Tuesday, February 8, 2005

Scary & Scarier FEATURED ARTICLES - CIA Renditions of Terror Suspects Are 'Out of Control', Agence France-Presse - Paranoia Grips the U.S. Capital, The Toronto Sun QUOTE OF THE DAY "There has always been a segment of American life, and a powerful segment, too, which equated virtue with mindlessness. In this connection, the House Un-American Activities Committee is on of the most sinister facts of our national life." - - James Baldwin, from "A Quarter-Century of Un-Americana" (Marzani & Munsell, 1963) KNOW YOUR HISTORY - February 4th 1942 -- US Congress Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) recommends removing Japanese nationals from the Pacific Coast states for the duration of World War II, & interning them at least 500 miles inland in the Land of Freedom. RHINO SEZ: I don't really want to scare anyone, but I just thought y'all ought to know what's going on with our tax dollars & supposedly in our name. The 1st piece is scary. The Bottom Line is Scarier. (o/)(o/)(o/) CIA Renditions of Terror Suspects Are 'Out of Control:' Report Agence France-Presse, 06 February 2005 The Central Intelligence Agency's 'rendition' of suspected terrorists has spiraled 'out of control' according to a former FBI agent, cited in a report which examined how CIA detainees are spirited to states suspected of using torture. Michael Scheuer a former CIA counterterrorism agent told The New Yorker magazine "all we've done is create a nightmare," with regard to the top secret practice of renditions. In an article titled 'Outsourcing Torture' due to hit newsstands this week, the magazine claims suspects, sometimes picked up by the CIA, are often flown to Egypt , Morocco, Syria and Jordan , "each of which is known to use torture in interrogations." The report said suspects are given few, if any, legal protections. Despite US laws that ban America from expelling or extraditing individuals to countries where torture occurs, Scott Horton -- an expert on international law who has examined CIA renditions -- estimates that 150 people have been picked up in the CIA dragnet since 2001. The New Yorker report said that suspects in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East "have been abducted by hooded or masked American agents" and then sometimes forced onto a white Gulfstream V jet. The jet -- marked on its tail by the code N379P which has recently been changed to N8068V -- "has been registered to a series of dummy American corporations ... (and) has clearance to land at US military bases," it said... MORE: http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/Columnists/Toronto/Eric_Margolis/2005/02/06/922316.html (o/)(o/)(o/) 12:02:19 PM    comment

RHINO'S BOTTOM LINE - Paranoia Grips the U.S. Capital Paranoia Grips the U.S. Capital By Eric Margolis, The Toronto Sun, 06 February 2005 The film Seven Days In May is one of my all-time favourites. The gripping 1964 drama, starring Burt Lancaster, depicts an attempted coup by far rightists in Washington using a top-secret Pentagon anti-terrorist unit called something like "Contelinpro." Life imitates art. This week, former military intelligence analyst William Arkin revealed a hitherto unknown directive, with the Orwellian name "JCS Conplan 0300-97," authorizing the Pentagon to employ special, ultra-secret "anti-terrorist" military units on American soil for what the author claims are "extra-legal missions." In other words, using U.S. soldiers to kill or arrest Americans, acts that have been illegal since the U.S. Civil War. This frightening news comes as Washington is gripped by reborn, Cold-War-style paranoia, ominous threats of war against Iran from the real president, Dick Cheney, and a titanic bureaucratic battle just won by Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Instead of being fired for the grotesque military-political fiasco in Iraq and the shameful torture scandals, Rumsfeld has just managed to create a new, Pentagon spy/special ops organization, blandly named "Strategic Support Branch," that will replace or duplicate many of the CIA's tasks. The CIA has been sent to the doghouse. Too many CIA veterans criticized or contradicted Bush's and Cheney's phony claims over Iraq and terrorism. So Bush has imposed a new, yes-man director on the agency, slashed its budgets, purged its senior officers, and downgraded CIA to third-class status. MORE: http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/Columnists/Toronto/Eric_Margolis/2005/02/06/922316.html (o/)(o/)(o/) Rhino's Blog is the responsibility of Gary Rhine. Feedback & requests to be added or deleted from the list are encouraged. (rhino@kifaru.com) See The Latest Greatest Political Cartoons While You Read Rhino's Blog AT : http://www.rhinosblog.info Rhino's Other Web Sites: http://www.dreamcatchers.org (Indigenous Assistance & Intercultural Dialog) http://www.kifaru.com (Native American Relations Video Documentaries) Articles are reprinted under Fair Use Doctrine of international copyright law. http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html All copyrights belong to original publisher. Tell a friend about Rhino's Blog 11:05:46 AM    comment

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