US General Calls for Torture Truth Commission

[zengrifter]

Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, the former commander of all coalition forces in Iraq, called for a truth commission to investigate the abuses and torture which occurred there.

The General went on to say that, "during my time in Iraq there was not one instance of actionable intelligence that came out of these interrogation techniques."

General Rick Sanchez Calls for War Crimes Truth Commission

Huffington Post | JUNE 1, 2009

In front of a packed audience tonight at the Times Center in New York City, General Ricardo Sanchez, the former commander of all coalition forces in Iraq, called for a truth commission to investigate the abuses and torture which occurred there.

The General described the failures at all levels of civilian and military command that led to the abuses in Iraq, "and that is why I support the formation of a truth commission."

The General went on to say that, "during my time in Iraq there was not one instance of actionable intelligence that came out of these interrogation techniques."

I interviewed General Sanchez after the event and asked him to elaborate on why he felt the US needed such a commission. "For the American people to really know what happened, " he replied, "...this was an institutional failure, a personal failure on the part of many...."

"If we do not find out what happened," continued the General, "then we are doomed to repeat it."

The event tonight was moderated by Rachel Maddow and featured General Sanchez, Vince Warren, exec director of the Center for Constitutional Rights and Ron Suskind, the author and reporter. The event also featured Liev Schreiber, John Leguizamo and other actors who portrayed various characters from the topics at hand.

During the panel, Ron Suskind made an impassioned plea for the restoration of "American's moral energy... It is this alone which can protect us in the future," he said. Suskind called Bush "the ultimate confidence man" who yearned for certainty over the nuanced feeling about of real life.

Maddow injected that this was a "toxic certainty" which distorted the decisions of the Bush-Cheney administration.

I interviewed Rachel Maddow after the event asking her if a truth commission is indeed a political possibility. "We have to rescue our institutions and restore faith in them," she responded. "With every passing day we are hemorrhaging moral energy [as Ron Suskind had been discussing]."

I asked her what she thought of General Sanchez coming out with an open call for a truth commission. "He is not shirking the discussion, he wants to be part of it."

I also interviewed Vince Warren, the executive director of the Center for Constitutional Rights. On the panel, he took issue with General Sanchez's call for a truth commission if that meant amnesty for those involved in violations of the Geneva Convention and other laws.

In our post-event interview Warren stated that "any commission that promises blanket amnesty to those who violated the law we could not support." He said that the case of the truth commission in South Africa was different as that country was going through a change in form of government.

I also interviewed Liev Schreiber. Liev shared that he has been "conflicted" about whether the president should disclose the new set of abuse photos. He said that he has "enormous confidence in the judgment of Barack Obama," and that "the president should be given the opportunity to have a clean slate."

Senator Patrick Leahy has called for a truth commission on the abuses in Iraq and set up a website to collect online signatures in support of the framework -- www.BushTruthCommission.com. More than 113,000 people have signed so far since the site's launch in February of this year.

The event this evening was produced by the Culture Project and is intended to be first in a series that combine leading policy figures with top creative talent.

Tonight is the first time a senior military officer from the Iraqi theater has called for a truth commission.

xxx

[aslan]

Originally Posted by zengrifter

Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, the former commander of all coalition forces in Iraq, called for a truth commission to investigate the abuses and torture which occurred there.

The General went on to say that, "during my time in Iraq there was not one instance of actionable intelligence that came out of these interrogation techniques."

General Rick Sanchez Calls for War Crimes Truth Commission

Huffington Post | JUNE 1, 2009

In front of a packed audience tonight at the Times Center in New York City, General Ricardo Sanchez, the former commander of all coalition forces in Iraq, called for a truth commission to investigate the abuses and torture which occurred there.

The General described the failures at all levels of civilian and military command that led to the abuses in Iraq, "and that is why I support the formation of a truth commission."

The General went on to say that, "during my time in Iraq there was not one instance of actionable intelligence that came out of these interrogation techniques."

I interviewed General Sanchez after the event and asked him to elaborate on why he felt the US needed such a commission. "For the American people to really know what happened, " he replied, "...this was an institutional failure, a personal failure on the part of many...."

"If we do not find out what happened," continued the General, "then we are doomed to repeat it."

The event tonight was moderated by Rachel Maddow and featured General Sanchez, Vince Warren, exec director of the Center for Constitutional Rights and Ron Suskind, the author and reporter. The event also featured Liev Schreiber, John Leguizamo and other actors who portrayed various characters from the topics at hand.

During the panel, Ron Suskind made an impassioned plea for the restoration of "American's moral energy... It is this alone which can protect us in the future," he said. Suskind called Bush "the ultimate confidence man" who yearned for certainty over the nuanced feeling about of real life.

Maddow injected that this was a "toxic certainty" which distorted the decisions of the Bush-Cheney administration.

I interviewed Rachel Maddow after the event asking her if a truth commission is indeed a political possibility. "We have to rescue our institutions and restore faith in them," she responded. "With every passing day we are hemorrhaging moral energy [as Ron Suskind had been discussing]."

I asked her what she thought of General Sanchez coming out with an open call for a truth commission. "He is not shirking the discussion, he wants to be part of it."

