Khalid Sheikh Mohammed

Release of the "Holy Grail" of Torture Reports Delayed Again

Andy Worthington | Posted 08.01.2009 | Politics


Andy Worthington

Today was supposed to be the day that the Justice Department -- after two delays -- released an unclassified version of the CIA Inspector General's 2004 Report into the interrogations of "high-value detainees."

Empty Evidence: The Stories of the Saudis Released From Guantanamo

Andy Worthington | Posted 07.18.2009 | Politics


Andy Worthington

Khalid Saad Mohammed seized from a hospital in Pakistan and sold to the U.S. military. But the authorities in GITMO had never managed to build up a credible case against him.

Cheney, the CIA and Torture: Asking the Wrong Questions

Eric L. Lewis | Posted 06.21.2009 | Politics


Eric L. Lewis

Cheney wants to take what is a stark legal and moral issue and turn it into yet another Washington "some argue this; some argue that" controversy, a clever bureaucratic maneuver.

Sam Stein

KSM Questioned About al Qaeda-Iraq Ties During Waterboarding

HuffingtonPost.com | Sam Stein | Posted 06.15.2009 | Politics


Some of the first questions asked of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed upon his capture and during the time during which he was waterboarded were about possible ...

Khalid Sheik Mohammed: "I Gave A Lot Of False Information" To Make Torture Stop

Mark Nickolas | Posted 06.11.2009 | Politics


Mark Nickolas

The Bush torture memos pale in comparison to the leaked report issued by the Red Cross following two rounds of private interviews with the 14 "high value detainees" held at Guantanamo Bay.

Even For Cheney, The Al Qaeda-Iraq Torture Story Is A New Low

Andy Worthington | Posted 05.30.2009 | World


Andy Worthington

Coercive and illegal techniques were used widely at Gitmo in an attempt to secure information linking al Qaeda to Saddam Hussein.

Justifications for Torture: You've Heard the Rest, Now Here's the Best

Russ Wellen | Posted 05.28.2009 | Politics


Russ Wellen

The obsessive pursuit of information has traditionally been the mark of a regime that rules by force and sees enemies at every turn.

Sunday Roundup

Arianna Huffington | Posted 05.26.2009 | Home


Arianna Huffington

Mark it down. The bar has been set. We now have the test by which we judge all actions taken by the leaders of America: Is it worse than burning 120,000 people to death? Call it the Buchanan Hiroshima-Nagasaki Standard. Appearing on Hardball this week to defend the Bush administration's use of torture, Pat Buchanan tried to offer a little perspective: "Is waterboarding Khalid Sheikh Mohammed a worse thing than dropping two atomic bombs on people and burning 120,000 people to death? Sending 40,000 more to death by radiation?" I guess he preferred that WWII reference to the one from Paul Begala about us executing Japanese soldiers who waterboarded American POWs. Elsewhere on the torture front, Sean Hannity offered to be waterboarded for charity. A little like one of those charity auctions where celebrities agree to have lunch with the highest bidder. Only with a suffocation appetizer.

Cheney Kept File Marked 'Detainees'

Marlene H. Phillips | Posted 05.25.2009 | Politics


Marlene H. Phillips

Dick Cheney wants a few reports released. The former Vice President, a man so secretive that while serving as Vice President he had his home remove...

Hannity Wants to Be the Face of US Torture

Michael Wolff | Posted 05.24.2009 | Media


Michael Wolff

You wouldn't necessarily think that the right wing would want to distinguish itself by its enthusiasm for torture, but that's clearly the message Sean Hannity is gleefully sending.

What if Khalid Sheikh Mohammed Had Died?

Cenk Uygur | Posted 05.24.2009 | Politics


Cenk Uygur

I know what conservatives are screaming into their computers: "But he didn't die! None of them died. So, your question is an absurd hypothetical." In fact, many of them did die.

