Colonel Steven Kleinman, who has referred to himself as the "most unpopular officer" in all of Iraq, describes the previous administration's support of SERE tactics for interrogation as not only ineffective in securing accurate intelligence, but also as a systematic approach to torture that clearly compromises essential moral values upon which this nation was founded.
SERE, which stands for "survival, evasion, resistance, and escape," refers to a formal, structured group of strategies to resist hostile interrogation. During the period of the Cold War, American service people were trained in SERE in order to resist possible severe, torturous interrogations in situations such as the Korean War, at the hands of the Chinese. The Bush administration re-introduced the flip-side of SERE; that is, it encouraged and supported the very techniques of interrogation that earlier service people had been trained to resist and withstand.
In a recent interview with NPR (All Things Considered, April 23, 2009), Kleinman confirmed that the tenets of SERE had been employed against detainees in Iraq:
"Exactly, and I think a key point that your listeners need to understand, so they can grasp the gravity of the situation, is that the primary objective of that approach to interrogation was not truth … but somebody's political truth. In the Korean War, they actually compelled some of our pilots to admit to dropping chemical weapons on cities and so forth, when in fact that didn't happen. Now, that stands in stark contrast to intelligence interrogation, where the overriding objective is provide timely, accurate, reliable, comprehensive intelligence." http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103421778
The Bush administration was well aware that these SERE techniques were not created to extract accurate intelligence; they were employed to make people say things that were not true, and to promote propoganda. These strategies are of little or no use if one's primary objective is to obtain important, useful information to help the young American men and women in harm's way. Colonel Kleinman referred to himself as the "most unpopular officer" in all of Iraq because a culture of systematic torture of detainees had become a deeply penetrated status quo by the time he arrived on the scene, and Kleinman was perceived as an unwelcome enforcer of morality. The standard defense of these tactics by those who in engaged in them was that this was, at the very least, the expected treatment our soldiers would receive from the enemy if they were ever captured. This is a very different justification, this "eye for an eye" reasoning, than the official position that the main purpose of these interrogations was to obtain intelligence.
Our government sanctioned, encouraged, and instituted a systematic regime of torture applied to detainees that not only compromised the safety and well-being of our enlisted men and women by wasting time on ineffective interrogation methods, but also indoctrinated those Americans involved in the torture process in a method of treatment that goes against our core American value of respect for basic human dignity.
Perhaps these SERE tactics were effective, at times, despite what research and experience has shown, but I question whether or not the information obtained through these methods could have been obtained through other, less damaging, means. Because, in the end, what has been damaged, once again, is our reputation and our sense of ourselves as Americans. On April 29th, President Obama addressed these concerns through the following statements:
"Could we have gotten that information without using these techniques?" (a core question) and "Are we safer?" (a broader question)
"Churchill understood...you start taking shortcuts, and it corrodes the character of a people."
"Hold true to your ideals when it's hard, not just when it's easy to." (This was said in reference to our actions against detainees now being used as an Al Quaeda recruitment tool.)
"...stick to who we are, even when dealing with unscrupulous enemies."
And, finally, our current president reiterated a primary focus of his leadership that he thinks about every day, and every night before he goes to sleep:
"I will be judged as a Commander in Chief by how safe I am keeping the people...the best way I can do that is by making sure that we are not taking shortcuts that undermine who we are."
The Bush adminstration should be held responsible for our government's engagement in systematic torture techniques. I support any and all investigations into this extreme and damaging lapse of moral judgement, even at a time when the present administration must deal with more than any other administration's share of moral, economic, and policy clean-up from the past eight dark, horrific years.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Friday, May 1, 2009
Flu
After decades in politics Joe Biden finally said something that made sense, stating that he advised his family not to travel in enclosed vehicles like planes or trains because of the swine flu pandemic. For that he was muzzled by his boss and had to backtrack from his statement.
As the head of the Center for Disease Control said… um, nothing. There isn’t a head of the CDC yet because after 100 days in office President Obama hasn’t gotten around to appointing one. Since Tom Daschle was found to be a tax cheat there is no director at Health and Human Services either and there is still a vacancy for Surgeon General. A Dream Team will surely be assembled to handle the pandemic perhaps by the time it’s over.
