ZGram - 10/22/2001 - "Legalized torture - in America?"

[Ingrid Rimland]

Copyright (c) 2001 - Ingrid A. Rimland

ZGram - Where Truth is Destiny

October 22, 2001


Good Morning from the Zundelsite:

All wars erode cultural and moral values and traditions.  All wars
brutalize both soldiers and civilians.  American traditional and
constitutional guarantees have more or less survived two world wars - at
least as far as the home front was concerned! - but our current war is
different!  Profoundly, frighteningly different!

This morning, as I surfed the net, I could not believe the headline below!

Torture, or the threat of torture, will almost always terrify the targeted
captive into confessing real as well as invented acts and events - from
having sex with the devil during the infamous witch trials to having
supervised or operated non-existing gas chambers during World War II.
Confessions under torture are worthless!

We appeal to all Americans to contact their public representatives, even
President Bush himself, to ask for assurance that America will not stoop to
the method of torture - and thus move one step closer to becoming like the
very enemies we fight.

The information below was sent to us from MID-EAST REALITIES - MER -
www.MiddleEast.Org - Washington - 22 October:

[START]

Adopting the tactics (as well as the goals) of the Israelis, and the
methods long taught by the CIA in Latin America as well as the Middle East,
the brave new world post 11 September is changing the face of the American
homeland in ways nearly all Americans would have seriously resisted just a
few long weeks ago.

The very experienced Vice-President has already expanded on the very
inexperienced President's remarks, telling The Washington Post the "new war
may not end in our lifetimes".

And it is very evident to those in the know in Washington that just as soon
as "the situation" in Afghanistan is "taken care of" --  and that means the
complete elimination of Osama bin Laden and entourage as well as a new
government in  Kabul -- Iraq is next, then the Palestinian and Hezbollah
"terrorists", and from there no end in really in sight at this point as the
renamed American "crusade" for "infinite justice" rolls on.

FBI CONSIDERS TORTURE AS SUSPECTS STAY SILENT

>From Damian Whitworth

[The Times, UK, Monday 22 Oct - Washington]:

AMERICAN investigators are considering resorting to harsher interrogation
techniques, including torture, after facing a wall of silence from jailed
suspected members of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network, according to a
report yesterday.

 More than 150 people who were picked up after September 11 remain in
custody, with four men the focus of particularly intense scrutiny. But
investigators have found the usual methods have failed to persuade any of
them to talk.

 Options being weighed include "truth" drugs, pressure tactics and
extraditing the suspects to countries whose security services are more used
to employing a heavy-handed approach during interrogations.

"We're into this thing for 35 days and nobody is talking. Frustration has
begun to appear," a senior FBI official told The Washington Post.

Under US law, evidence extracted using physical pressure or torture is
inadmissible in court and interrogators could also face criminal charges
for employing such methods. However, investigators suggested that the time
might soon come when a truth serum, such as sodium pentothal, would be
deemed an acceptable tool for interrogators.

 The public pressure for results in the war on terrorism might also
persuade the FBI to encourage the countries of suspects to seek their
extradition, in the knowledge that they could be given a much rougher
reception in jails back home.

 One of the four key suspects is Zacarias Moussaoui, a French Moroccan,
suspected of being a twentieth hijacker who failed to make it on board the
plane that crashed in Pennsylvania. Moussaoui was detained after he acted
suspiciously at a Minnesota flying school, requesting lessons in how to
steer a plane but not how to take off or land. Both Morocco and France are
regarded as having harsher interrogation methods than the United States.

 The investigators have been disappointed that the usual incentives to
break suspects, such as promises of shorter sentences, money, jobs and new
lives in the witness protection programme, have failed to break the
silence.

"We are known for humanitarian treatment, so basically we are stuck.
Usually there is some incentive, some angle to play, what you can do for
them. But it could get to that spot where we could go to pressure . . .
where we don't have a choice, and we are probably getting there," an FBI
agent involved in the investigation told the paper.

 The other key suspects being held in New York are Mohammed Jaweed Azmath
and Ayub Ali Khan, Indians who were caught the day after the attacks
travelling with false passports, craft knives such as those used in the
hijackings and hair dye. Nabil Almarabh, a Boston taxi driver alleged to
have links to al-Qaeda, is also being held. Some legal experts believe that
the US Supreme Court, which has a conservative tilt, might be prepared to
support curtailing the civil liberties of prisoners in terrorism cases.

 However, a warning that torture should be avoided came from Robert
Blitzer, a former head of the FBI's counter-terrorism section. He said that
the practice "goes against every grain in my body. Chances are you are
going to get the wrong person and risk damage or killing them."

 In all, about 800 people have been rounded up since the attacks, most of
whom are expected to be found to be innocent. Investigators believe there
could be hundreds of people linked to al-Qaeda living in the US, and the
Bush Administration has issued a warning that more attacks are probably
being planned.

 Newsweek magazine reports today that Mohammed Atta, the suspected
ringleader who died in the first plane to hit the World Trade Centre, had
been looking into hitting an aircraft carrier. Investigators retracing his
movements found that he visited the huge US Navy base at Norfolk, Virginia,
in February and April this year.

[END]

 =====

Thought for the Day:  (Poll conducted by WorldNetDaily.com)

Q:  Would you approve of torture by the U.S. to extract crucial information
from terrorists?

*     Yes, got to do what we've got to do  30.28% (965)

*     No, it goes against what America   stands for 21.21% (676)

*     Yes, if it will save lives in long run 13.43% (428)

*     No, under no circumstance 11.55% (368)

*     Yes 11.42% (364)

*     No 4.49% (143)

*     Yes, but the thought of it makes me   squeamish 2.70% (86)

*     Other 2.23% (71)

*     Not sure 2.17% (69)

*     No, it's too cruel 0.53% (17)

       TOTAL VOTES: 3187