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Keith Olbermann Special Comment Video. Cheney’s Speech False To Fact And Reason.

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May 21: In a Special Comment, Countdown’s Keith Olbermann marvels at former Vice President Dick Cheney's defense of the Bush administration torture practices while avoiding taking any responsibility for them.

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Roundup

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Suspects In NY Synagogue Plot To Be Held In Jail
Rueters
WHITE PLAINS, New York (Reuters) - Four Muslim men suspected of a plot to blow up two New York synagogues and shoot down military planes were ordered to remain in jail on Thursday in what police called homegrown terrorism.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Lisa Smith ordered James Cromitie, 55, to remain in jail along with David Williams, 28, Onta Williams, 32, and Haitian citizen Laguerre Payen, 27. Read more.

Obama And Cheney's Remarks On Terrorism
Los Angles Times
President Obama and former Vice President Dick Cheney both addressed the war on terrorism in remarks delivered Thursday in Washington. Obama spoke at the National Archives, Cheney at the American Enterprise Institute. Some brief excerpts:
On the Constitution:
Obama: I took an oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution as commander in chief, and as a citizen, I know that we must never -- ever -- turn our back on its enduring principles for expedience sake.
I make this claim not simply as a matter of idealism. We uphold our most cherished values not only because doing so is right, but because it strengthens our country and keeps us safe.
Cheney: Torture was never permitted. And the methods were given careful legal review before they were approved. Interrogators had authoritative guidance on the line between toughness and torture, and they knew to stay on the right side of it. Read More.

Dems Block Bishop Move to Investigate Nancy Pelosi
Salt Lake Tribune
 Washington  » House Democrats batted down an attempt by Utah Rep. Rob Bishop on Thursday to create a committee to investigate Speaker Nancy Pelosi's claim that the CIA lied to her about waterboarding terror suspects in 2002.
The move by the Utah Republican is the latest turn in a growing political spat over Pelosi's knowledge about what former President George W. Bush called "enhanced interrogation techniques" and what President Barack Obama considers "torture." Read more.

Steven Green Gets Life Without Parole
CNN
PADUCAH, Kentucky (CNN) -- Jurors on Thursday told a judge they could not reach a decision on whether a former U.S. soldier should be sentenced to death for war crimes -- including rape and murder -- he committed in Iraq.
The lack of a unanimous decision means Steven Green will be sentenced to life in prison without parole, according to instructions given to jurors as they began deliberations on the sentence Wednesday. Read more.

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Keith Olbermann Special Comment April 16, 2009: U.S. Future Depends On Torture Accountability.

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Keith Olbermann MSNBC
Mr. Obama deserves our praise and our thanks for that. And yet he has gone but half-way. And, in this case, in far too many respects, half the distance is worse than standing still. Today, Mr. President, in acknowledging these science-fiction-like documents, you said that:

"This is a time for reflection, not retribution. I respect the strong views and emotions that these issues evoke."

"We have been through a dark and painful chapter in our history.

"But at a time of great challenges and disturbing disunity, nothing will be gained by spending our time and energy laying blame for the past.

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George W. Bush's Top Aides Pushed for Guantanamo Torture!!

Hillbilly Report
Glendale, Kentucky
Ditch Mitch KY.
Bluegrass Roots
Barefoot And Progressive
Page One
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Senator Mitch McConnell it's time for you to speak up on this issue or approve of it with your silence!!!!!

Go to Original
Torture and the Law
By Spencer Ackerman
The Washington Independent
With nine months remaining in President George W. Bush's term, virtually no legal analyst expects that anyone in his administration will face indictment and prosecution in connection with the torture of terrorism detainees. However, a new admission from Bush last week has some legal analysts contending that the case for such prosecution has gotten significantly stronger.
ABC News reported on Apr. 9 that then-National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice chaired an informal panel of top administration officials that approved specific brutal interrogation tactics for use on three suspected Al Qaeda detainees. The panel consisted of Vice President Dick Cheney, and former administration officials - Donald H. Rumsfeld, then defense secretary, Colin L. Powell, the former secretary of state, George Tenet, the former director of the Central Intelligence Agency, and John Ashcroft, then attorney general. This group debated for use on detainees - and eventually approved - methods of abuse like being "slapped, pushed, deprived of sleep or subjected to simulated drowning, called waterboarding," ABC reported.
On Apr. 11, Bush told ABC that he was personally aware of the panel's discussions. "Well, we started to connect the dots in order to protect the American people." Bush said. "And yes, I'm aware our national security team met on this issue. And I approved."
Read More.

Go to Original
Top Bush Aides Pushed for Guantánamo Torture
By Richard Norton-Taylor
The Guardian UK
Senior officials bypassed army chief to introduce interrogation methods.
America's most senior general was "hoodwinked" by top Bush administration officials determined to push through aggressive interrogation techniques of terror suspects held at Guantanamo Bay, leading to the US military abandoning its age-old ban on the cruel and inhumane treatment of prisoners, the Guardian reveals today.
General Richard Myers, chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff from 2001 to 2005, wrongly believed that inmates at Guantanamo and other prisons were protected by the Geneva conventions and from abuse tantamount to torture.
The way he was duped by senior officials in Washington, who believed the Geneva conventions and other traditional safeguards were out of date, is disclosed in a devastating account of their role, extracts of which appear in today's Guardian.
In his new book, Torture Team, Philippe Sands QC, professor of law at University College London, reveals that:

Senior Bush administration figures pushed through previously outlawed measures with the aid of inexperienced military officials at Guantánamo.

Myers believes he was a victim of "intrigue" by top lawyers at the department of justice, the office of vice-president Dick Cheney, and at Donald Rumsfeld's defense department.

The Guantánamo lawyers charged with devising interrogation techniques were inspired by the exploits of Jack Bauer in the American TV series 24.

Myers wrongly believed interrogation techniques had been taken from the army's field manual.
Read More

Criminal Probe of CIA Tape Destruction Begins!

Hillbilly Report
Glendale, Kentucky
January 3, 2008
www.ditchmitchky.com
www.bluegrassroots.org
I understand  I'm just a DAH "Dumb Ass Hillbilly," but I know enough about video to know the CIA didn't use VHS or VHS-C  camcorders to shoot the torture tapes. I suggest they used digital camcorders to shoot the video and then captured the video to a computer for editing. I further suggest all of the video is or was on a computer hard drive or iPod somewhere.
It's difficult to believe we're talking about video tapes, in the age of digital video, unless of course, the CIA, The Justice Department and Congress are technically challenged institutions!!!!!

Michael B.Mukasey's Statement Regarding the Opening of an Investigation Into the Destruction of Videotapes by CIA Personnel.

"Following a preliminary inquiry into the destruction by CIA personnel of videotapes of detainee interrogations, the Department's National Security Division has recommended, and I have concluded, that there is a basis for initiating a criminal investigation of this matter."
Read entire statement.

Will We As A People Hold George Bush And Dick Cheney Accountable?

Hillbilly Report
Glendale, Kentucky
November 16, 2007
www.ditchmitchky.com
www.bluegrassroots.org