Saturday October 25, 2008, 3:03 am
Heartbreaking, horrifying proof of the atrocities we allowed and secretly encouraged. A must-see documentary. Bookmark for watching.

Saturday October 25, 2008, 3:58 am
Thanks, Cate.

I like to remind folks periodically to check their stock portfolios and IRA accounts to ensure that they are not profiting from the war through munitions sales, Taser sales, Restraint Chair sales, privatized prison stock, and anything else they may hold as being objectionable. Lots of middle-income people have investments in these industries without knowing about it simply because they do not know what specific companies their IRAs and pension funds support. Call your broker Monday and find out! Especially Christians should want to know how their money is being invested, because God admonishes us to be "good stewards" over our financial blessings.

Democracy is slipping over a cliff! Let us grab her by both heels and reel her back to safety! Together, we are strong enough to do it. VOTE in Nov. for CHANGE. And no matter who wins the election, let us be more diligent about our Constitutional rights in the future.

I used to be afraid about standing up with my family for our right to know what happened to my handicapped brother while in government custody - information that has been DENIED us for five years while we asked many government agencies - but finally, I remembered that saying, "You must stand for something, or you will fall for anything!"

IT IS TIME TO STAND UP FOR DEMOCRACY, PEOPLE, BECAUSE SHE IS ALREADY OVER THE CLIFF AND ONLY HER FEET ARE STILL VISIBLE. HELP AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL, ACLU, AND GRASSROOTS GROUPS LIKE AIMI PULL HER BACK TO SAFETY FOR OUR CHILDREN'S SAKE, PLEASE!

Blessings,

Mary

Saturday October 25, 2008, 4:32 am
yep das eagle has flown,
The Eagle has landed

Saturday October 25, 2008, 5:11 am
And I am called a traitor by the very people who were defended by my unit (60-63). Guess what, we had a very good technique for those who pulled that garbage. We called it fragging. Some morning a naked pineapple would roll under his tent). Blow the clown-back to his momma lap! We saw that as the threat, not up the Chain of Command! When you're wrong at the top, the reasons for being correct will also be wrong! One proves the other to be correct. Only reasons for distrust, is fear from within. "new world order..." My narly 82nd arse!!!

If what they all call "patriotism" has anything to do with the other: Don't get War, get Wiser.

Which is/was also part of : Enjoy them while ya' got 'em, nothin' to lose. With Bush his economy, respect, wish for Peace does not exist. How can we have any Peace without Words?

~Peace~

Saturday October 25, 2008, 5:36 am
Had we learned from our little boo-boo with Cuba, Fidel Castro would not be there! Who screwed that up? George Hubert, chillin' May I ask simply this: Why did Bush Sr. create the SOA, and Los Contras? Why was Bu$h ass-deep in the Bay of Pigs AND Iran-Contra Affair? Co-Incidental??? Manuel Noriega??? Saddam Hussein??? Fidel Castro, General Baptista??? Act of "GOD"? Get damned serious, I don't lie!!! Already There!!! Seen it with my own two eyeballs!!!!

AM I WRONG?

Any damned questions, chillin'

Saturday October 25, 2008, 6:11 am
When we have capital punishment, in the form of the death penalty or being locked away forever in solitary confinement, this would, I think be the norm of our Armed Forces.

I am sitting here watching this and am appalled but at the same time, not that surprised..

And yes Cate, where did OUR America go? But then the real question may be, did WE ever have an America in the first place....
Noted!

Saturday October 25, 2008, 7:30 am
That's the problem, William, those at the top who ignore history are certainly doomed to repeat it and we all pay the price one way or another for that ignorant arrogance.

Saturday October 25, 2008, 8:53 am

The first casualty of war is truth

...the next is our humanity.

Let us never forget who gave the orders
and who are the real criminals here...

But one fears that those most responsible will never face justice

till they meet the Almighty....who they cannot bully
nor bribe....and the witnesses will be those they ordered tortured and killed....then they will know.