Don't Prosecute -- and Scapegoat -- Torture Operatives; Go for the Top

Naomi Wolf | Posted 05.23.2009 | Politics


Naomi Wolf

Should we prosecute the agents who committed the torture? We should not. As a longtime advocate for prosecutions, that may sound surprising coming from me.

Torture, Done in Our Name

Rick Horowitz | Posted 05.23.2009 | World


Rick Horowitz

If the rest of us are to live with ourselves, if we're to regain our own consciences, first we have to see it for what it was, and call it by its rightful name, this thing that was done in our name.

Waterboarding Leads to this Tortured Blog Post!

Dave Astor | Posted 05.23.2009 | Comedy


Dave Astor

When thinking about the Bush administration-sanctioned use of this brute force, I wondered how the torture guys decided on the 183 figure. Was it some kind of homage to Hank Greenberg driving in 183 runs in 1937?

What Would You Not Do to Stop a Nuke?

Lionel | Posted 05.22.2009 | Politics


Lionel

What if torture, some torture, some despicable form, actually worked? Actually produced usable confessions and saved lives?

Feds Ignore Jet Crashes at Operating Reactors

Harvey Wasserman | Posted 04.11.2009 | Politics


Harvey Wasserman

As you read this, jets hitting any of the nuclear reactors operating in the U.S. right now could kill untold thousands of us and render entire regions of our nation permanently uninhabitable.

Who's Running Guantanamo?

Andy Worthington | Posted 03.12.2009 | World


Andy Worthington

On January 20, the answer to that question seemed obvious. However, on January 29, the Commissions' recently appointed chief judge provided the first challenge to the president's plans.

Chaos and Lies: Why Obama Was Right To Halt The Guantanamo Trials

Andy Worthington | Posted 02.22.2009 | World


Andy Worthington

In one of his first acts as president, Obama ordered prosecutors in Guantanamo's Military Commission trials to ask for a four-month stay on all proceedings.

Gitmo War Court: Two Accused Of Orchestrating 9/11 Attacks Offer Confessions

AP | BEN FOX | Posted 02.19.2009 | World


GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba — Two alleged orchestrators of the 2001 attacks on America casually declared their guilt on Monday in a messy an...

Closing Gitmo Requires Tough Judgments On Inmates

AP | ANDREW O. SELSKY | Posted 02.13.2009 | World


SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — President-elect Barack Obama's planned review of Guantanamo Bay prisoners, a prelude to closing the detention center, mu...

The Dying Days of the Guantanamo Trials

Andy Worthington | Posted 02.09.2009 | World


Andy Worthington

The Military Commissions to try Guantanamo detainees have rarely grabbed the media attention that a novel, flagship program to try "terror suspects" should have attracted.

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed: France Tries Accused 9/11 Plotter In Tunisia Blast

AP | PIERRE-ANTOINE SOUCHARD | Posted 02.05.2009 | World


PARIS — A European convert to Islam allegedly caught on camera beside Osama bin Laden denied Monday any role in a 2002 suicide attack on a Tunis...

The Ten Lies of Dick Cheney (Part One)

Andy Worthington | Posted 01.24.2009 | Politics


Andy Worthington

Cheney's version of the truth on interrogations does not stand up to scrutiny, and features ten lies that should not be allowed to pass without further comment and analysis.

Cheney's Confession Should Lead to Criminal Investigation of Bush's Torture Policies

Mitchell Bard | Posted 01.17.2009 | Politics


Mitchell Bard

If the Bush administration would have at least acted like they might have done something wrong, maybe we could have moved on. But if Cheney is going on national TV to endorse torture, he has tied the hands of the country.

Is The 9/11 Trial Confession An Al-Qaeda Propaganda Coup?

Andy Worthington | Posted 01.08.2009 | Politics


Andy Worthington

I can only wonder if Mohammed have decided that their best hope for advancing al-Qaeda's cause lies in trying to secure a conviction in the tainted Military Commissions before Obama can dismantle them.