In 2003, the United States built a military prison at its naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, known as Gitmo. Prisoners captured from the American invasion of Afghanistan and the Middle East were flown there. American President George W. Bush deemed these men terrorists not protected by international law. He authorized a secret torture program to extract information. Some American soldiers objected, so were abused too.
Americans Abused at Gitmo
Tag: Guantanamo Bay
Senate Leaves AUMF for Secret Wars in Force
On March 29, the Senate voted to repeal two Authorizations for the Use of Military Force, (AUMF’s), one passed in 1991 and another in 2002. The repeal now goes to the House. But those Authorizations are irrelevant to the present; they apply only to the Iraq war. But a third AUMF, passed in 2001, was left untouched. And that AUMF is the only one that has a bearing on the present moment, because it provides legal cover for the many US military operations, open and secret, around the world.
Senate Leaves AUMF for Secret Wars in Force
How JFK Sacrificed Adlai Stevenson and the Lessons of the Cuban Missile Crisis
How JFK Sacrificed Adlai Stevenson and the Lessons of the Cuban Missile Crisis
In those interim years, the fictional story of how the missile crisis was resolved became foreign-policy folklore. None of the early memoirs by top Kennedy aides, such as Schlesinger and Sorensen, contained the real history. These incomplete accounts became the basis of the foreign-policy models and paradigms in political scientist Graham Allison’s highly influential book, Essence of Decision: Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis. A full generation of scholars, analysts, foreign-policy makers, and even presidents learned the wrong lessons from the most significant superpower conflict in modern history.
Sixty years later, however, the Biden administration at least has a more complete record of history to draw on as U.S. policymakers and the world confront another time of crisis in the nuclear age. How applicable the lessons of the missile crisis will prove to be in preventing an escalation of the Russia-Ukraine war remains unknown. But the mantra of reason that Stevenson shared with Kennedy in October 1962 seems more relevant than ever: “Blackmail and intimidation never, negotiation and sanity always.”
Related:
The Cuban Missile Crisis @ 60 How John F. Kennedy Sacrificed His Most Consequential Crisis Advisor
Guantanamo detainee used as ‘prop’ for torture training losing battle for medical care
Ammar al-Baluchi, who has spent close to two decades at Guantanamo, has been for years suffering from severe brain damage as a result of his treatment at CIA black sites.
Guantanamo detainee used as ‘prop’ for torture training losing battle for medical care
Capitol Rioters Demand Transfer to Guantanamo Bay, Think Food Will Be Better
Jan. 6 defendants held in the D.C. jail’s so-called “Patriot Wing” are demanding to be transferred to Guantanamo Bay’s military prison—which is notorious for human rights abuses—because they think it would have better amenities.
Capitol Rioters Demand Transfer to Guantanamo Bay, Think Food Will Be Better
Trolling?! 🤷🏼♀️
How the CIA Illegally Used African Americans for Experimental Drug Research
By now, many will be familiar with Project MKULTRA. For decades, the CIA conducted highly unethical experiments on humans in order to perfect brainwashing, mind control and torture techniques.
Perhaps the program’s most notorious aspect was the administration of high doses of psychoactive drugs to targets, particularly LSD. These substances were brought to Langley’s attention in 1948 by Richard Kuhn, one of 1,600 Nazi scientists covertly spirited to the U.S. via Operation Paperclip following World War II. When MKULTRA was formally established five years later, some individuals consulted directly on the project.
How the CIA Illegally Used African Americans for Experimental Drug Research
Afghanistan earthquake exposes disaster caused by decades of US occupation
by Jean Shaoul, WSWS, Jun 24 2022
A 6.1-magnitude earthquake in a remote area of Afghanistan has killed at least 1,000 people and injured at least 1,500. While the worst affected area is the mountainous Paktika province, deaths have also been reported in the eastern provinces of Khost and Nangarhar. Many more bodies are thought to be buried in mud as heavy rain hampers rescue efforts.
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With the ever-expanding US war against Russia, the US is preparing to bring the type of devastation wrought upon Afghanistan and Iraq to Europe, at an even greater cost in lives and treasure.
Afghanistan earthquake exposes disaster caused by decades of US occupation
The Dangers of Praising Mike Pence and Liz Cheney
Republican enemies of Donald Trump are not your friend. In fact, they may represent an even more dangerous form of far-right politics, because they put a respectable veneer on theocracy, climate denial, and warmongering. Democrats need to stop praising horrible neoconservatives.
The Dangers of Praising Mike Pence and Liz Cheney
I’d much prefer Rand Paul, if we were to have a right-winger as President! I don’t care for all of his economic policies but, at least, we might have less wars and legalized marijuana!
US military veterans training Ukrainian frontline troops say NATO’s artillery and rocket launchers are essential for Ukraine to beat Russia
The Mozart Group is a cadre of US military veterans helping train Ukrainian soldiers. Established at the start of the Ukraine war by Andrew Milburn, a Marine veteran, the group has been described as the Western counterpoint to Putin’s elite Wagner Group.
So they’re the equivalent of Blackwater?!
Related:
U.S. officials have described many of the suspected Al Qaeda and Taliban affiliates it holds at Guantanamo Bay as unlawful combatants either for taking part in hostilities against the United States or by supporting the hostilities while not part of a nation’s military.
By that standard, some of the private guards in Iraq and Afghanistan also could be seen as unlawful combatants, particularly if they have taken offensive action against unarmed civilians, experts said.
America’s own unlawful combatants? via Wikipedia
Andrew Milburn retired from the Marine Corps as a colonel in 2019 after a 31 year career. His last position in uniform was Deputy Commander of Special Operations Central (SOCCENT), and prior to that commanding officer of the Marine Raider Regiment and Combined Special Operations Task Force – Iraq.
Since retiring, he has written a critically acclaimed memoir: When the Tempest Gathers and has had articles published in The Atlantic , USA Today, JFQ, and War on the Rocks, in addition to the Military Times . He is on the Adjunct Faculty of the Joint Special Operations University and teaches classes on leadership, planning, ethics, command and control, mission command, risk, special operations and irregular warfare at US military schools. He is a co-host of the Modern War Institute’s Irregular War Podcast, and Irregular War Initiative.
Andrew Milburn, BIO
I’ve been to Ukraine, Niger, Somalia and Tunisia. I’m training people who will use what they’ve learned in the real world almost immediately.
Andrew Milburn, 02-2020
Who are the Mozart Group? Former U.S. Marine Training Ukrainians in War
‘Either you Join NATO or We will Make the Canaries Independent’
By Kahlil Wall-Johnson | Jun 6, 2022
A recent interview with former Spanish politician José Manuel Otero has revealed further details regarding his country’s entry into NATO and attests to the double-dealing politics of the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE).
‘Either you Join NATO or We will Make the Canaries Independent’
Ms. Cat’s Chronicles 
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