Pro Torture GOP Protects Bush, Blocks Torture Ban, Supports Bush Torture Policies

The GOP blocks passage of a bill that would have banned torture outright even as Bush had threatened to veto it. Bush and his criminal conspirators --the GOP leadership in Congress --have thus worked mightily to cover up his crimes, obstruct justice and make legal the crimes that Bush has already committed.

But that's not all. The GOP is moving to quash an investigation of Bush that will involve "obstruction of justice", an investigation that one hopes will end in Bush's impeachment, removal, arrest and trial for war crimes.

WASHINGTON (AFP) — The US government has asked a Congressional committee to suspend its probe into the destruction by the CIA of videotapes, citing 'significant risks' to its own investigation, the New York Times reported Saturday.

The US Justice Department's request Friday to the House Intelligence Committee came after the panel had summoned two CIA officials to testify next week -- a hearing that now is likely to be postponed, the daily reported.

The committee had demanded that the CIA produce by Friday all cables, memorandums and e-mail messages related to the videotapes, as well as the legal advice given to agency officials before the tapes were destroyed.

The deadline passed without the arrival of any of those documents, the Times wrote.

--US government seeks hold on probe into torture tapes

There is probable cause and mounting evidence that the "authorization" for the widespread tactic of torture by the US goes all the way to the White House --Bush himself! In any case, "Water boarding" is not the only torture procedure that US torturers employ. Photos from Abu Ghraib depict a veritable smorgasbord of horrors. Integral to Bush policy is "sleep" deprivation" --the subject of correspondent Brian Ross' interview found on Uruknet:

BRIAN ROSS: And did you know the CIA officers feel without a doubt you had the legal right to do what you were doing?

JOHN: Absolutely. Absolutely. I remember - I remember being told when - the President signed the - the authorities that they had been approved - not just by the National Security Counsel, but by the - but by the Justice Department as well, I remember people being surprised that the authorities were granted.

JOHN: You know, you may not think about it, but-- but exhaustion is-- is a very difficult thing to handle. It's one thing to be tired. It's another thing to be so tired that you begin to hallucinate.

And after a while some people just can't take it anymore. And they'll tell you if-- "Just give me an hour. Give me two hours of sleep, I'll tell you anything you wanna know."

BRIAN ROSS: Really?

JOHN: Uh-huh (AFFIRM)

BRIAN ROSS: And that's after how long generally?

JOHN: I recall the handful of times it was used on people it was usually 40 hours plus. They just simply couldn't take it anymore.

Like all criminals desperately trying to cover their tracks, the conspirators forgot an important detail and it is too late to rewrite the history. The destruction of the so-called torture tapes violated a federal court order.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal courts had prohibited the Bush administration from discarding evidence of detainee torture and abuse months before the CIA destroyed videotapes that revealed some of its harshest interrogation tactics.

Normally, that would force the government to defend itself against obstruction allegations. But the CIA may have an out: its clandestine network of overseas prisons.

While judges focused on the detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and tried to guarantee that any evidence of detainee abuse would be preserved, the CIA was performing its toughest questioning half a world away. And by the time President Bush publicly acknowledged the secret prison system, interrogation videos of two terrorism suspects had been destroyed.

The CIA destroyed the tapes in November 2005. That June, US District Judge Henry H. Kennedy Jr. had ordered the Bush administration to safeguard "all evidence and information regarding the torture, mistreatment, and abuse of detainees now at the United States Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay."

CIA Destroyed Tapes Despite Court Order

White House press secretary Dana Perino said Bush does not recall being informed about the destruction of the tapes. That is not a denial. If Bush himself had not authorized the US program of torture at GITMO, Abu Ghraib and the CIA's Gulag Archipelago throughout Eastern Europe, why is he and the GOP leadership intent upon making legal the crimes for which there is probable cause in the public record to prosecute Bush. Why did the CIA obstruct justice, violating a Federal Court order not to destroy the tapes? Why is justice obstructed if not to protect the guilty? Likewise, why does Bush seek to make legal ex post facto numerous crimes if not to protect himself from prosecution in US Federal Courts or international tribunals?

It must be pointed out that Bush did not issue a preservation order until after the tapes had been destroyed. UPDATE II: Perino says she’s “not allowed” to comment on Bush’s reaction to the destruction of the tapes:

Q Dana, is the President concerned about the impact on the CIA’s reputation and its integrity, not just here but around the world? I mean, there’s been similar episodes — we don’t know the full scope of this — but we know what we know, based on his point, that may be comparable to Abu Ghraib, where there were photos that were released –

MS. PERINO: No. No.

Q — the President spoke extensively about that.

MS. PERINO: Well, one, I haven’t — I’m not allowed to characterize the President’s reaction to this, but what I can tell you is that he — as I said Friday, he has complete confidence in General Hayden, and that remains.