While Mexico City is in lockdown and other countries are putting people on alert we trust the judgment of President Obama who says this is a time for concern but not alarm. Aside from some cities cancelling Cinco de Mayo events the only meaningful thing the U.S. and the World Health Organization has done is rename the Swine Flu to Bad Flu Nasty Type A or some such so as not to offend Jews, Muslims and pigs.
This flu could be a quick event with few fatalities or it could be as bad as the 1918 Spanish Flu that killed more than 10% of the population of some countries and perhaps as many as 100 million people worldwide. The 1918 flu like the current Swine Flu caused its victims to have an overreaction of the immune system which tended to kill mostly the healthy in the age range of 20-40. Surprisingly the people in the prime of life who contracted Spanish Flu were the most likely to die, opposite a regular flu that tends to kill infants and the elderly. Back then the double-whammy of the flu and World War I decimated an entire generation of young adults.
There have been many advances in medicine since the Spanish Flu so the mortality rate of the current flu likely wouldn’t be as high in the United States. Developing countries may not be as fortunate.
Since no one in the administration is giving you direction I’ll take a stab at it. Cliché alert: You should hope for the best but prepare for the worst. Take some steps to protect yourself in case the virus spreads to your area like wear a surgical mask with an N95 rating as the cheaper cloth masks allow air in through the sides. Wash your hands and use hand sanitizer frequently. Never touch your eyes, nose or mouth without cleaning your hands first. Stock up on food in case you have to stay home for an extended period.
The government could have issued the simple warning that Joe Biden gave to his family. They could have closed the Mexican border and barred incoming air travel but didn’t want to cause a panic or further damage the teetering economy. For that the Obama is risking taking ownership of the pandemic the way George W. Bush took the bullet for Hurricane Katrina.
As the head of the Center for Disease Control said… um, nothing. There isn’t a head of the CDC yet because after 100 days in office President Obama hasn’t gotten around to appointing one. Since Tom Daschle was found to be a tax cheat there is no director at Health and Human Services either and there is still a vacancy for Surgeon General. A Dream Team will surely be assembled to handle the pandemic perhaps by the time it’s over.
While Mexico City is in lockdown and other countries are putting people on alert we trust the judgment of President Obama who says this is a time for concern but not alarm. Aside from some cities cancelling Cinco de Mayo events the only meaningful thing the U.S. and the World Health Organization has done is rename the Swine Flu to Bad Flu Nasty Type A or some such so as not to offend Jews, Muslims and pigs.
This flu could be a quick event with few fatalities or it could be as bad as the 1918 Spanish Flu that killed more than 10% of the population of some countries and perhaps as many as 100 million people worldwide. The 1918 flu like the current Swine Flu caused its victims to have an overreaction of the immune system which tended to kill mostly the healthy in the age range of 20-40. Surprisingly the people in the prime of life who contracted Spanish Flu were the most likely to die, opposite a regular flu that tends to kill infants and the elderly. Back then the double-whammy of the flu and World War I decimated an entire generation of young adults.
There have been many advances in medicine since the Spanish Flu so the mortality rate of the current flu likely wouldn’t be as high in the United States. Developing countries may not be as fortunate.
Since no one in the administration is giving you direction I’ll take a stab at it. Cliché alert: You should hope for the best but prepare for the worst. Take some steps to protect yourself in case the virus spreads to your area like wear a surgical mask with an N95 rating as the cheaper cloth masks allow air in through the sides. Wash your hands and use hand sanitizer frequently. Never touch your eyes, nose or mouth without cleaning your hands first. Stock up on food in case you have to stay home for an extended period.