Saturday October 25, 2008, 9:27 am
Very powerful video. So much to learn from. I am so sickened by it. I have bookmarked to watch again and share with family and friends. I have never felt such disappoinment in my country. Noted with sickness,anger and disgust. Thanks Cate.

Saturday October 25, 2008, 9:27 am
Noted, thanks Cate.
Bush and his crooked White House Counsel may believe that torture is funny, but it isn't, and reliable information does not come from torturing someone as they believe it does. For this reason I will not ever understand McCain's to support any form of torture. How could a man who allegedly was tortured wish the same on anyone else? The answer is he can't. Knowing what is involved with torturing someone, and then laughing about it makes me sick. Bush should be tortured in the same manner as the detainees, and see how he likes it. But the fact remains Bush likes to torture. It isn't a secret any longer that as a Child Bush tortured small animals, and as an adult he progressed to torturing detainees and prison inmates. Bush is responsible for more deaths of inmates on death row, who were executed, and some of them were innocent of the crimws they alleged to have committed. Alberto Gonzales was his chief counsel and read all the letters for clemency and did not approve any of them. On two were ever apporved, and one was from a judge who clearly told governor Bush that the man was innocent. Bush signed the pardon in that case, and only one other. Bush is a monster who should not ever have been born, and his grandfather and his father intilled Nazi ideaolgy in bush's warped way of thinking. He has an IQ of 95 so can we really expect much from a person who is borderline? I don't believe we can, but it's no excuse for what he did, and does.

Saturday October 25, 2008, 9:32 am
You are absolutely right Terri! And then with such arrogance comes ignorants! And look what has happened because of this! My husband and I are watching this today! I have no words left to say, I have said them all, but watching this has once again has riled me up! And these monsters will not be brought to justice! Mrs. Pelosi said just that! But what can we do when they are no longer are in power! I see bars! I see quite a few behind them! Our country and its people are a mess! Iraq has been devastated along with its people! What have we allowed to happen! What in the world has our country done to these other countries? Lies, lies, lies! Sorry to ramble on but I am at a loss! Thank you Cate! Noted with many tears for many years!

Saturday October 25, 2008, 9:58 am
Another rotten case of man's inhumanity to man! Where has our compassion gone????

Saturday October 25, 2008, 12:19 pm
Our nation turns it's lonely eyes to you.

Thanks, Cate.
GREAT video!
noted.

Saturday October 25, 2008, 12:44 pm
noted thank you

Saturday October 25, 2008, 1:44 pm
Noted........and thank you Cate.
William, you are no traitor in my opinion...Much Love...Namaste, Dar

Saturday October 25, 2008, 1:46 pm
RepubliOCN$ have no $hame


Racism, Hate Bubble Up Yet Again at Palin's Rally in Vegas

Saturday October 25, 2008, 2:19 pm
I saw this documentary recently on HBO and it was very disturbing....and sickening. This was the reason I had to bookmark your previous documentary Cate. Noted, thanks.

Saturday October 25, 2008, 2:23 pm
"tacit approval of the Bush administration and military" - more like they Encourage & Promote it! Pay no attention to the Geneva Convention, we don't need no stinking badges, America is now a Bu$h-League Country!:(
ENOUGH! Change IS Coming - whether RepubliCONs like it or not!:)

Saturday October 25, 2008, 4:01 pm
Yes, Bush shot and blew up frogs for entertainment down in Crawford with his pals, and here's an interesting old archive on just one of his Yale escapades: This Is Not Bush’s First Torture Scandal Whaddya think, folks? Sociopathic liar or wanna-be serial killer?

Sunday October 26, 2008, 1:47 am
I think torture is horrible in any case. But I find my sympathy lessened for these 'victims' when I see some of the stories about how they commonly treat their women over there. In fact, I wonder how these men felt to be the helpless one? Did they gain any understanding of how their female population feels as a normal part of living? I doubt it, as they feel it's their right to treat women in whatever way they feel necessary to control them. My sympathy is small for them, but torture is ugly and not anything the U.S. should be a part of.