White House Finally Issues Preservation Order, Days After Destruction Of Torture Tapes Revealed]

Despite their worst efforts this criminal conspiracy, consisting of George W. Bush, the CIA, and the leadership of the GOP in Congress, the US is still bound to the Geneva Convention and US criminal codes which make Bush subject to trial on charges that he committed capital crimes.

Water boarding is torture! It is not an "enhanced interrogation technique"; nor is it mere "harsh interrogation". It was torture when Torquemada did it for the Spanish Inquisition and it is torture now! Nor is "water boarding" the only procedure inflicted by modern versions of Torquemada. Check out the image on the right. This is not water boarding. Water boarding does not cause massive external bleeding. We have no reason to assume that this victim of US torture is alive. We have less reason to suppose that useful information of any kind was ever elicited. We have no more reason to believe that this man was in any way at any time, a "terrorist". He most certainly had nothing to do with 911. We have every reason to suppose that George W. Bush is personally culpable for what may very well be a capital crime.

In the meantime, Bush has given up the moral high ground. He has given cause to terrorists. As it did for Reagan and Bush Sr, terrorism will have gotten much, much worse for this administration's inhumane, ham fisted and criminal approach. In the end, it doesn't even work. Terrorism increases and no useful information is ever obtained. Bush has become a terrorist if he had not been one already.

Even Britain, considered our closest ally, has dealt with this issue --but not Bush. In the year 2005, the British government was told by the courts that it would be required to demonstrate that evidence obtained under torture had not been used in some 30 cases in which foreign terror suspects were held in Britain. The GOP, by contrast, attempts to re-define the issue with euphemisms. I expected nothing more from them. The GOP is, after all, not a party, it is a crime syndicate, a criminal conspiracy. The party in Congress will try to re-write the laws to make legal the crimes Bush has already committed.

Senate Republicans blocked a bill Friday that would restrict the interrogation methods the CIA can use against terrorism suspects.

The legislation, part of a measure authorizing the government's intelligence activities for 2008, had been approved a day earlier by the House and sent to the Senate for what was supposed to be final action. The bill would require the CIA to adhere to the Army's field manual on interrogation, which bans water boarding, mock executions and other harsh [torture] interrogation methods.

--GOP Senators Block Bill That Bans Torture

What else could have been expected from a rogue "President" eager to cover up his complicity in war crimes and crimes against humanity? Just recently it has been charged that Bush himself may have ordered the destruction of video tapes depicting US torture in progress.

I appeal to Federal Judges throughout the US. A Federal Judge, by law, may, upon his own motion convene a Federal Grand Jury with broad investigatory powers including the power to issue subpoenas. If you are a Federal Judge, I appeal not only to your sense of patriotism but to your regard for the rule of law and the jurisprudential principles which constitute the legal foundation of American justice. Convene a Federal Grand jury! Begin the Federal Investigation of George W. Bush, his co-conspirators in the GOP, the corrupt gang of crooks that constitute his administration.

A cowardly Congress, perhaps threatened, has proven itself incapable of investigating 911 let alone the myriad of crimes that Bush openly boasted about in his State of the Union Address of 2003.

All told, more than 3,000 suspected terrorists have been arrested in many countries. Many others have met a different fate. Let's put it this way -- they are no longer a problem to the United States and our friends and allies.

--George W. Bush, State of the Union, 2003

This ominous remark most certainly refers to the summary execution of more than 3,000 thousand people. How many more have died upon an imperious order is just a matter of conjecture. Bush, typically, delivered this aside with a demonic sneer, a smirk notable for what it does not say. It does not claim that these victims of Bush's megalomania are in fact terrorists; only that they are "suspected" terrorists. Even in "barbarous" countries "suspects" are given a chance to prove their innocence. But the US was once a civilized nation. Prior to Bush, it was the responsibility, the duty of prosecutors to prove guilt. Those accused of crimes were not expected to prove innocence. The arbitrary abrogation of this "presumption of innocence", as we have witnessed in Bush's criminal regime, is a defining characteristic of tyrannies. Down with tyrants!

Bush Covers Up His Administration's Capital Crimes

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Bush desperately seeking World War III

by Len Hart, The Existentialist Cowboy

At a recent press briefing Bush was asked about Vladimir Putin's plans to hold on to power when his term runs out. Bush smirked and quipped: "I've been planning that myself." We should take Bush at his word. We should take that remark just as seriously as his recent veiled threat of World War III. We should take it as seriously as we should have taken his remark about how much easier it would all be "...if this was a dictatorship!"

So I told people [European leaders] that if you're interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in ensuring Iran not gain the capacity to develop such weapons.