The government could have issued the simple warning that Joe Biden gave to his family. They could have closed the Mexican border and barred incoming air travel but didn’t want to cause a panic or further damage the teetering economy. For that the Obama is risking taking ownership of the pandemic the way George W. Bush took the bullet for Hurricane Katrina.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Economic Effects on Families
It's not just stay-cations, trimmed entertainment budgets, and difficulties meeting the staggering increases of college tuition that are affecting American families. Our current economic situation is causing a spike in domestic violence. http://www.ndvh.org/2009/01/increased-financial-stress-affects-domestic-violence-victims/
Children who grow up surrounded by violence become habituated to its existence. They often become abusers and victims themselves, continuing a cycle that may last for generations. Spousal abuse has not only increased, but also child abuse. Some hospitals are reporting twice as many shaken babies as a year ago. http://www.courierpostonline.com/article/20090411/NEWS01/904110357
The American home is becoming, more and more, a stressed-out climate of violence. Elder abuse is also up, and I would hazard a guess that abuse of dependents with disabilities may also be on the increase. http://www.boston.com/news/health/articles/2009/02/09/mass_elder_abuse_on_rise/
Cutting spending for social programs and working against initiatives that may help address the roots of these social ills are "anti-American family" actions. Increased funding for education, healthcare, unemployment benefits, and stimulus package initiatives aimed at assisting the ever-growing ranks of the unemployed aim to improve the lives of the children, elders, and parents in the American family. Wasteful spending on "pet projects" does need to be eliminated, as President Obama has stated within the last day or so. But, we need to get our priorities straight. American families are suffering, and so are families elsewhere in the world, due to the crisis in our economy. Our number one priority needs to be on ensuring that the weakest among us do not bear the brunt of the fallout.
Children who grow up surrounded by violence become habituated to its existence. They often become abusers and victims themselves, continuing a cycle that may last for generations. Spousal abuse has not only increased, but also child abuse. Some hospitals are reporting twice as many shaken babies as a year ago. http://www.courierpostonline.com/article/20090411/NEWS01/904110357
The American home is becoming, more and more, a stressed-out climate of violence. Elder abuse is also up, and I would hazard a guess that abuse of dependents with disabilities may also be on the increase. http://www.boston.com/news/health/articles/2009/02/09/mass_elder_abuse_on_rise/
Cutting spending for social programs and working against initiatives that may help address the roots of these social ills are "anti-American family" actions. Increased funding for education, healthcare, unemployment benefits, and stimulus package initiatives aimed at assisting the ever-growing ranks of the unemployed aim to improve the lives of the children, elders, and parents in the American family. Wasteful spending on "pet projects" does need to be eliminated, as President Obama has stated within the last day or so. But, we need to get our priorities straight. American families are suffering, and so are families elsewhere in the world, due to the crisis in our economy. Our number one priority needs to be on ensuring that the weakest among us do not bear the brunt of the fallout.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Tea Party
Many of the 2500 attendees of the Las Vegas Tea Party including me wandered around Sunset Park unsure of where to find the focal point. In the hour leading up to the speeches dozens were scattered on the edges of the park with signs facing the road eliciting honks from passersby. More meandered in small groups, heads on a swivel looking for - something. Eventually we drifted toward a radio station van in the far corner of the park. We were obviously inexperienced at being a mob.
Why would so many right-of-center “silent majority” people enter a left-wing world of working themselves into a lather? They weren’t chafed enough to break windows and light fires like the anti-globalization movement (whatever that is) but managed to leave their homes and offices to listen to talk radio hosts and bloggers speak of taxes, deficits and government intrusion in our lives. These people were very angry, but in a lighthearted, jokey way.
A sign reading, “The Problem with Socialism is that Eventually You Run out of Other People’s Money” summed it up for me. Since the New Deal our elected officials have spent enormous sums on social programs and construction projects to buy votes. The abysmal track record of such boondoggles has elicited a collective decades-long yawn from the electorate. What’s changed in the past year is the government is bailing out entire industries with borrowed money and in some cases taking over ownership of private companies. Add in a trillion dollars in deficit spending, more than George W. Bush ever dreamed of, and you leave people wondering where this money will come from. Ask the guy with the “Don’t Tax Me, Bro” sign.
The funds for this bare-bones rally came from one man who paid the $200 permit fee. There was no rented stage, no elected official at the microphone and no marching orders from Fox News as CNN’s Susan Roesgen would have you believe. And definitely no money was spent on signs pointing to the van. The Republican Party wasn’t involved in these efforts evidenced by Chairman Michael Steele’s being denied a request to speak at the Tea Party in Chicago.
This seems to be the beginning of a larger movement as there is another round of tea parties planned for July 4th. We're mad as hell and we're not going to take it anymore... if you don't mind.