I also interviewed Vince Warren, the executive director of the Center for Constitutional Rights. On the panel, he took issue with General Sanchez's call for a truth commission if that meant amnesty for those involved in violations of the Geneva Convention and other laws.

In our post-event interview Warren stated that "any commission that promises blanket amnesty to those who violated the law we could not support." He said that the case of the truth commission in South Africa was different as that country was going through a change in form of government.

I also interviewed Liev Schreiber. Liev shared that he has been "conflicted" about whether the president should disclose the new set of abuse photos. He said that he has "enormous confidence in the judgment of Barack Obama," and that "the president should be given the opportunity to have a clean slate."

Senator Patrick Leahy has called for a truth commission on the abuses in Iraq and set up a website to collect online signatures in support of the framework -- www.BushTruthCommission.com. More than 113,000 people have signed so far since the site's launch in February of this year.

The event this evening was produced by the Culture Project and is intended to be first in a series that combine leading policy figures with top creative talent.

Tonight is the first time a senior military officer from the Iraqi theater has called for a truth commission.

xxx

All the rhetoric coming out on the use of EITs is totally political IMO, with the case for one or the other side stated in the extreme--for example, "not one instance of actionable intelligence." I'm sure that is a crock. Just as Cheney's claim of saving thousands of lives is probably a crock. Nobody really cares if someone was tortured or even whether EITs work. All anyone is interested in is nailing the other party. For this reason, I have no interest in anything that either side has to say.

[shadroch]

" Nobody really cares if someone was tortured"

As if we needed even more proof that aslan is not in touch with reality, as we know it.

[aslan]

Originally Posted by shadroch

" Nobody really cares if someone was tortured"

As if we needed even more proof that aslan is not in touch with reality, as we know it.

I stand by what I said. In your case, you are more preoccupied with discrediting Aslan. Grow up, census man.

[zengrifter]

Sanchez: "...not one instance of actionable intelligence."

The above supports the view that torture can ONLY be relied upon to exact FALSE confession. zg

[zengrifter]

Originally Posted by shadroch

" Nobody really cares if someone was tortured"

As if we needed even more proof that aslan is not in touch with reality, as we know it.

[zengrifter]

Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan administration.
He is coauthor of The Tyranny of Good Intentions. He can be reached at: PaulCraigRoberts@yahoo.com

Torture And The American Conscience

By Paul Craig Roberts
RENSE | 6-2-9

Torture is a violation of US and international law. Yet, president George W. Bush and vice president Dick Cheney, on the basis of legally incompetent memos prepared by Justice Department officials, gave the OK to interrogators to violate US and international law.

The new Obama administration shows no inclination to uphold the rule of law by prosecuting those who abused their offices and broke the law.

Cheney claims, absurdly, that torture was necessary in order to save American cities from nuclear weapons in the hands of terrorists. Many Americans have bought the argument that torture is morally justified in order to make terrorists reveal where ticking nuclear bombs are before they explode.

However, there were no hidden ticking nuclear bombs. Hypothetical scenarios were used to justify torture for other purposes.

We now know that the reason the Bush regime tortured its captives was to coerce false testimony that linked Iraq and Saddam Hussein to al Qaeda and September 11. Without this "evidence," the US invasion of Iraq remains a war crime under the Nuremberg standard.

Torture, then, was a second Bush regime crime used to produce an alibi for the illegal and unprovoked US invasion of Iraq.

U.S. Representative Ron Paul (R,Tx) understands the danger to Americans of permitting government to violate the law. In "Torturing the Rule of Law", he said that the US government's use of torture to produce excuses for illegal actions is the most radicalizing force at work today. "The fact that our government engages in evil behavior under the auspices of the American people is what poses the greatest threat to the American people, and it must not be allowed to stand."

MORE- http://rense.com/general86/torture.htm

[zengrifter]

Originally Posted by zengrifter

Torture And The American Conscience
By Paul Craig Roberts

"One might think that the American public's toleration of torture reflects the breakdown of the country's Christian faith. Alas, a recent poll released by the Pew Forum reveals that most white Christian evangelicals and white Catholics condone torture. In contrast, only a minority of those who seldom or never attend church services condone torture."

"It is a known fact that torture produces unreliable information. The only purpose of torture is to produce false confessions. The fact that a majority of American Christians condone torture enabled the Bush regime's efforts to legalize torture."

"Some Americans, unable to face the criminality and inhumanity of their own government, maintain that the government hasn't tortured anyone, because water boarding and other "enhanced interrogation techniques" are not torture. This is really grasping at straws. As Ron Paul points out, according to US precedent alone, water boarding has been considered to be torture since 1945, when the United States hanged Japanese military officers for water boarding captured Americans."

[aslan]

Originally Posted by zengrifter

Sanchez: "...not one instance of actionable intelligence."

The above supports the view that torture can ONLY be relied upon to exact FALSE confession. zg

Which is plainly untrue on the face of it. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out that you will get reliable information some of the time. Then it is up to your intelligence resources to corroborate it.

[aslan]

Below is zg, upon discovering that he is a reverse sheeple. That is, he has fallen into the trap of blindly believing everything that is not in the mainstream media.




Might this not be the ultimate in false flags? It is your liberator who has enslaved you. Did you think you were smarter than the rest?