TORTURE SPILLS - American Soldier Waterboards 4-year old daughter

This image is a work of a sailor or employee of the U.S. Navy, taken or made during the course of the person's official duties. As a work of the U.S. federal government, the image is in the public domain.


BBC - Feb 7, 2010:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8505376.stm

"A US soldier is arrested after waterboarding his four-year-old daughter for not reciting the alphabet..."
Full text HERE:

Read more at:

Military Veterans & Foreign Affairs Journal - USA - HERE
http://www.veteranstoday.com/2010/02/08/the-filter-soldier-accused-of-waterboarding-daughter-aol-news/

Reclaim the Night by Peggy Seeger - Song

International Women's Day - March 8, 2010

Peggy Seeger's song "Reclaim the Night"



Sang by women at the Rape Crisis Scotland
(http://www.rapecrisisscotland.org.uk/campaigning_2.htm)

More on their CAMPAIGN ON RAPE AND SEXUAL ABUSE AT:
http://www.rapecrisisscotland.org.uk/campaigning.htm

Celebrating March 8, 2010:
The United Nations Global Fund for Women
It is a grantmaking foundation supporting women’s human rights organisations around the world working to address critical issues such as gaining economic independence, increasing girls’ access to education and stopping violence against women and girls. Visit:
http://www.globalfundforwomen.org/cms/

FOOLISH FROG - Peggy Seeger

From Peggy Seeger's YouTube Channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/pegseeger

THE FOOLISH FROG - Peggy Seeger - Part I



THE FOOLISH FROG - Peggy Seeger - Part II

A man with the powers of a super hero ! Not an ordinary man, for sure!

MIT Grad's "toy": Just an "innocent gadget"? Or the perfect torture weapon?

MAHER ARAR - AN UPDATE

On February 1, 2010, Maher Arar petitioned the Supreme Court for review of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals' en banc decision dismissing his case. (November 2, 2009)

Details and a message from Center for Constitutional Rights HERE:
http://www.ccrjustice.org/ourcases/current-cases/arar-v.-ashcroft


In 2007 , CNN aired an interview with Maher Arar :

THE WIRE

About the acclaimed HBO program by David Simon "The Wire"



David Simon shares his views:

IN THE BUSINESS OF RAPE

Dawn Leamon has two military sons who were on active duty in Iraq in 2008. While working as a contractor in Iraq in 2008, she was gang raped by a U.S. soldier and a contractor. Later, she was subjected to all sorts and "tecniques" of intimidation and harassment being advised not to say anything.

FULL STORY HERE

On April 9, 2008 she told her horrific story to members of Congress at a hearing of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations:
This is part of her her testimony:

CIA, Torture, Murderer, rapes, cover ups and more , six years later...RUSH

TO WAR... http://www.rushtowar.com

In 2004 an award-winning independent filmmaker tried to influence voters in the battleground state of Florida by releasing Rush to War: Between Iraq and a Hard Place Veteran writer / director Robert Taicher's documentary film presents a scathing indictment of the Bush administration's handling of the "War on Terror." Taicher personally assisted in the distribution of 40,000 free copies of his film on DVD to Broward, Miami, and Palm Beach counties.

"I strongly believe that this film could have a major impact on the outcome of the presidential election," said Taicher, 59, a long-time Miami Beach resident.....And George Bush was re-elected.

Documentary info HERE

Six years later and after George Bush is no longer the president of the United States, an excerpted from Robert Taicher's feature-length documentary, with some 2006 updates:

Rush to War: The Lessons of History

Say Hello to the Goodbye Weapon

Say Hello to the Goodbye Weapon

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THE WIRE MAGAZINE - update on previous post

Secret Directed-Energy Tech Protecting the President? (Updated)
Article published at :
The Wire Magazine, by David Hambling, November 2008, Categories: Weapons and Ammo

To be redirected to the article and more articles on the topic
: HERE

Extract:

"The Secret Service is tasked with protecting the President of the United States from assailants; and given that President-elect Obama has already been the target of assassination plots they may have their work cut out after January. But they have more than earpiece radios and armored limos to help them; the Secret Service can call on the very latest technology. Documents from a recent court case indicate that they have advanced directed-energy devices which are highly classified.

You may remember Donald Friedman, who claims that government agencies are misusing non-lethal directed-energy weapons. It’s easy to dismiss him as a crank. But his obsessive digging has turned up valuable information. For instance, one of his Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests unearthed a 1998 U.S. Army program looking at a microwave device to beam sound directly into the target's skull which the rest of us had missed. (The same technology underlies the Medusa Non-lethal weapon.)