Why would so many right-of-center “silent majority” people enter a left-wing world of working themselves into a lather? They weren’t chafed enough to break windows and light fires like the anti-globalization movement (whatever that is) but managed to leave their homes and offices to listen to talk radio hosts and bloggers speak of taxes, deficits and government intrusion in our lives. These people were very angry, but in a lighthearted, jokey way.
A sign reading, “The Problem with Socialism is that Eventually You Run out of Other People’s Money” summed it up for me. Since the New Deal our elected officials have spent enormous sums on social programs and construction projects to buy votes. The abysmal track record of such boondoggles has elicited a collective decades-long yawn from the electorate. What’s changed in the past year is the government is bailing out entire industries with borrowed money and in some cases taking over ownership of private companies. Add in a trillion dollars in deficit spending, more than George W. Bush ever dreamed of, and you leave people wondering where this money will come from. Ask the guy with the “Don’t Tax Me, Bro” sign.
The funds for this bare-bones rally came from one man who paid the $200 permit fee. There was no rented stage, no elected official at the microphone and no marching orders from Fox News as CNN’s Susan Roesgen would have you believe. And definitely no money was spent on signs pointing to the van. The Republican Party wasn’t involved in these efforts evidenced by Chairman Michael Steele’s being denied a request to speak at the Tea Party in Chicago.
This seems to be the beginning of a larger movement as there is another round of tea parties planned for July 4th. We're mad as hell and we're not going to take it anymore... if you don't mind.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Leaving Las Vegas
Probably no industry besides housing dove into the cheap money orgy with more reckless abandon than Las Vegas casino conglomerates. The Strip has many cranes in the air helping build hotels that will total about 10,000 rooms, or would have since one project is idle. The music stopped and Boyd Gaming’s Echelon had nowhere to sit down. We’ll soon see if other chairs are removed from the game. There is no need for the cranes elsewhere in the world so they’ll just stay put, abandoned but lit up so aircraft won’t crash like Boyd’s stock.
The major players on the strip are hung over after relentless expansion with MGM now falling about $1.2B short of funds on the estimated $10B City Center. Harrah’s went $15B in debt going private, gobbling up casinos nationwide building their family to over 50 properties. Wynn and Las Vegas Sands made ill-fated investments in Macau. Station Casinos which owns seven properties catering mostly to locals is flirting with bankruptcy. Most of these stocks are trading at less than 5% of their peaks last year.
The troubles these companies face are of their own making and none will get a government bailout. Unfortunately for them and their employees they’re getting the opposite from Washington, a huge kick when they’re down. President Obama has stated that he doesn’t want any company who receives federal funds to spend money in Las Vegas. People jump when this President says to so there have been 340 event cancellations in the past 90 days; 111,800 people who won’t be spending money in Sin City. Many of the 46,000 people who are directly employed through these meetings will presumably sit idle. Mayor Oscar Goodman has asked for an apology for driving this stake through the Las Vegas economy. Good luck with that.
A few years ago when these projects were on the drawing board it looked like Las Vegas needed the extra capacity. The nearly a million people who were visiting each week tested the airport's capabilities, formed lines outside the restaurants and clubs and paid top dollar for rooms. The city that once gave away rooms, food and drink to make it up at the blackjack tables was getting $1000 and up for a bottle of Cristal. The population in the Las Vegas Valley was growing at 60,000 per year.
The boom brought riches but the crash is worse. Las Vegas has unemployment approaching 10%, leads the country in foreclosures and has another distinction: Forbes’ wrote about Vegas being the most abandoned city by home vacancy in the country. People are looking for greener pastures, which aren’t difficult to find since they live in a desert. The people who remain employed are seeing their hours and benefits slashed, home equity vaporized and their communities destabilized. There will be no end in sight until the demonization of Las Vegas business trips is lifted, or in other words there is no end in sight.
There is a message Nevada will send to President Obama but sadly will have to wait until the 2012 election.
The major players on the strip are hung over after relentless expansion with MGM now falling about $1.2B short of funds on the estimated $10B City Center. Harrah’s went $15B in debt going private, gobbling up casinos nationwide building their family to over 50 properties. Wynn and Las Vegas Sands made ill-fated investments in Macau. Station Casinos which owns seven properties catering mostly to locals is flirting with bankruptcy. Most of these stocks are trading at less than 5% of their peaks last year.
