"...choose you this day whom ye will serve.." Joshua 24:15

Egypt's intelligence chief Omar Suleiman is being reported as the possible next president of Egypt.

It also looks like that he is respected by US officials for his cooperation with the Torture Program, as Jane Mayer explains in her book "The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How The War on Terror Turned into a War on American Ideals"

"Each rendition was authorized at the very top levels of both governments….The long-serving chief of the Egyptian central intelligence agency, Omar Suleiman, negotiated directly with top Agency officials. [Former U.S. Ambassador to Egypt] Walker described the Egyptian counterpart, Suleiman, as “very bright, very realistic,” adding that he was cognizant that there was a downside to “some of the negative things that the Egyptians engaged in, of torture and so on. But he was not squeamish, by the way” (pp. 113).

Aljazeera commentators described him as a distinguished and respected man and also reported that in October 1981, his brother Khalid Ahmed Showqi al-Islambouli arranged and carried out the assassination of president Mubarak's predecessor, Anwar Sadat, during a military parade.
http://english.aljazeera.net/Services/Search/?q=Omar%20Suleiman




No wonder "the dark cloud" persists.

A 2006 documentary: "American Inquisition"

"On September 11 terrorists tried to change America forever. Well, they succeeded."

Berkeley Says No to Torture” Week: Oct. 10-16, 2010

Dehumanization and Torture - Andy Worthington and Justine Sharrock:

More at:
http://www.andyworthington.co.uk/2010/10/15/video-andy-worthington-and-justine-sharrock-at-berkeley-says-no-to-torture-week/





Liveblogging:
http://www.andyworthington.co.uk/2010/10/13/liveblogging-berkeley-says-no-to-torture-week-days-two-and-three-radio-film-and-puncturing-john-yoos-lies/

Dana Priest, author of "TOP SECRET AMERICA", talks about extraordinary rendition, torture, blogs etc. - November 2007

"Top Secret America"

Is the Washington Post's two-year, three-part "investigation" into U.S. classified activities by investigative reporters Dana Priest and William M. Arkin. The first article was published on Monday, July 19, 2010.

The link at:
http://projects.washingtonpost.com/top-secret-america/

The Project includes a searchable database , videos, photos and detailed information on the hidden activities of the CIA, spread all over the world.

In 2007, Dana Priest uncovered most of the facts about the secret prisons, torture by-proxy and more:

Daniel Ellsberg, the former US military analyst who released the Pentagon Papers said he fears for the safety of Julian Assange, founder of Wikileaks

See transcript:" Daniel Ellsberg Says He Fears US Might Assassinate Wikileaks Founder" at:

http://fdlaction.firedoglake.com/

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

"It is a small city in the South of France... Not Canada, YET

Prompted by the documented revelations contained in the book written by H.P. Albarelli (HERE), the US State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research has received a confidential inquiry from the office of Erard Corbin de Mangoux, head of the French intelligence agency, Directorate General for External Security (DGSE), concerning a recent account of American government complicity in a mysterious 1951 incident of mass insanity in France. According to an official with the DGSE, the French counterpart of the CIA, “If the details of this book’s revelations prove to be true, it will be very upsetting for the people of Pont-St.-Esprit, as well as all French citizens. That agencies of the United States government would deliberately target innocent foreign citizens for such an experiment is a violation of a number of international laws and treaties.” Full text "French Government Queries U.S. State Dept. about LSD Attack, Prompted by New Book Release" - February 3, 2010 at: http://www.prweb.com/releases/A_Terrible_Mistake/Albarelli/prweb3549024.htm (retrieved March 24, 2010) Experiments were conducted in populatuions not only in France but also in Canada , Europe , NY, as documented in the book: Don't know much about the following videos but added just in case .... Documents of CIA ARTICHOKE Project - HERE Extract: "Artichoke is the Agency cryptonym for the study and/or use of "special" interrogation methods and techniques. These "special" interrogation methods have been known to include the use of drugs and chemicals, hypnosis, and "total isolation", a form of psychological harassment"... 1995 - Hearings - USA

The Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights - Adam Bodnar talks about the "Torture Flights"

RussiaToday — February 24, 2010

The Use of State Secrets

Center For Constitutional Rights attorneys discuss President Obama's first year's policies of torture, detention, and abduction. Speaking are CCR (Center for Constitutional Rights- USA) President Michael Ratner, Senior Staff Attorney Maria LaHood, and Executive Director Vince Warren, moderated by CCR's Education and Outreach Director Annette Warren Dickerson. Event at Judson Church, USA, February 17, 2010.

