Rumsfeld Shouldn't be Fired, He Should be Indicted

Its not Donald Rumsfelds colossal arrogance or his glaring misjudgments we should be focusing on. Its his potential crimes. The mainstream media in the U.S. is giving enormous attention to the retired generals who are demanding Donald Rumsfeld%u2019s resignation because of his autocratic style and his bungling in Iraq. But the mainstream media is barely discussing Rumsfelds alleged culpability in the abusive treatment of detainees, up to and including torture. The question at this point is not whether Secretary Rumsfeld should resign, its whether he should be indicted, says Joanne Mariner of Human Rights Watch, who directs its terrorism and counterterrorism program. She was reacting to a report from Salon.com that Rumsfeld was personally involved in monitoring the interrogation at Guantanamo of the so-called 20th hijacker, Muhammad al-Qahtani. For six weeks at the end of 2002 and the start of 2003, U.S. interrogators worked al-Qahtani over. Among other things, they forced him to stand naked in front of a female interrogator, and they forced him to wear womens underwear and to performdog tricks on a leash, according to salon.com. Human Rights Watch disagrees. It says that Rumsfeld could be criminally liable under federal or military criminal law for torture, assaults, and sexual abuse for the treatment of al-Qahtani.And Human Rights Watch says they deprived him of sleep, forced him into painful physical positions, and made him suffer sexual and other physical humiliation.They also forced him to take an enema, and at one point they forced him to take water intravenously and then refused to allow him to use a latrine so that he urinated on himself at least twice. On top of that, they brought in a snarling dog. All of these acts were specifically intended to cause severe physical pain and suffering and severe mental pain and suffering, says Mariner of Human Rights Watch. Thats the legal definition of torture. Much of al-Qahtanis interrogation occurred while a December 2, 2002, Rumsfeld directive was in effect. (He rescinded it, under pressure from the Navy, six weeks later.) That memo authorized sixteen controversial interrogation techniques, including the use of nudity, removal of religious items, sensory deprivation, blaring music, stress positions, and dogs."

Neil Young urges Bush impeachment on protest album - Yahoo! News

Neil Young has recorded a protest album featuring an anti- Iraq war track with 'a holy vow to never kill again' and a song titled 'Let's Impeach the President,' the singer said on Monday. The 10-track set, called 'Living with War,' was recorded this month by a 'power trio' -- electric guitar, bass and drums -- plus trumpet and a 100 voices, the 60-year-old Canadian-born musician announced on his Web site. Young's longtime manager, Elliot Roberts, told Reuters the album, which has been the subject of Internet buzz for several days, will be played for executives at his label, Warner Music Group's Reprise Records, on Tuesday. 'It's devoted to the state of America, or the direction that America is moving in,' Roberts said of the album. In a message crawl along the bottom of his Web site, Young drew parallels to two of the leading protest singers of the 1960s, saying of his new record: 'I think it is a metal version of Phil Ochs and Bob Dylan ... metal folk protest?' The crawl goes on to reveal the lyrics of the album's title track, with such lines as: 'I raise my hand in peace ... I never bow to the laws of the thought police ... I take a holy vow ... to never kill again ... 'In the big hotels ... in the mosques and the doors of the old museum ... I take a holy vow ... to never kill again.'"