911 // Current TV

Gary Johnson calls for repeal of the Patriot Act

By Eric W. Dolan Monday, January 30, 2012 17:08 EST Former New Mexico governor and... more

KB723
added this
10 days ago
|
37 comments

Malaysian ‘Tribunal’ Finds Bush, Blair Guilty of War Crimes

Source: Raw Story / Press TV Malaysian ‘tribunal’ finds Bush, Blair... more

KB723
added this
3 months ago
|
43 comments

Worldwide Hippies News Briefs Wednesday

Greece’s Papandreou toughs out referendum pledge WikiLeaks’ Julian... more

joeeddy
added this
3 months ago
|
0 comments

Michael Jackson 911 Call

The Los Angeles Fire Department has released the 911 call placed from Michael... more

afitzgerald
added this
2 years ago
|
0 comments

Activist 911: CRUDE The real price of oil

Current Green interviews Han Shan, activist with Amazon Watch about the new film,... more

leahl
added this
2 years ago
|
13 comments

EXPERTS SPEAK OUT

Very reputable physicist, engineers, and architects examine the collapse of the World... more

REVOLUTIONARY
added this
4 months ago
|
0 comments

GEORGE W. BUSH, WAR CRIMINAL? The Bush Administration’s Liability for 269 War Crimes

Attorney General Eric Holder told the European Parliament in September 2011 that he would try to close Guantanamo by Election Day 2012 or at least by the end of the year. How he would do so was not specified, but ten suggestions appear below.
First, however, it is useful to recall that when the Afghan War began, General Tommy Franks ordered compliance with the Geneva Conventions on October 17, 2001. On November 13 he was countermanded by an executive order in the form of a military order from President George W. Bush regarding prisoners who were then being collected, though no specific mention was made of the Geneva Conventions. When the first prisoners arrived at the Naval Base on January 11, 2002, the commanding general, Brigadier General Rick Baccus, ordered compliance with the Geneva Conventions. His order was then rescinded on February 7 by another executive order signed by George W. Bush making specific reference to the inapplicability of the Geneva Conventions of 1949 but not the 1929 Geneva Convention.
Despite Baccus’s initial attempt at compliance, the world viewed blindfolded, bound prisoners on their knees wearing orange jumpsuits together behind barbed wire. The photo, which has flashed across screens many times, already suggested six Geneva Convention violations:
inhuman treatment (Article 3 of both the 1929 and 1949 treaties)
humiliating and degrading treatment (Article 3 of both the 1929 and 1949 treaties)
cruel treatment (Article 3 of the 1949 treaty; Article 46 of the 1929 treaty)
close confinement (Article 21 of the 1949 treaty; Article 9 of the 1929 treaty)
public display of prisoners (Article 13 of the 1949 treaty; Article 2 of the 1929 treaty)
deprivation of personal property (Article 18 of the 1949 treaty; Article 6 of the 1929 treaty)
It was not the stalag of Hogan’s Heroes!
According to Human Rights First, some 779 prisoners have been housed at Guantánamo over the years. Today, there are 174. Of the 605 no longer at Gitmo, most were sent home or to countries that received them as refugees. Eight have died at Gitmo, 4 of whom were considered suicides, though some may in fact have been murdered. One, who pled guilty, is back home in Australia. Another, who was convicted, was sent back to Yemen.
Three others, who have been prosecuted, remain as prisoners at Gitmo, making the facility a penitentiary, contrary to Article 56 of the Geneva Convention of 1929 and Article 22 of the Third Geneva Convention of 1949.
Today, the following categories of prisoners remain:
3 confessed or convicted prisoners who may never be released
5 temporary detainees (Uighurs from China who await resettlement)
84 conditional detainees (30 Yemenis, who want to go home, are held due to instability there but are otherwise cleared for release)
46 dangerous prisoners who will not be prosecuted because of “tainted” evidence
36 prosecutable prisoners, some for civilian offenses.
I envision ten options:
Resettlement in the United States. Seventeen dissidents from Western China, the Uighurs held at Gitmo, could easily be accommodated with their brethren in Virginia. They were wrongly imprisoned, as they have no animosity toward the United States and instead oppose repression of Uighurs inside China. Yet in 2009 President Obama refused to accept a court order for their release to the Mainland United States, deferring to Congressional opposition.
Transfer to foreign countries. Congress currently allows transfer of prisoners cleared for release to settle abroad, provided that the Secretaries of Defense and State stipulate that the host countries meet specific strategic requirements.
Transfer to the UN refugee authority. Part of Guantánamo now serves as a refugee camp. The 89 prisoners already approved for transfer are technically “refugees,” since they reside neither in their home country nor in a country that will accept them as residents, and they hope to leave soon. The Geneva-based UN High Commissioner for Refugees could be asked to handle those already cleared for release. If sent to Geneva, Congressional strategic requirements could easily be met. Existing UN refugee camps, however, may offer inferior accommodations.
Join the International Criminal Court. If the United States joins the International Criminal Court (ICC), those with prosecutable offenses might be sent to The Hague for trial.