--George W. Bush, Sociopath-in-Chief

How seriously should we take Bush's offhand remarks? His quips and unguarded remarks are the only truths to come out of his mouth. That applies to sinister references to summary executions in his 2003 State of the Union address: "Let's just say they are no longer a threat to the United States of America." It applies as well to his wistful longing for "dictatorship". Certainly, Bush is articulate only when he speaks of death, torture, vengence, warfare, execution, or punishment. He never stumbles, he never struggles to find the right word to describe pain, death or suffering!!

More recently, the temporal proximity of his "warnings" of WWIII and his "quip" about staying in power after his term, may be clues to what is in fact talked about inside the Oval Office.

Despite the president's occasional contempt for the law, THREAT LEVEL doesn't believe that he's going to declare a state of emergency and cancel the 2008 election. But in July, we filed some FOIA requests anyway. We asked five Justice Department offices for documents produced or revised after August 2001 "addressing the feasibility, advisability or lawfulness of deferring, rescheduling or canceling a US national election."

Bush Quips He Might Stay in Power (Threat Level Plays Along

Simply, the mechanisms by which Bush achieves his permanent dictatorship are already in place. Another terrorist attack will do the trick. [See How a Second Terrorist Attack Will Benefit George W. Bush] Measured against our standard, the Bush administration is a catastrophe. Measured against Bush's hidden agenda, he is very near to achieving what Richard Nixon could not --an absolute dictatorship in the United States. That means, of course, that Bush will have reduced Congress to a debating club, the Supreme Court to a mere advisory panel. Sadly, it is SCOTUS who helped write themselves out of a real job. Fools!

The most ominous new development is the Bush administration's push to name the Iranian Revolutionary Guards a terrorist organization.

"The U.S. has designated any number of states over the years as state sponsors of terrorism," says Leverett. "But here for the first time the U.S. is saying that part of a government is itself a terrorist organization."

This is what Leverett and Mann fear will happen: The diplomatic effort in the United Nations will fail when it becomes clear that Russia's and China's geopolitical ambitions will not accommodate the inconvenience of energy sanctions against Iran.

--The Secret History of the Impending War with Iran

What Bush has done already may be summarized briefly:

• He lied the nation into two wars. Neither have been won, neither had anything to do with the perpetrators of 911!
• Against our own US criminal codes and numerous international treaties, Bush has arrogated unto himself the power to abduct, imprison and torture anyone that he decides is an "enemy". He has assumed for himself a title: "Decider".
• He has built up a private army, a Praetorian Guard, to enforce his edicts: Blackwater USA.

Is Bush capable of starting WWIII, nuking Iran, staying put after his term ends? In a word --yes! Bush "gets off" on death. Immediately prior to his announcement that the US military was in action in Iraq, Bush --unaware that cameras were on and broadcasting --"pumped his fist" and declared: "I feel GOOD!"

Bush savors the little hints he drops, disguising them as "quips" or un-funny jokes. Tucker Carlson reported that Bush puckered his lips to mock Carla Fay Tucker's final plea for her life. "Please, Mr. Bush, don't kill me", he whined. As Governor of Texas, Bush chalked up 152 "kills" of many who were never competently defended, who were convicted upon phony or unreliable evidence, whose cases were tainted by dubious psychiatric evidence.

One need not be a licensed therapist to call him a sociopathic nut job, a threat to humankind and Western Civilization. He is clearly without empathy --that human quality upon which ethics and morality are based. Dr. Gustav Gilbert was the American psychologist who interviewed Nazi war criminals at Nuremberg. Based on his research there, Gilbert concluded that evil was best described as an utter lack of empathy. Bush is, therefore, at the very least, a psychopathic monster, for the theologically inclined --a Satan incarnate.

"Sociopathy can be recognized early in an individual. Before the age of around 15 - 16 years, a child showing sociopathic traits is titled with conduct disorder. Signs of this early stage of sociopathy might include immunity to parental punishment and pain. Other signs may be the torturing of animals, fire setting, vandalism, consistent lying, theft, or aggression towards others. Nothing usually works in trying to change the behavior of this type of child. Therefore, the parent(s) usually give up, making the situation worse. But it must be noted that many children with conduct disorder do not progress on to sociopaths. After the age of 15 - 16, those who continue to show sociopathic signs are then labeled as having sociopathy or antisocial personality disorder

Carter & Golant, 1998; Sabbatini, 1998; See also: Horton, The Sociopath

Old friends who knew Bush as a boy describe a diabolical monster who reveled in inflicting pain and suffering. They verify a well-circulated story that the Junior Bush used to shove firecrackers up horned frogs to watch them explode when he tossed them into the air. The New York Times reported that at Yale during his Skull and Bones days, Bush indulged the sadistic practice of "branding" fraternity pledges with "brands" made of metal coat hangers. The blind folded pledges still have the scars to prove it. Li'l George promised never do it again but never figured out why others thought it such a "big deal". Tragically for the world, li'l George now has nukes with which to bully the world.