Now he’s found something else. Friedman’s current court case involves attempts to extract information about any directed-energy weapons such as lasers and microwaves used by the Secret Service. Do they really have anything of the kind? A "Motion for an Enlargement of Time" (in other words, a request for a few more weeks) by the Secret Service’s attorney indicates that they have something, and it’s pretty secret:

"Plaintiff’s FOIA request is for document [sic] concerning directed energy technology that is very sensitive. Some of this documents [sic] pertain to research conducted by divisions within defendant agency that is used to carry out its mandate to protect very high government officials. In fact, in one case, the documents… could not be mailed but had to be hand carried interstate."

So what is this "sensitive" technology? We don’t know for sure, naturally. But we can sure speculate…

(UPNow, we’ve talked before about the Secret Service’s interest in laser dazzlers as a means of protecting the White House against suicide attacks by light aircraft, dating back to 1998. We don’t know if dazzlers have ever been deployed, but that would certainly explain some of the secrecy.

Portable dazzlers would also be a good way of dealing with potential snipers without the risk of harming bystanders. Other agencies also have an interest in covert dazzlers. Ex MI6 agent David Tomlinson claims a laser strobe was proposed for an assassination attempt on Slobodan Milosevic in 1992 by dazzling his chauffeur at a crucial point and causing him to crash. (Conspiracy theorists claim that a laser dazzler was used to assassinate Diana, Princess of Wales — but any bright flashes more likely came from photographer’s flashguns.)

A portable version of the truck-mounted Active Denial System — the Pentagon’s "pain ray" — might be used to similar effect. It could cause an assailant to flinch for a vital second, giving agents an opportunity to get the President out of the line of fire, without having to shoot into a crowd. Raytheon has been working on a rifle-sized version of the Active Denial System for some years, but nothing has been heard of it recently.

Another likely candidate is a directed-energy device to neutralize suspected improvised explosive devices, or IEDs — something that produces an intense, narrow beam of microwaves to fry the electronics. Tomlinson also claimed that MI6 has "sophisticated radio transmitters that would knock out the electronics of the limo at the press of a button, causing the airbags to inflate."

Presidential protection is likely to include a range of jammers to stop remote bomb detonation, and possibly remote-controlled aircraft attacks. With all this jamming, interference can occur and make radio communication impossible — if you leave any frequency clear, the bad guys might use it to send a detonation signal. So perhaps the Secret Service may have a microwave voice-transmission system as an emergency backup when radio communication is impossible. This would allow them to beam instructions to agents at a distance. At a pinch it could also be used to distract a would-be assassin — having a voice suddenly booming inside your head should put off most snipers (though they might have a few voices in there already).

We know that the Air Force has looked at microwave sound as a non-lethal weapon, and long-range acoustic systems like LRAD are already in use by the military and others. So a Secret Service microwave sound system is not totally, completely out of the question.

Donald Friedman may yet manage to get more information about secret directed-energy weapons. All we know so far is that they exist… Unless anyone out there can tell us more?



UPDATE: An article in Britain’s Independent On Sunday looking at the issue of how to protect the next President suggests another DE technology: Terahertz scanners. So called T-rays have been used before for imaging systems that can see through clothing and detect metallic objects (as well as showing naked flesh). A portable version of the scanner would allow the Secret Service to spot hidden weapons from a distance without the potential assailant knowing that they know. And they might well wish to keep their X-ray Specs secret

ALSO:
"PAIN BEAMS: at http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2008/12/pain-beams-go-i/

TELEPATHIC RAY GUNS -WHAT IS NEXT IN NATIONAL SECURITY? "THE TRUTH IS WEIRDER THAN YOU THINK "...

Published oh THE WIRED MAGAZINE - March 24, 2008 - by David Hambling
Category: Weapons and Ammo

Telepathic Ray Guns’ and Vaporized Shoes: The Truth is Weirder Than You Think

‘Telepathic ray guns’ that beam voices into the target’s skull. Weapons to disrupt balance or cause artificial fevers. Devices to trigger epileptic-type seizures from afar. Those are just a few of the exotic items described in a 1998 Army document, describing the "Bioeffects Of Selected Nonlethal Weapons." I give my take in this week’s New Scientist.

The document is a run-down of the state-of-the-art at the time of the different directed energy technologies (laser, microwaves and acoustics) that might be developed into effective nonlethal weapons.

It took a few weeks get the article out –- Sharon descibed it in Danger Room earlier — because my editors wanted to confirm that the document was for real. It looks as though it was released under the Freedom Of Information Act – but how could we be sure? Under other circumstances there might not be any issue, but in the area of directed-energy nonlethals there are a lot of wild claims.

