The closest thing we come to answer is an internal CIA e-mail released last Thursday, in which an unidentified CIA officer writes that (Jose) Rodriguez decided to destroy the tapes because they made the CIA “look horrible; it would be devastating to us.” But was Rodriguez acting on his own, or following orders? Rodriguez’s lawyer [...]

Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld once declared that individuals captured by the US military in the aftermath of 9/11 and shipped off to the Guantanamo Bay prison facility represented the “worst of the worst.” “If you think of the people down there, these are people, all of whom were captured on a battlefield,” Rumsfeld [...]

The legal issues can’t really be fully assessed without much more information than has been reported so far, but I see three separate problems—in ascending order of significance: Appropriated funds. Specific rules govern the use of congressionally appropriated funds, requiring the money to be used for the purpose for which it was in fact approved. [...]

The Obama administration does not expect to capture Osama Bin Laden alive. Attorney General Eric Holder told a House appropriations subcommittee on Tuesday that the possibility of catching the Al Qaeda leader alive is “infinitesimal.” “Based on the intelligence I’ve reviewed, the possibility simply does not exist,” Mr. Holder said in response to heated questioning [...]

Re: Liz Cheney, Wm. Kristol, and their pals slandering DOJ attorneys as the “al-Qaida 7″ and the “Department of Jihad”, engaging in the smear tactics that became synonymous with McCarthy: If this seems confusing, here’s a simple principle to keep in mind: Representing someone in an American court does not mean agreeing with that person’s actions [...]

In essence, the classified memo cited by Cheney stated that the CIA torture of Abu Zubaydah led to the capture of suspected “dirty bomb’ plotter Jose Padilla in 2003. But as Isikoff reports, the newly-released docs point out that Padilla was arrested in 2002 — so torture couldn’t have secured his capture. This also appears [...]

There are times when governments fight to keep documents secret to protect sensitive intelligence or other vital national security interests. And there are times when they are just trying to cover up incompetence, misbehavior or lawbreaking. Last week, when a British court released secret intelligence material relating to the torture allegations of a former Guantánamo [...]

Three developments last week show the growing gap between the Obama Administration and its NATO allies with respect to the legacy of torture from the Bush era. They also demonstrate that, contrary to Obama’s promises faithfully to uphold the Convention Against Torture and Geneva Conventions, his Justice Department has no intention of doing so when [...]

In February 2004, David J. Evans, a marine biologist and photographer, was engaged as part of a team working on the Pentagon’s Legacy Program, which documents the cultural and environmental aspects of Defense Department operations. His assignment was to survey and photograph the rich array of wildlife and vegetation at Guantánamo Naval Base. After publication [...]

“A commitment to human rights starts with universal standards and with holding everyone accountable to those standards, including ourselves… When injustice anywhere is ignored, justice everywhere is denied. Acknowledging and remedying mistakes does not make us weaker, it reaffirms the strengths of our principles and institutions.” Not Amnesty International’s words, but those of US Secretary [...]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHupKGP3iX8[/youtube] Scott Horton speaks with Keith Olbermann about The Guantánamo “Suicides”—a cover-up of the possible homicides of three prisoners at Guantánamo in 2006.