The troubles these companies face are of their own making and none will get a government bailout. Unfortunately for them and their employees they’re getting the opposite from Washington, a huge kick when they’re down. President Obama has stated that he doesn’t want any company who receives federal funds to spend money in Las Vegas. People jump when this President says to so there have been 340 event cancellations in the past 90 days; 111,800 people who won’t be spending money in Sin City. Many of the 46,000 people who are directly employed through these meetings will presumably sit idle. Mayor Oscar Goodman has asked for an apology for driving this stake through the Las Vegas economy. Good luck with that.
A few years ago when these projects were on the drawing board it looked like Las Vegas needed the extra capacity. The nearly a million people who were visiting each week tested the airport's capabilities, formed lines outside the restaurants and clubs and paid top dollar for rooms. The city that once gave away rooms, food and drink to make it up at the blackjack tables was getting $1000 and up for a bottle of Cristal. The population in the Las Vegas Valley was growing at 60,000 per year.
The boom brought riches but the crash is worse. Las Vegas has unemployment approaching 10%, leads the country in foreclosures and has another distinction: Forbes’ wrote about Vegas being the most abandoned city by home vacancy in the country. People are looking for greener pastures, which aren’t difficult to find since they live in a desert. The people who remain employed are seeing their hours and benefits slashed, home equity vaporized and their communities destabilized. There will be no end in sight until the demonization of Las Vegas business trips is lifted, or in other words there is no end in sight.
There is a message Nevada will send to President Obama but sadly will have to wait until the 2012 election.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
No Respect
The new President is showing signs of the inexperience we were warned about. After six weeks in office his cabinet is still not complete, Americans have their wallets in lockdown and he’s managed to alienate our two closest allies. Keep in mind that our President has never been in charge of anything except his campaigns and the Harvard Law Review. He’s never run a business or a government agency or picked up the public relations skills those would have required.
This on-the-job training has left British Prime Minister Gordon Brown doing his best Rodney Dangerfield "No Respect" all the way back to London. There was no joint appearance in front of flags planned until Brown begged and even then the opening remarks were skipped for questions from the press. When gift-giving time came, Brown handed President Obama a pen holder carved from timbers of the HMS Gannet which will match the desk in the Oval Office made from wood of its sister ship HMS Resolute. Like someone who forgot Christmas was coming Obama must have ran to Best Buy to fetch a stack of 25 DVD’s of American movie classics including Gone With the Wind and Ishtar. OK, not Ishtar but it wouldn’t matter if it had been that and the entire Friday the 13th catalog; the DVD’s aren’t compatible with UK DVD players and never mind that Brown isn’t a movie buff anyway. The Brown children got models of the Obamas new helicopter. Big woop. Our new President then abruptly Brown to go to a party. No respect at all, I tell ya.
Sending chills throughout Israel not just for her cackling, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was in the Middle East giving away $900M to the Palestinians who could hardly contain their laughter while promising not to give a penny to Hamas. She’s also made overtures to Iran who replied that President Obama is following the same “crooked ways” as George Bush. To summarize, we’re trying to buy friends in Palestine and Iran who want to destroy our only ally in the region. And they wouldn’t mind destroying us too.
George Bush built a coalition of over 30 countries in our Iraq War efforts with Great Britain in the forefront. If the time comes for a similar military engagement I wonder if our President will get a return phone call. George Bush kept Israel from attacking Iran’s nuclear sites, averting all-out war in the entire region. I doubt President Obama will be able to keep restraining the Israelis or will even try.
President Obama’s promise of The United States finally being respected in the eyes of the world must have had an asterisk.
This on-the-job training has left British Prime Minister Gordon Brown doing his best Rodney Dangerfield "No Respect" all the way back to London. There was no joint appearance in front of flags planned until Brown begged and even then the opening remarks were skipped for questions from the press. When gift-giving time came, Brown handed President Obama a pen holder carved from timbers of the HMS Gannet which will match the desk in the Oval Office made from wood of its sister ship HMS Resolute. Like someone who forgot Christmas was coming Obama must have ran to Best Buy to fetch a stack of 25 DVD’s of American movie classics including Gone With the Wind and Ishtar. OK, not Ishtar but it wouldn’t matter if it had been that and the entire Friday the 13th catalog; the DVD’s aren’t compatible with UK DVD players and never mind that Brown isn’t a movie buff anyway. The Brown children got models of the Obamas new helicopter. Big woop. Our new President then abruptly Brown to go to a party. No respect at all, I tell ya.