CIA sponsored "terror vigilants" in the recent years - Articles on "Parallel Police" - Italy probes 'parallel police'

Italian Art:

Ratto delle Sabine (1574-82), Giambologna, Florence, Italia
Rape of the Sabine Women (1574-82), by Giambologna, Florence, Italy

The Rape of the Sabine Women is an episode in the legendary History of Rome, Italy. In the context, rape means abduction - RAPTIO - as in the "extraordinary renditions" American program, rather than its prevalent modern meaning of sexual attack.



More on Italy:
Italy probes 'parallel police'
Italy - BBC News - Friday, 1 July, 2005
" Italian police have launched a big inquiry into a "parallel" intelligence agency, say Italian news reports. "
HERE - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4640247.stm

The Department of Anti-terrorism Strategic Studies (DSSA) was reportedly created after the 2004 Madrid bombings to combat Islamic extremism.

Genoa-based investigators carrying out a probe into the DSSA have arrested two people and placed more than two dozen others under investigation.

Anti-terror squads have also carried out raids in nine Italian regions.

'Regular employees'

Many of those under investigation are said to be employed by regular law-enforcement bodies. Prosecutors believe that DSSA "employees" were sometimes using official police badges and other equipment to carry out their own investigations.

The alleged parallel force is also accused of illegally using the Interior Ministry database for its own purposes.

The DSSA operated its own website, which was disabled after the arrests were reported on Friday morning.

Reports say the site was available in four languages - Italian, English, French and Spanish - and profiled terror organisations as well as urging the public to come forward with information.

Kidnap inquiry

Italian state radio Rai later reported that the two arrested men may have had links with Gladio, the Italian branch of a secret paramilitary network set up in post-war Europe with the backing of the CIA.

There are also reports of a possible connection with a far-right political group.

The investigation that uncovered the alleged parallel structure is an offspring of a previous inquiry into the death of Fabrizio Quattrocchi, one of four Italians kidnapped in Iraq in April 2004.

Mr Quattrocchi was shot dead by the abductors, while his colleagues were eventually released.

MORE ON ITALY:

Italian PM Berlusconi demands respect as CIA rumbles on - EURONEWS - 01/07/2005

http://www.euronews.net/2005/07/01/berlusconi-demands-respect-as-cia-row-rumbles-on/

CIA spondored "parallel police"? The Department of Anti-terrorism Strategic Studies - The Times onLine

HERE - http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article539727.ece

ARTISTIC :

TROJAN HORSE in "The Procession of the Trojan Horse in Troy" by Domenico Tiepolo (1773) ; The gorgeous Helena de Troia by Jacques-Louis David(1788) in "The Love of Helen and Paris"

........................

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR - CNN

March 8th, 2010 - Centennial of International Women's Day

Christiane Amanpour(CNN) interviews Marc Thiessen, a former George Bush speechwriter recently hired by the Washington Post as columnist. (HERE)
Marc Thiessen is also a passionate advocate of torture .

Viewer Advisory:
This interview contains language that sanctions, promotes or glamorizes violence.

Can American secret services and even American contractors do whatever they want, wherever they want, whenever they want?

How much sovereignty does USA allow other countries to have? Facts, my dear...just facts...

Arar launches online magazine to probe security issues

January 20, 2010 -

Maher Arar launches online magazine to probe security issues :

PRISM MAGAZINE: The Security Practices Monitor at:

http://prism-magazine.com/

"OTTAWA — Falsely accused of terrorist ties, Maher Arar has transformed his rendition ordeal into an online magazine promoting critical analysis of national security and related issues.

PRISM Magazine, a self-described "security practices monitor," debuted Wednesday. The inaugural edition includes a feature article on security and human rights by Alex Neve, head of Amnesty International Canada's English branch, and a commentary by veteran Ottawa journalist Jeff Sallot on the failure of U.S. intelligence officials to detect the Christmas Day airline bomb plot."