The FOIA document came from Donald Friedman, one of a large number of ‘targeted individuals’ who believe that they are secretly being harassed by such weapons. This court report indicates the depth of Friedman’s conviction:


On January 30, 2003, Donald Friedman walked into an
FBI field office with a two-page letter signed by him and addressed to
Special Agent Jack Murmylo of the United States Secret Service.
Friedman’s letter states, in part:

"Agents of the U.S. Secret
Service, as you already know, have been committing very serious crimes against me and other members of my family for a very long time, and I’m taking more direct action to prevent it from continuing."

"I am going to get an admissible confession from at least one of your agents one way or the other, and if I don’t get what I am demanding from you today, I will use the method of torture described in the attached pages to obtain that confession and to punish the agent for his or her involvement in the illegal acts that your agents have perpetrated against me and my family."

The report notes that the method of torture described (copied from a Robert Ludlum novel)
involved putting electric shocks through the victim’s spinal column.
After he was arrested, the court found the evidence for the alleged electromagnetic assaults unconvincing:

The district court then held a competency hearing at which Friedman testified, inter alia, that the back of a pair of his shoes were vaporized by an electromagnetic weapon fired at his feet in
2001. Friedman presented the shoes in question to the district court, but it appeared to the court that the heel of the shoe had simply worn out due to ordinary use.

Inevitably, Friedman’s mental status was questioned:

After receiving this report, Friedman requested that he be examined by a medical professional of his own choosing. The psychologist chosen by Friedman concurred with the government’s psychiatrist that Friedman "is clearly psychotic and… precisely fits the diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia."

On this basis, it looks like an open-and-shut case. It’s very easy to poke fun at people like Friedman. On the other hand, it does show that if a nonlethal device ever was developed which could cause symptoms associated with madness, it would be completely deniable. The device would completely destroy the target’s credibility, neatly ensuring it remained covert. The military utility would be low, but it might be very hand for some three-letter agencies.

However, in this case, we have a bit more to go on. The US Army Intelligence And Security Command Freedom Of Information/Privacy Office confirmed that Friedman’s FOIA request was real. And the while the contents certainly don’t reveal any shoe-zapping beam weapons, they did turn up a much higher level of interest in unusual technology than anyone had seen before.

How had Friedman managed to get this information when many other more conventional researchers had failed? Targeted individuals and their supporters might argue that it shows Friedman is close to the truth. But perhaps the problem is that the rest of us are not paranoid enough, and that when it comes to military research, the truth is not only stanger than we imagine — it is stranger than we can imagine.

“Me and My Shadow” - A Radio documentary

“Me and My Shadow” tells a History of the FBI’s covert operations that went far beyond intelligence gathering.

This radio documentary features the testimonies of the very people the FBI hired to engage in harassment, criminal activities, violent acts, and to provoke others to do the same. It was produced by Adi Gevins in 1976 .

LISTEN HERE:

PART I (Real Audio Stream, MP3...)
"Me and My Shadow": A History of the FBI's Covert Operations and COINTELPRO

PART II (Real Audio Stream, MP3...)
"Me and My Shadow": A History of the FBI's Covert Operations and COINTELPRO

COINTELPRO - Part of the The History of the FBI Ilegal Activities

WATCH :

Personal Stories of FBI Ilegal Activities by one of COINTELPRO's victims: Jennifer Dohrn, who was one of the Target Of Illegal FBI Break-Ins

COINTELPRO, MKULTRA, Church Committee, Torture...America's History

"When you are already breaking the laws, subverting the Constitution, kidnapping, torture and murder is just another step along the way...."

The Politics of Lying :
Interview with Investigative Journalist David Wise on the Significance of Anonymous Sources, the pardon of criminal activities of FBI and more - WATCH HERE

MKULTRA - THE CIA AND TORTURE :

Some historians have asserted that creating a "Manchurian Candidate" subject through "mind control" techniques was a goal of MK-ULTRA and related CIA projects.Alfred McCoy, author of "A Question of Torture: CIA Interrogation from the Cold War to the War on Terror"(New York: Metropolitan Books. pp. 8, 22, 30. ISBN 0805080414), has claimed that the CIA attempted to focus media attention on these sorts of "ridiculous" programs, so that the public wouldn't look at the primary goal of the research, which was developing effective methods of torture and interrogation. Such authors cite as one example, the fact that the CIA's KUBARK interrogation manual refers to "studies at McGill University", and that most of the techniques recommended in KUBARK are exactly those that Cameron used on his test subjects (sensory deprivation, drugs, isolation, etc).