Click Link for full details!Attorney General Eric Holder told the European Parliament in September 2011 that he... more

Scott_Pert
added this
4 months ago
|
7 comments

Failed Terror Plot Too Strange To Be True?

Attorney General Eric Holder and FBI Director Robert Mueller held a press conference... more

KB723
added this
4 months ago
|
52 comments

Ralph Nader: Americans ignore the cause of 9/11

Posted on 09.13.11 By Eric W. Dolan Categories: Featured, Nation After attending... more

KB723
added this
5 months ago
|
50 comments

Ex-FBI Interrogator 'Gagged' Over 9/11 Backstory

Edited on Mon Sep-12-11 07:46 PM by Hissyspit Source: BBC News By Gordon Corera... more

KB723
added this
5 months ago
|
1 comment

PAUL KRUGMAN: American writing HERO

The Years of Shame Is it just me, or are the 9/11 commemorations oddly subdued?... more

chrisntom
added this
5 months ago
|
0 comments

9-11. A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE

Literally every day since September 11, 2001 - no matter where I am or what I’m doing - I look at a clock at exactly 9:11. I feel a connection with that day that I cannot explain. Like most Americans, I can tell you where I was and what I was doing when the second plane hit the south tower of the World Trade Center. But, although I feel connected, I have a very different perspective of that day than most Americans.

We are upon the 10th anniversary of the horrific event that took the lives of 2,819 people and changed the lives of every American forever. Every day at 9:11, my heart goes out to those who lost a loved one. But I don’t feel the sympathy for America that comes every year at this time. Why not? Because I value every life the same, whether it’s an American life, a Palestinian life, a Jewish life, a Christian life or a Muslim life. I value humanity and it doesn’t matter if that human lives in Palestine, Israel, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Africa or America.

So, what does that mean?

That means that the Arabs and Muslims that have been killed in Lebanon, Gaza, and the West Bank are just as human as the 2,819 that died on American soil on 9-11.
That means that the 56,000 military plus 3,500 civilians – all Muslims – killed in Desert Storm were just as loved by their families as the 2,819 that died on 9-11.

That means that the 32,000 civilians killed in Afghanistan since 2001 were just as valued by their country as the 2,819 that died on 9-11.

That means that the 100,000 people who have died due to UN sanctions on Iraq were just as important as the 2,819 that died on 9-11.

Every death is equally important. No more. No less.

So, when we – Americans – speak of 9-11 as if that one incident started the war on terror or signaled the end of the world, those in other countries who know what terror really is and those who know what war and the end of the world really feels like because they live in it every day, wonder why we – Americans – can’t see the hypocrisy, the arrogance, the elitism and the national supremacy that is so obvious in how we look at what has been happening to them over many of their lifetimes compared to what happened to us on that one day – September 11, 2001.

When we, the most powerful country in the world, begin to value life – every life – as much as we value an American life, others will do the same. They will value American lives just as they value their own lives. Maybe then we can prevent another terror attack on American soil.Literally every day since September 11, 2001 - no matter where I am or what I’m... more