Dick Cheney, Halliburton's plant inside the Bush administration, can be counted on to look after the interests of big, no-bid contractors, primarily his own Halliburton. It says a lot about him that he actually likes being called "Darth". Recently the Guardian reported that "Darth" may be winning the behind the scenes maneauvering in Bush's evil empire.

The balance in the internal White House debate over Iran has shifted back in favour of military action before President George Bush leaves office in 18 months, the Guardian has learned.

The shift follows an internal review involving the White House, the Pentagon and the state department over the last month. Although the Bush administration is in deep trouble over Iraq, it remains focused on Iran. A well-placed source in Washington said: “Bush is not going to leave office with Iran still in limbo.”

--Guardian Unlimited

A false-flag operation is most certainly on the table. Every US president has made such plans, notably Nixon's "Operation Garden Plot" and Reagan's "REX 84 Alpha". "Executive Directive 51" is absurdly vague about when and how Bush may declare his dictatorship, describing only a "catastrophic emergency."

Catastrophic Emergency" means any incident, regardless of location, that results in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting the US population, infrastructure, environment, economy, or government functions.

--"Executive Directive 51"

In other words, Bush will simply declare an emergency following any "second terrorist" attack, terrorism being whatever Bush decides it is.

The Washington source said Mr Bush and Mr Cheney did not trust any potential successors in the White House, Republican or Democratic, to deal with Iran decisively. They are also reluctant for Israel to carry out any strikes because the US would get the blame in the region anyway.

"The red line is not in Iran. The red line is in Israel. If Israel is adamant it will attack, the US will have to take decisive action," Mr Cronin said. "The choices are: tell Israel no, let Israel do the job, or do the job yourself."

Almost half of the US's 277 warships are stationed close to Iran, including two aircraft carrier groups. The aircraft carrier USS Enterprise left Virginia last week for the Gulf. A Pentagon spokesman said it was to replace the USS Nimitz and there would be no overlap that would mean three carriers in Gulf at the same time.

--Cheney pushes Bush to act on Iran, Guardian Unlimited

Bush will declare martial law, postpone the 2008 elections indefinitely, and assume a title: Imperial Decider Guy, or some other bullshit title of his psychotic imagining

Scenario for 2008: Sometime in middle to late summer, perhaps early fall, a "terrorist attack," or a natural disaster occurs, allowing Bush to suspend the elections in the name of "national security," and take the control of the government via the "National Security Presidential Directive/NSPD 51" and "Homeland Security Presidential Directive/HSPD-20," released by the WH May 9th of this year. He could remain in control as long as he wanted. Now, wouldn't THAT be an interesting nightmare?

--Naomi Wolf, Huffington Post

Given the quagmire in Iraq, Bush will be "forced" to nuke Iran, having secretly hoped for the opportunity. Iran will blockade the straits of Hormuz and attack US fleets in the Gulf and Mediterranean. World War III will have begun.

Bush will call his dictatorship a "Constitutional Continuity" enabled for the sake of the father...uh..."the homeland".

Aided and abetted by right-wing Republicans and spineless Democrats in Congress he has rendered the Constitution utterly useless as an instrument for protecting the people from his authoritarian excesses. He has offered his profane opinion of the Constitution thus, "... it's just a God-damned piece of paper''

--Doug Thompson in Capitol Hill Blue, Dec 5, 2005.

Quietly, and without solemn ceremony, the law of the land, the very rule of law, i.e, the US Constitution will be set aside, as, in fact, it already has been. A few "bitter enders" may object only to find themselves interred in FEMA camps, KBR contructed "detention centers" built to accommodate anyone opposing the Imperial Decider Guy.

When Bush ordered the war of aggression against Iraq, Saddam was in the process of converting petro-dollars to Euros. Among US motivations for Middle East wars of aggression, the war against Iraq has not had the effect of shoring up the dollar. Bush fails again. Bush seems content, however, to balance the US trade deficit upon the backs of the middle class and the poor, already bearing the brunt of his tax cuts for tiny rich elites.

The terms sociopath or psychopath often bring to mind images of sadistically violent individuals such as Ted Bundy or the fictional character of Dr. Hannibal "The Cannibal" Lecter in the book and movie The Silence of the Lambs. But I believe the defining characteristic traits of sociopaths actually cover a much broader spectrum of individuals than most of us would ever imagine. The sociopath is that truly self-absorbed individual with no conscience or feeling for others [emphasis mine, LH] and for whom social rules have no meaning. I believe that most all of us know or have come in contact with sociopathic individuals without even knowing it.

-- Horton, The Sociopath

Indeed, we have. He occupies the Oval Office, a lofty perch from which he bullies the world and threatens, perhaps forever, the precious few chances we have for peace, plenty and prosperity.

Bush Eloquent and TOO Emphatic
on his Favorite Subject: Torture!

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