One 1955 MK-ULTRA document gives an indication of the size and range of the effort; this document refers to the study of an assortment of mind-altering substances described as follows:(declassified documents HERE)
1. Substances which will promote illogical thinking and impulsiveness to the point where the recipient would be discredited in public.
2. Substances which increase the efficiency of mentation and perception.
3. Materials which will prevent or counteract the intoxicating effect of alcohol.
4. Materials which will promote the intoxicating effect of alcohol.
5. Materials which will produce the signs and symptoms of recognized diseases in a reversible way so that they may be used for malingering, etc.
6. Materials which will render the induction of hypnosis easier or otherwise enhance its usefulness.
7. Substances which will enhance the ability of individuals to withstand privation, torture and coercion during interrogation and so-called "brain-washing".
8. Materials and physical methods which will produce amnesia for events preceding and during their use.
9. Physical methods of producing shock and confusion over extended periods of time and capable of surreptitious use.
10. Substances which produce physical disablement such as paralysis of the legs, acute anemia, etc.
11. Substances which will produce "pure" euphoria with no subsequent let-down.
12. Substances which alter personality structure in such a way that the tendency of the recipient to become dependent upon another person is enhanced.
13. A material which will cause mental confusion of such a type that the individual under its influence will find it difficult to maintain a fabrication under questioning.
14. Substances which will lower the ambition and general working efficiency of men when administered in undetectable amounts.
15. Substances which promote weakness or distortion of the eyesight or hearing faculties, preferably without permanent effects.
16. A knockout pill which can surreptitiously be administered in drinks, food, cigarettes, as an aerosol, etc., which will be safe to use, provide a maximum of amnesia, and be suitable for use by agent types on an ad hoc basis.
17. A material which can be surreptitiously administered by the above routes and which in very small amounts will make it impossible for a man to perform any physical activity whatsoever.

UN experts point to widespread use of secret detention linked to counter-terrorism

26 January 2010 - Human Rights Council in Geneva

Despite the fact that international law clearly prohibits secret detention, the practice is widespread and “reinvigorated” by the so-called global war on terror, several independent United Nations experts stated, outlining a series of steps aimed at curbing this human rights violation.

In a 222-page study which will be presented to the UN Human Rights Council in March, the experts conclude that “secret detention is irreconcilably in violation of international human rights law including during states of emergency and armed conflict. Likewise, it is in violation of international humanitarian law during any form of armed conflict.

“If resorted to in a widespread or systematic manner, secret detention might reach the threshold of a crime against humanity,” add the authors – the UN experts on counter-terrorism and torture, and the two UN expert bodies on arbitrary detention and enforced or involuntary disappearances.

The study, which took almost a year to complete, involves responses from 44 States to a detailed questionnaire, as well as interviews with 30 individuals – or their family members or their legal counsel – who were victims of secret detention, and in many cases may also have been subjected to torture.

It provides an historical overview of the use of secret detention, noting that it is not a new phenomenon in the context of counter-terrorism. From the Nazi regime to the former USSR with its Gulag system of forced labour camps, States have often resorted to secret detention to silence opposition, according to the report.

The study goes on to address the use of secret detention in the context of the ‘global war on terror’ following the events of 11 September 2001, describing “the progressive and determined elaboration of a comprehensive and coordinated system of secret detention” of persons suspected of terrorism, involving not only United States authorities, but also other States in almost all regions of the world.

It also highlights that secret detention in connection with counter-terrorism policies remains a serious problem on a global scale, either through the use of secret detention facilities; through declarations of a state of emergency, which allow prolonged secret detention; or through forms of “administrative detention,” which also allow prolonged secret detention.

The experts reiterate that international law clearly prohibits secret detention, which violates a number of human rights and humanitarian law norms that may not be derogated from under any circumstances.

“However, in spite of these unequivocal norms, the practice of secret detention in the context of countering terrorism is widespread and has been reinvigorated by the so-called global war on terror,” states the report, adding that many States, referring to national security concerns – often perceived or presented as unprecedented emergencies or threats – resort to secret detention.

Among their recommendations to address this serious human rights violation, the experts call for explicitly prohibiting secret detention, along with all other forms of unofficial detention. They also urged that safeguards for persons deprived of their liberty be fully respected, and that timely action be taken to ensure that immediate families of those detained are informed of their relatives’ capture, location, legal status and health condition.

The experts also point out that in almost no recent cases have there been any judicial investigations into allegations of secret detention and practically no one has been brought to justice.

“Although many victims feel that the secret detention has ‘stolen’ years of their lives and left indelible traces, often in terms of loss of their jobs and frequently their health, they almost never received any form of reparation, including rehabilitation or compensation.”

Therefore, the experts also recommend a number of steps to provide judicial remedies, reparations and rehabilitation to victims, and in some cases to their families.

The study was issued by the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights while countering terrorism, Martin Scheinin; Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, Manfred Nowak; the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (represented by its Vice-Chairperson, Shaheen Sardar Ali); and the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (represented by its Chairperson, Jeremy Sarkin).

Working in an independent and unpaid capacity, they all are appointed by, and report to, the Geneva-based Human Rights Council.

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