White House Considers Changing Venue of Terror Trial

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703389004575033000474040096.html?mod=rss_Politics_And_Policy

The Obama administration appears to be backing away from the plan to try the alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks in New York City.

The White House's revised stance comes amid calls from New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and others that the trial should be moved out of Manhattan due to security costs, traffic delays and fears of new attacks.

Up to 20% of Former Gitmo detainees are Suspected of or Confirmed to have Engaged in terrorist Activity After Their Release

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=a7ab2K_0_80Y

As many as one in five former Guantanamo Bay detainees are suspected of or confirmed to have engaged in terrorist activity after their release, U.S. officials said, citing the latest government statistics.

The 20 percent rate is an increase over the 14 percent of former inmates that an April Pentagon report said were thought to have joined terrorist efforts, said the officials, who requested anonymity. The officials didn’t provide the numbers on which the 20 percent is based.

Obama Administration Urged to Consider Expanded Interrogation Methods

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/08/26/obama-administration-urged-consider-expanded-interrogation-methods/?test=latestnews

"The Army Field Manual is very, very restrictive in what it can do," said Michigan Rep. Pete Hoekstra, the top Republican on the House intelligence committee. "For high-value detainees, it's a joke. ... In theory, it sounds great."

The guidelines are all psychological in nature. The methods include good cop-bad cop, the silent treatment, and a trick in which interrogators can pretend to be from another country.

Charles Stimson, who as the former deputy assistant defense secretary for detainee affairs worked on the 2006 revision of the field manual, said the administration is expected to consider other techniques.

While Stimson defended the field manual guidelines as effective in many cases, he said there are others that could be put to good use.

"We will be constraining ourselves, inappropriately so, if we confined the CIA (or HIG) to the 19 techniques in the Army Field Manual," he said. "Our enemy trains to our protocol, studies our protocol ... (They) will know how to resist."

Other methods are mild enough to be authorized in any school principal's office.
One method, the "direct approach," is simply when the interrogator asks questions. Another involves creating incentives for cooperation. The "emotional pride" approach is when the interrogator flatters the prisoner into cooperating by appealing to his ego. The "silent approach" is also relatively mild.

Blowing Smoke at Terrorists

http://www.cnsnews.com/commentary/article/53088

"An Agency (redacted phrase) interrogator admitted that, in December 2002, he and another (redacted phrase) smoked cigars and blew cigar smoke in al-Nashiri's face during the interrogation," said the IG report.

In a more serious incident, a CIA interrogator reported that some unspecified interrogators told Khalid Sheikh Muhammad, the mastermind of the 9-11 attacks, that they would kill his children if America was attacked again.

"Sometime between 28 December 2002 and 1 January 2003, the debriefer used an unloaded semi-automatic handgun as a prop to frighten al-Nashiri into disclosing information," said the IG report.

With (redacted) consent, the debriefer entered the detainee's cell and revved the drill while the detainee stood naked and hooded. The debriefer did not touch al-Nashiri with the power drill."

Other reported instances in which CIA interrogators used unauthorized techniques did not merit a separate IG investigation, according to the report. "These included the making of threats, blowing cigar smoke, employing certain stress positions, the use of a stiff brush on a detainee and stepping on a detainee's ankle shackles," said the report.

How pansy are we? So, apparently we are the bad guy because we blow smoke, threaten, bring a prop gun, rev a drill, and step on shackles. Cowboy up America!

The Jihadi Virus in our Jails

http://michellemalkin.com/2009/05/22/the-jihadi-virus-in-our-jails/

Yet another reason why relocating Gitmo terrorists to our civilian prisons.

Obama's Deeds Vindicate Bush's Alleged War Crimes

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/05/22/obama_vindicates_bush.html

Apparently, standing for change doesn't mean you actually change anything.

Barack Obama U-turn over military terror trials

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1182228/Barack-Obama-U-turn-military-terror-trials.html

Obama Considers Detaining Terror Suspects Indefinitely

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124223286506515765.html

I'll be waiting for the uproar from the ACLU. Why do I get the feeling that it's not okay when Bush does it, but it is when Obama does it?

Obama Lawyers Defended Terrorists

http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/obama_terrorists_lawyers/2009/05/10/212870.html

It's true, the Obama-appointed Attoney General Holder was a senior partner with Covington & Burling, a prestigious Washington, D.C. law firm. Here are some exerpts from summaries of the firm's activities for the past 2 years:

http://www.cov.com/files/upload/Public%20Service%20Activities%202008.pdf
Page 45:
"We represent sixteen men detained at the United States Naval Station at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. Most of the men have been detained for approximately seven years."
"We have been involved in the Guantánamo related litigation for the last five years."

http://www.cov.com/files/upload/Public%20Service%20Activities%202007.pdf
Page 41:
"We represent fifteen Yemenis, one Pakistani, and one Algerian imprisoned at Guantanamo. Most of the men -- most of whom we have represented since July 2004 -- have been at the prison for more than five years."

In addition, Holder supported President Clinton's pardon of FALN terrorists in 1999:
http://articles.latimes.com/2009/jan/09/nation/na-holder9
http://online.wsj.com/public/article_print/SB120277819085260827.html

This is the guy we have running our justice department.

CIA Interrogation Techniques Released to Public

http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=324863168180705

How exactly does this make us more safe? How exactly does that help our troops in the field? How exactly is this the right thing to do? We will now get less intelligence from captured terrorists because they know the limits of our interrogation techniques. Less intelligence means less safe conditions of the ground. Less safe conditions of the ground means more casualties. Mr. President, you have just increased the chances that our soldiers getting injured or killed. Are you proud of yourself?

Welfare for Freed Gitmo Detainees?

http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/2009/03/welfare_for_freed_gitmo_detain.asp

...and guess who would pay for this welfare...yep you and me!