Arar, who lives in Ottawa, is the publisher of the not-for-profit journal, which has one other volunteer staff member, managing editor Richard Swain.

Full Article

http://www.canada.com/news/Arar+launches+online+magazine+probe+security+issues/2465277/story.html

Maher Arar interview at FAULT LINES:

On YouTube: Guantánamo Guard and Ex-Prisoners Meet (via the BBC)

On January 11 and 12, 2010 the BBC’s Newsnight ran "Tales From Guantanamo", a two-part feature on America's Guantánamo Prison.

BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) took former guard Brandon Neely over from the United States to UK to meet — and apologize to — former prisoners Shafiq Rasul and Ruhal Ahmed, two of “The Tipton Three,” from the West Midlands, who were freed in March 2004 and whose story was later featured in “The Road to Guantánamo”.

The two parts of Newsnight’s feature are available on the BBC website here and here,AND the blogger Rick B announced on his site Ten Percent that he has made the part in which the men meet available as a two-part video on YouTube. These parts were posted on Andy Worthington's Blog and are posted below:

Andy Worthington is the author of The Guantánamo Files: The Stories of the 774 Detainees in America's Illegal Prison.

Federal Officials Cover ups

Among their options:
- falsifying medical records
- sending a dying man to Guinea to make the case "disappear" and on..

A New York Times investigation reveals how federal officials used their role to cover up abuses and deaths to avoid embarrassing publicity.

The investigation exposes a trail of confidential memos and BlackBerry messages that show officials working to cover up their actions. The article by Nina Bernstein was published on January 2, 2010 , The New York Times .

A Most Wanted Man - by John le Carré who was once a British agent and Consul in Hamburg

A Most Wanted Man is a thriller/espionage novel by John le Carré, who was once a British agent and Consul in Hamburg. It was published in October 2008 by Scribner in the United States and Hodder & Stoughton in the United Kingdom.

The book is basically about extraordinary rendition, the disappearing of people who are considered an enemy of the state by secret services and sending them abroad to secret prisons for torture.

The Plot:

A young Chechen ex-prisoner arrives illegally in Hamburg, practically uneducated and destitute, but with a claim to a fortune held in a private bank. This novel is based on the contemporary themes of the so called "war on terror", money laundering and the conflicting interests of different officers and agents involved.

TRAILER about the book:


Trailer extended version:

OUTSIDE THE LAW : Stories From Guantanamo - An Evening with Andy Worthington , author of "The Guantanamo File"

More at:

http://www.andyworthington.co.uk

An Evening with Andy Worthington - "Outside the Law: Stories from Guantanamo" from The Future of Freedom Foundation on Vimeo.

TORTURE MADE IN THE United States of America

CIA "VIGILANTS" Convicted in Italy - Extraordinary Rendition First Conviction

At ABC News:
Convicted CIA Spy says: "We broke the Law"

By MATTHEW COLE, AVNI PATEL, and BRIAN ROSS
Nov. 4, 2009

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/exclusive-convicted-cia-spy-broke-law/story?id=8995107


And " The Nuremberg Defense: We were following orders"

“Outside the Law: Stories from Guantánamo” - documentary film launched in London, UK

TRAILER AVAILABLE HERE

directed by Polly Nash and Andy Worthington , and inspired by Andy’s book, The Guantánamo Files: The Stories of 774 Detainees in America's Illegal Prison, it was launched on October 21, 2009 in London, UK.(photos from the launch of "Outside the Law: Stories from Guantanamo)

The film tells the story of Guantánamo (and includes sections on extraordinary rendition and secret prisons) with a particular focus on how the Bush administration turned its back on domestic and international laws, how prisoners were rounded up in Afghanistan and Pakistan without adequate screening (and often for bounty payments), and why some of these men may have been in Afghanistan or Pakistan for reasons unconnected with militancy or terrorism (as missionaries or humanitarian aid workers, for example).

