What Goes Around Comes Around

When I watched this tape of the two released American hikers who were held in Iran for over two years...and I listened to their experience and treatment I could only think- change the name of the captors from Iranian to American and this could be my client or one of the many other innocent men held at Guantanamo ...except of course for the fact that most of the men at Guantanamo are getting ready to finish their tenth year in captivity. I guess it should be no surprise that the Iranians also noted the parallel. That our prisons at Guantanamo and elsewhere have given justification to the Iranians to hold these two men (and countless other political prisoners) in conditions as bad as we hold our political prisoners is but another national shame.

I am so very sorry for the treatment of these two men as I am so very sorry for the similar ongoing mistreatment given the innocent men at Guantanamo....

Watch the video and understand that these two American's tell the story of hundreds of the innocent men that my country is holding.

http://www.democracynow.org/2011/9/26/freed_us_hiker_shane_bauer_iranian

t/h to Walt.

Lest we forget....

Steven Biko (18 December 1946 – 12 September 1977) RIP

Just sayin...

I don't write about this day. I mean what is there to say? We were attacked by some criminals and we decided in return to shred our constitution, terrorize a big chunk of the world and turn a blind eye to the criminals in our own country who wreaked havoc on the rule of law and our economy. So, since I don't write about this day I turn you to my friend the talking dog and to this piece on the changes since 2001-by the numbers.

HOW DOES THE MILITARY ACKNOWLEDGE TODAYS ANNIVERSARY?

By creating a new war crime.....conspiracy. It would be funny if it were not so pathetic. Read the opinion here. Some analysis here and reporting here.

For those of you without either the time or the inclination to read the opinion let me just say that the military took a bunch of ass sucking military lawyers and created the new war crime by ignoring the law they were citing.

STATES SECRETS REVISITED.....

Seems that detainees are not entitled to information about the rendition flights they were subjected to because, you know, states secrets .... and the fact that someone might actually then be held accountable. But those same documents are publicly available in a lawsuit involving money -between the owner of the plane used for the renditions and the the company that contracted to use the plane for the renditions. As emptywheel noted "sort of proves the lie behind the Jeppesen state secrets invocation. The government let all the details behind the KSM flights appear in unsealed court dockets. The only thing that separates what would have appeared in the Binyam Mohamed suit against Jeppesen and this suit is the explicit demand for compensation for a torture victim."

Clive Stafford Smith- attorney for Binyam Mohamed puts it even more succinctly: "When they screw our tortured clients, they assert “National Security”, but when it is a matter of money, they don’t. — Reprieve’s Clive Smith

I wonder if any one will be able to get a judge to care....... or at least be embarassed......

The guardian has more here.