FOX News Polls - Poll: Steady Support for Action Against Iraq A majority of the public continues to support the United States taking military action to disarm Iraq and remove Saddam Hussein, and there is evidence of growing impatience for the action. A FOX News poll conducted this week finds 71 percent of Americans support using U.S. forces to disarm Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and 20 percent oppose. Support has been at about the same level for the last eight weeks. This leads to a growing number of Americans who agree, “it’s time to get it over with in Iraq.” Additional delays in military action could reflect negatively on President Bush. Among those who support an invasion, more than half say a delay would make them feel less favorable toward President Bush. "The public continues to trust the case that the president has made on Iraq," comments Opinion Dynamics President John Gorman. The U.N. Much fanfare was given this week to renaming items using the word French. Amen! Polling was conducted by telephone March 11-12, 2003 in the evenings. 8.
The Swift Report: Good News for Gonzales: New Poll Shows Most Americans Think 'Some Torture' OK President Bush's candidate for attorney general, Alberto Gonzales, got a boost today with the release of a poll indicating that most Americans back his position on torture: it's ok to induce physical agony in individuals suspected of crimes, if it is for a good reason. Support for torture highest among viewers of Fox News Channel By Deanna Swift A poll released this week shows that a majority of Americans share the position of President Bush's nominee for attorney general when it comes to torture: it's ok when done for the right reasons. Results of the poll are seen as an important boost to the candidacy of Alberto Gonzales, Bush's choice to replace the outgoing attorney general, John Ashcroft. (Note: click thumbnails to enlarge poll images.) Pro Bush, pro torture"It makes sense that you have roughly the same percentage of people supporting Bush that support torture," says Gary Schweid, an advisor to the White House on legal affairs. The Fox effect How this Polltronics poll was conducted
Weekly Standard: Against Rendition Question: Mr. President, under the law, how would you justify the practice of renditioning, where U.S. agents . . . [send] terror suspects abroad, taking them to a third country for interrogation? . . . Answer: . . . SO SPOKE PRESIDENT Bush at a press conference on April 28, 2005. Though the Central Intelligence Agency doesn't comment officially on the policy, it is one the Bush administration inherited from its predecessor, which used it principally against Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda. A byproduct of Langley's decades-old inability to recruit or secrete agents inside many Middle Eastern organizations, the increasing use of friendly Arab liaison services is actually part of a global pattern, where liaison work has gradually taken priority over "unilateral" (CIA-only) clandestine operations. The moral issues surrounding rendition are what has caught the attention of the press and both Democratic and Republican members of Congress.
Survey shows no tolerance for Torture Survey shows no tolerance for Torture Enshrined in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 5 states, "No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment". Taking this as our theme, the Gallup International Millennium Survey asked people in countries representing more than 1.5 billion citizens of the world whether they felt this basic right was fully or partially respected in their own country, or not respected at all. Overwhelmingly, in the more sophisticated democracies of Western Europe and North America more than eight out of every ten believe that Human Rights in respect of torture are respected. Overall citizens of the world seem to be agreed that the right not to be subjected to torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment is broadly respected and only eight countries show minorities who believe this. As a region, Latin America feels there is little respect for this basic human right. How to stop it Meril James
Britain Accused Over CIA’s Secret Torture Flights - Empire? - Global Policy Forum UK airports are believed to be operational bases for two executive jets used by the CIA to carry out 'renditions' of terror suspects. IndependentFebruary 10, 2005 Britain's intelligence agencies have been accused of helping America in a secret operation that is sending terror suspects to Middle Eastern countries where prisoners are routinely tortured and abused. Since 11 September 2001, the CIA has been systematically seizing suspects and sending them, without legal process, not only to Guantanamo Bay but to authorities in countries such as Egypt, Jordan and Syria. Human rights campaigners say the system, officially known as "extraordinary rendition" is a system of torture by proxy. Britain maintains the main reason it will not deport prisoners being held without charge at Belmarsh prison is the fear they will be tortured or otherwise abused by their home country. Britain is also an operational base for two executive jets regularly used by the CIA to carry out so-called "renditions".
News / Boston Globe / Opinion / Op-ed / US must stop 'outsourcing' torture By Edward J. Markey | March 12, 2005 AN UNMARKED PLANE arrives in the middle of the night carrying men who aren't wearing uniforms but have on black hoods. The men grab prisoners out of the hands of government officials, cut off their clothes, drug them on the spot, shackle them, force the prisoners onto the plane and take off into the night. When the ''torture" plane disappears, no one knows where and when the captives will appear and what will happen to them: electrocution, beatings, sexual abuse? At first guess, you might imagine that this terrible operation is the work of a drug cartel or a rogue member of the ''axis of evil," but the scene described involves US officials in a routine part of the Bush administration's practice of ''outsourcing torture." Recently, light has been shed on these dark practices, challenging us to reaffirm the principles on which our country was founded: justice, liberty, and the rule of law.
Legalizing Torture (1st post in a series on the House GOP's attempt to legalize "Extraordinary Rendition". Links: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.) Katherine the Sorely Missed asked me to post this. This is probably the most important post I've ever written. The Republican leadership of Congress is attempting to legalize extraordinary rendition. The best known example of this is the case of Maher Arar. As it stands now, "extraordinary rendition" is a clear violation of international law--specifically, the U.N. Last month Edward Markey, a Massachusetts Congressman, introduced a bill that would clearly outlaw extraordinary rendition. These are excerpts from a press release one of Markey's staffers just emailed me: The provision Rep. Markey's staffer wrote to me that "this bill could be on the House floor as early as next week." To everyone: Please, please, please write to your Representative and tell him (or her) to vote against the bill and/or for Markey's amendment. UPDATED: See this post for more details.
Programmes | File on 4 | CIA prisoners 'tortured' in Arab jails A former CIA official has confirmed suspicions that dozens of terror suspects have been flown to jails in Middle Eastern countries where torture is routinely practised, and without reference to courts of law. Michael Scheuer, who once headed the hunt for Osama Bin Laden and left the CIA last November after a 22-year career, said the practice, known as "extraordinary rendition", was seen by the US as a key tactic in its war on terror. "The bottom line is getting anyone off the streets who is involved in acts of terrorism is a worthwhile activity," he told the BBC's File On 4 programme. Mr Scheuer said the operation was authorised at the highest levels of the CIA and the White House and was approved by their lawyers. "The practice of capturing people and taking them to second or third countries arose because the Executive assigned the job of dismantling terrorist cells to the CIA. "When the agency came back and said 'Where do you want to take them?' UN convention violated "I was crying.
Dan Froomkin - Bush Gets His Way - washingtonpost.com Pay no attention to the news stories suggesting that the White House caved in yesterday. On the central issue of whether the CIA should continue using interrogation methods on suspected terrorists that many say constitute torture, the White House got its way, winning agreement from the "maverick" Republican senators who had refused to go along with an overt undoing of the Geneva Conventions. The "compromise"? Once again (see Monday's column ) there was so much disingenuousness flying through the airwaves that straight news reporting simply wasn't up to the task of conveying the real meaning of the day. So let's go to the editorials and opinion columns. Editorials and Opinions The Washington Post editorial board writes: "Mr. "In short, it's hard to credit the statement by Sen. "[T]he senators who have fought to rein in the administration's excesses -- led by Sens. "Mr. "From the outset the CIA officers wanted written assurance that what they were doing was legal.