The film is based around interviews with former prisoners (Moazzam Begg and, in his first major interview, Omar Deghayes, who was released in December 2007), lawyers for the prisoners (Clive Stafford Smith in the UK and Tom Wilner in the US), and journalist and author Andy Worthington, and also includes appearances from Guantánamo’s former Muslim chaplain James Yee, Shakeel Begg, a London-based Imam, and the British human rights lawyer Gareth Peirce.

Focusing on the stories of three particular prisoners — Shaker Aamer (who is still held), Binyam Mohamed (who was released in February 2009) and Omar Deghayes — “Outside the Law: Stories from Guantánamo” provides a powerful rebuke to those who believe that Guantánamo holds “the worst of the worst” and that the Bush administration was justified in responding to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 by holding men neither as prisoners of war, protected by the Geneva Conventions, nor as criminal suspects with habeas corpus rights, but as “illegal enemy combatants” with no rights whatsoever.

For further information, interviews, or to inquire about broadcasting, distributing or showing “Outside the Law: Stories from Guantánamo,” please contact Andy Worthington(andy@andyworthington.co.uk) or Polly Nash(p.nash@lcc.arts.ac.uk).

“Outside the Law: Stories from Guantánamo” is a Spectacle Production (74 minutes, 2009).

Andy Worthington is a journalist, and the author of three books, including The Guantánamo Files: The Stories of the 774 Detainees in America’s Illegal Prison (Pluto Press). Visit his website here.

Polly Nash is a lecturer at the London College Of Communication (LCC), part of the University of the Arts, London, and has worked in film and TV for 20 years. Core funding for the film was provided by LCC.

Review at The Osterley Times :

"The film was intense and powerful, mostly because it did not attempt in any way to emotionalise the story it was laying out before us. [Andy] Worthington, Clive Stafford Smith and others simply told the story of how the US abandoned habeas corpus and found itself in a kind of war with its own legal system, whilst [Moazzam] Begg and [Omar] Deghayes told the tale of what it was like to be on the receiving end of this historic aberration of justice."

Comments:
"The film was brilliantly powerful — both understated and shocking. All night I have had the images in my head and thoughts of these men who, even when released, can’t contact their families. I hate to admit I had no idea about extraordinary rendition — you have lifted the lid on a world that far too many people, like myself, find too easy to avoid."

"I have just returned from a rather extraordinary evening. I attended the film premiere of Andy Worthington and Polly Nash’s film “Outside the Law” — a feature length documentary about Guantánamo. I urge you all to see it. Please do and then when you have seen it pass it on to your friends and family. I have not seen anything at all that compares to understanding the magnitude of what has been happening in Guantánamo and Bagram. After seeing this film and then staying for the Q&A, which featured the film makers, as well as former detainees Omar Deghayes and Moazzam Begg, I was moved, inspired and angered beyond any other event I have been to. People left the venue with changed opinions, far better informed and shocked. Once again please do try and get to a screening."

For more information : Andy Worthington Website at: http://www.andyworthington.co.uk/

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA - THE TORTURE NATION

"The US claims to be the land of democracy. Everything I experienced assures me they know nothing of humanity and decency."
Sami al-Laithi, former Guantanamo detainee released with no charges

More at:
CAGE PRISONERS - The Most Comprehensive list of Detainees identified by now
http://www.cageprisoners.com/index.php

American Orwellian "TORTURE "

The American euphemistic political language that distorts reality and prevents "THOUGHT"

From "War on Terror" to "enhanced interrogation tecnique" -
(and some on Torture to extract false Confessions to justify War)






A Dramatic Reading of George Orwell's Classic Work 1984
Interspersed With Clips From George Bush and Others:
The Orwellian Language:

"The Two Georges, Orwell and Bush" - (aired June 2003 - www.democracynow.org)




"The adjective Orwellian describes the situation, idea, or societal condition that George Orwell identified as being destructive to the welfare of a free society. It connotes an attitude and a policy of control by propaganda, surveillance, misinformation, denial of truth, and manipulation of the past, including the "unperson" — a person whose past existence is expunged from the public record and memory, practiced by modern repressive governments. Often, this includes the circumstances depicted in his novels, particularly Nineteen Eighty-Four."

Listen to Geoge Orwell 1984 - Audio Book at: Internet Archive HERE