Sending chills throughout Israel not just for her cackling, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was in the Middle East giving away $900M to the Palestinians who could hardly contain their laughter while promising not to give a penny to Hamas. She’s also made overtures to Iran who replied that President Obama is following the same “crooked ways” as George Bush. To summarize, we’re trying to buy friends in Palestine and Iran who want to destroy our only ally in the region. And they wouldn’t mind destroying us too.
George Bush built a coalition of over 30 countries in our Iraq War efforts with Great Britain in the forefront. If the time comes for a similar military engagement I wonder if our President will get a return phone call. George Bush kept Israel from attacking Iran’s nuclear sites, averting all-out war in the entire region. I doubt President Obama will be able to keep restraining the Israelis or will even try.
President Obama’s promise of The United States finally being respected in the eyes of the world must have had an asterisk.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
There is a growing spat between the White House and Rush Limbaugh, the person they branded as leader of the Republican Party. That the Obama Team can pull that off shows the dearth of leadership in the GOP, despite the fact Limbaugh has never held elected office. New leader of the party, Michael Steele, hasn’t been given the same hero worship as President Obama despite being African American. The Democrat arguments can be boiled down to “Stop criticizing our spending initiatives and jump aboard” and “You don’t have a plan.” Why they’re making a Nixonian attack against a private citizen is a discussion for another time.
There is no reason for the Democrats to include Republicans in the spending frenzy which is why they didn’t. Republicans have 178 seats in the House of Representatives or 41%, which equals their representation in the Senate. In case you didn’t notice they have 0% of the White House. The only chance of blocking the Democrat agenda is a Republican filibuster in the Senate, unfathomable because of the revolting left-leaning Sens. Snowe, Collins and Specter.
Unfortunately for President Obama he will own the results of the $787B Stimulus Package, $400B spending bill and monster $3.6T budget. The Dems had no input from the GOP in writing these boondoggles but still wants its fingerprints on them so as to place blame later. If you listen closely you’ll hear that the cure for eight years of too much spending is more spending.
There is no plan from Republicans in general but several remedies from Conservatives, which unfortunately are two very different breeds. Cut the corporate income tax, privatize Social Security, allow more drilling for oil in America, cut taxes in general, cut government spending across the board, stop the bailouts. Yes, let the unhealthy companies fail including the Big Three automakers and Citibank. There will be pain for a while especially for union workers but new companies will spring from the ashes with better business models and no obligations to repay bad loans, union contracts or pensions.
What I just spelled out are the bare bones of a plan. Those on the left won’t even acknowledge that there is a debate over these issues let alone debate them. Welcome to the new era of bipartisonship.
There is no reason for the Democrats to include Republicans in the spending frenzy which is why they didn’t. Republicans have 178 seats in the House of Representatives or 41%, which equals their representation in the Senate. In case you didn’t notice they have 0% of the White House. The only chance of blocking the Democrat agenda is a Republican filibuster in the Senate, unfathomable because of the revolting left-leaning Sens. Snowe, Collins and Specter.
Unfortunately for President Obama he will own the results of the $787B Stimulus Package, $400B spending bill and monster $3.6T budget. The Dems had no input from the GOP in writing these boondoggles but still wants its fingerprints on them so as to place blame later. If you listen closely you’ll hear that the cure for eight years of too much spending is more spending.
There is no plan from Republicans in general but several remedies from Conservatives, which unfortunately are two very different breeds. Cut the corporate income tax, privatize Social Security, allow more drilling for oil in America, cut taxes in general, cut government spending across the board, stop the bailouts. Yes, let the unhealthy companies fail including the Big Three automakers and Citibank. There will be pain for a while especially for union workers but new companies will spring from the ashes with better business models and no obligations to repay bad loans, union contracts or pensions.
What I just spelled out are the bare bones of a plan. Those on the left won’t even acknowledge that there is a debate over these issues let alone debate them. Welcome to the new era of bipartisonship.
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