Sunday October 26, 2008, 2:21 am
I THINK WE HAVE A GROUP THAT NEEDS TO BE FILED ON FOR WAR CRIMES CHRIS

Sunday October 26, 2008, 3:32 am
Noted and forwarded. Thanks.

Sunday October 26, 2008, 6:10 am
I am outraged at the crimes Bush has gotten away with, the crimes members of our congress and our justice department and our state departments have gotten away with.

There is such a pile of crime to be dealt with and no sign of promised impeachment, not sign of any repercussions or consequences for any wrong doing, and our country continues to disintegrate.

I can hardly stand to be here.

Sunday October 26, 2008, 1:56 pm
Bush and Cheney need to be brought up on charges and everyone else that okay'd this treatment. Someone, like the above, should be brought up on murder charges. What have they done to our country. I am so glad my dad is dead as he believed in the Genevia convention, even though the Japanese didn't follow it when they captured his brother at Bataan. Horrible

Sunday October 26, 2008, 10:53 pm
Good video.

Monday October 27, 2008, 3:53 am

It is so important to get maximum exposure for this documentary, which, btw, is not British at all, but American, the work of American filmaker Alex Gibney (who became famous in 2005 with the must-see “Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room”)

'Taxi to the Dark Side' was broadcast in 35 different countries around the world between the 8th and 18th of October 2007. That's when I saw it on our Frano-German PBS-style TV station here in France. The BBC cut their broadcast down to 79 minutes, from the original 106, so the version posted here is shorter than it should be.

‘Taxi to the Dark Side’ won the coveted best Documentary award at the Tribeca Film Festival after being premiered there in April, 2007. Then it was nominated, along with 15 other films, for the Academy Awards "Best Documentary Feature" for 2007 & went on to win the Oscar on February 24, 2008. In his acceptance speech, Alex Gibney said:

“This is dedicated to two people who are no longer with us, Dilawar, the young Afghan taxi driver, and my father, a navy interrogator who urged me to make this film because of his fury about what was being done to the rule of law. Let’s hope we can turn this country around, move away from the dark side and back to the light."

Alex Gibney is suing the Discovery Channel for for over a million dollars in damages for not airing it:

In June 2007, the Discovery Channel bought the rights to broadcast 'Taxi to the Dark Side.' But, in February 2008, they announced that they'd never broadcast it due to its controversial nature. HBO then bought rights to the film and announced that it would be broadcast in September 2008, after which the Discovery Channel announced it would broadcast 'Taxi to the Dark Side' in 2009. Many pundits and bloggers derided the decision, claiming that Discovery did not wish to risk Gibney criticizing the network at the Academy Awards should his movie win the Best Documentary Oscar (apparently he didn't...), and also pointed out that the Discovery Channel's projected 2009 broadcast date would occur after President George W. Bush left office. (What a bunch of b-----ds !)

Gibney has stated that the film has only grossed $280,000.

It is simply appalling that a film of this caliber, which should be required viewing for all Americans, has been censored in this way.


The tragic fate of the innocent young Afghan taxi driver (and a co-detainee not mentioned in Gibney's film) first came to public attention thanks to NYTimes investigative journalist Carlotta Gall, even if she was no longer receiving top billing in the subsequent series of articles they published in 2005 - 2006:

Even as the slight, 22-year-old taxi driver was dying before them, his American jailers continued to torment him
"When he arrived in the interrogation room, an interpreter who was present said, his legs were bouncing uncontrollably in the plastic chair and his hands were numb. He had been chained by the wrists to the top of his cell for much of the previous four days."
The coroner said that his legs "had basically been pulpified," and would have had to be amputated, had he survived.
("I've seen similar injuries in an individual run over by a bus," added Lt. Col. Elizabeth Rouse, the coroner, and a major at that time.)
This level of brutality staggers the mind.

None of those responsible has ever been punished.

