the period of the torture memos -- that Cheney, Rice, George Tenet and others discussed and approved a wide range of torture methods, including waterboarding. ABC says they investigated for five months, and found "senior and influential advisors" "discussed specific and high value" prisoners and how they would be interrogated. SEE video
A friend wrote me tonight, "Yes, we all already knew that Cheney and other top officials were approving and ordering torture.... but I still feel it's a big deal that the mainstream press -- with a former senior intelligence official as their source-- is reporting it.
AND that government officials deliberately took steps to insulate Bush from these meetings to prevent him from being prosecuted for war crimes, showing that they knew they were committing war crimes!"
The AP reports, "At times, CIA officers would demonstrate some of the tactics, or at least detail how they worked, to make sure the small group of "principals" fully understood what the al-Qaida detainees would undergo. The principals eventually authorized physical abuse such as slaps and pushes, sleep deprivation, or waterboarding. This technique involves strapping a person down and pouring water over his cloth-covered face to create the sensation of drowning."
Ashcroft is reported to have asked "Why are we talking about this out loud in the White House?" And, "History will not judge us kindly."
The movement to drive out the Bush regime has a lot to do with how the Bush "prinicpals" will be judged by history. We've hammered for almost three years on the war crimes and crimes against humanity that are part of the Bush program. As I travel around the country, people tell me they've seen the waterboarding demonstrations on TV, and the people in orange jumpsuits on the street.
George Bush has his hands still firmly on the reigns of power and only a politically independent movement acting on principle can bring what the Bush "principals" have done to a halt.
It begins with you taking personal responsibility to show how you feel and where you stand: wear orange daily, spread orange everywhere, protest and speak out in every way you can. As this orange resistance spreads to millions who represent the majority sentiment, Bush and Cheney's illegitimacy to rule will stand out vividly before the world.
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