The NYTimes also made a documentary video on these deaths:
Bagram Prison, North of Kabul: NYTimes VIDEO Investigation Into Beating/Torture Homicides Of Young Afghans - Impunity For Murderers

Monday October 27, 2008, 6:20 am
No matter how criminal Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld -and, Lord knows, they are- they weren't actually there, torturing these innocent detainees, beating them into pulp and enjoying it! Beating them more, because they so enjoyed hearing their victim cry out, 'Allah! Allah! Allah!' Specialist Jones said to investigators: "Everybody heard him cry out and thought it was funny.
It became a kind of running joke, and people kept showing up to give this detainee a common peroneal strike just to hear him scream out 'Allah.' It went on over a 24-hour period, and I would think that it was over 100 strikes."

The training in handling prisoners 377th Military Police Company received at Fort Dix, N.J. included an overview of "pressure-point control tactics" and notably the "common peroneal strike" - a potentially disabling blow to the side of the leg, just above the knee.

The M.P.'s said they were never told that peroneal strikes were not part of Army doctrine. Nor did most of them hear one of the former police officers tell a fellow soldier during the training that he would never use such strikes because they would "tear up" a prisoner's legs.

But once in Afghanistan, members of the 377th found that the usual rules did not seem to apply. The peroneal strike quickly became a basic weapon of the M.P. arsenal. "That was kind of like an accepted thing; you could knee somebody in the leg," former Sgt. Thomas V. Curtis told the investigators.

Of course, the trail of guilt goes all the up to the White House, but it starts in the cells, where a bunch of sadists had free reign -- only one soldier, Staff Sgt. W. Christopher Yonushonis, who made the distinction between bonafide intelligence gathering and gratuitous, sadistic treatment, went at his own initiative to see an agent of the Criminal Investigation Command. "I remember being so mad that I had trouble speaking," he said.

He also added a detail that had been overlooked in the investigative file. By the time Mr. Dilawar was taken into his final interrogations, he said, "most of us were convinced that the detainee was innocent."

Monday October 27, 2008, 8:00 am
What is taking place in Iraq today, under the approval of this administration, makes me ashamed to have served in the 82nd Airborne Division. Serving from 1960-63, not one of my Brothers did this to the enemy. They were treated with respect, as all combatants were treated. We treated them the same way we expected to be treated if we were ever captured by the enemy. Since no one in the Whitehouse ever served in combat, they have no clue what the Articles of War was meant to be. I do -- I served. Bush and Cheney are at the very least guilty of war crimes, if not out-right treason. And they're still in office?

Bush and Cheney should both be tried, convicted, and shot by a firing squad. I volunteer!

Monday October 27, 2008, 5:44 pm
Noted, forwarded and sickened.

Tuesday October 28, 2008, 9:30 am
Unalienable rights, UN, not IN. Sorry, I get upset about that. There is a difference.

Well, we've got them. They can't pardon themselves, that is unconstitutional. Any law that is unconstitutional is unconstitutional from the start, not from the day it is deemed unconstitutional. They can't pardon themselves. We have them for war crimes and possibly treason.

But, we are all guilty because we aren't picketing in the street protesting torturer. If you are not writing your representatives and calling and telling them, not in my name, then you too are guilty of complicity.

Form the Declaration of Independence
. . . that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights . . . governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, . . .

Consent of the governed? That's us, we are the power, but by our consent we have allowed them to carry on terrible atrocities and make many unconstitutional laws. We mush stop consenting. Take your freedom back, take your liberty back, spread it around the world peacefully.

"It's a republic if you can keep it." - Benjamin Franklin when asked if it was a republic or a monarchy.

Wednesday October 29, 2008, 2:07 pm
A system of checks and balances only works if someone actually does check and prosecute transgressions. Our constitution is about as sacred as human life is to these brutish pack dogs who blindly believe and act on their masters wishes. If the Democrats win and they do nothing about what has been going on for the last eight years they are just as bad as Bush! If they do nothing it will be time to get behind a third party and get rid of those who believe they are above the law!

Saturday November 1, 2008, 1:14 am
Noted and keep the real news coming, thanks.

Saturday November 1, 2008, 2:14 am
Noted keep seanding us the real and let the world knows the truth thank you