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What is Viewpoint trying to do? Where can you go to peer
behind the rhetoric regarding the Middle East? There is
so much smoke and mirrors. Middle East politicians are
even more full of crap than US politicians. It is as if
the truth, "dare not speak its name" out of the lips of
those politicians.
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Why is the media silent about Israeli interrogators at
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If I, your humble editor knows, so does the NY Times,
Washington Post, LA Times, Boston Globe, CS Monitor,
CBS, and yes...even Chris Mathews. I sent Chris a note
myself with documented stories. But silence. Why?
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you will become more informed and see the story
behind-the- story.
The things Bush didn't mention in his speech - by
Robert Fisk
I can't wait to see Abu Ghraib prison reduced to rubble
by the Americans - at the request of the new Iraqi
government, of course. It will be turned to dust in
order to destroy a symbol of Saddam's brutality. That's
what President Bush tells us. So the re-writing of
history still goes on.
Last August, I was invited to Abu Ghraib - by my
favorite US General Janis Karpinski, no less - to see
the million-dollar US refurbishment of this vile place.
Squeaky clean cells and toothpaste tubes and fresh pairs
of pants for the "terrorist" inmates. But now, suddenly,
the whole kit and caboodle is no longer an American
torture centre. It's still an Iraqi torture centre, and
thus worthy of demolition.
The re-writing of Iraqi history is now going on at
supersonic speed. Weapons of mass destruction? Forget
it. Links between Saddam and al-Qa'ida? Forget it.
Liberating the Iraqis from Saddam's Abu Ghraib life of
torture? Forget it. Wedding party slaughtered? Forget
it. Clear the decks for both "full (sic) sovereignty"
and "chaotic events". This is, at any rate, according to
Mr. Bush. When I heard his hesitant pronunciation of Abu
Ghraib as "Abu Grub" on Monday night, I could only
profoundly agree.
But we're in danger again of missing the detail. Just as
the unsupervised armed mercenaries being killed in Iraq
are being described by the occupation authorities as
"contractors" or, more mendaciously, "civilians" - so
the responsibility for the porno interrogations at Abu
Ghraib is being allowed to slide into the summer mists
over the Tigris river. So let's go back, for a moment,
to the long weeks in which the Department of Bad Apples
allowed its jerks to put leashes around Iraqi necks,
forced prisoners to have sex with each other and raped
some Iraqi lasses in the jail.
And let's cast our eyes upon that little, all-important
matter of responsibility. The actual interrogators
accused of encouraging US troops to abuse Iraqi
prisoners at Abu Ghraib jail were working for at least
one company with extensive military and commercial
contacts with Israel. The head of an American company
whose personnel are implicated in the Iraqi tortures, it
now turns out, attended an "anti-terror" training camp
in Israel and, earlier this year, was presented with an
award by Shaul Mofaz, the right-wing Israeli defense
minister.
According to Dr J P London's company, CACI
International, the visit of Dr London - sponsored by an
Israeli lobby group and including US congressmen and
other defense contractors - was "to promote
opportunities for strategic partnerships and joint
ventures between US and Israeli defense and homeland
security agencies".
The Pentagon and the occupation powers in Iraq insist
that only US citizens have been allowed to question
prisoners in Abu Ghraib - but this takes no account of
Americans who may also hold double citizenship. The once
secret torture report by US General Antonio Taguba
refers to "third country nationals" involved in the
mistreatment of prisoners in Iraq.
General Taguba mentions Steven Staphanovic and John
Israel as involved in the abuses at Abu Ghraib.
Staphanovic, who worked for CACI - known to the US
military as "Khaki" - was said by Taguba to have
"allowed and/or instructed MPs (military police), who
were not trained in interrogation techniques, to
facilitate interrogations by 'setting conditions' ... he
clearly knew his instructions equated to physical
abuse". One of Staphanovic's co-workers, Joe Ryan - who
was not named in the Taguba report - now says that he
underwent an "Israeli interrogation course" before going
to Iraq.
We know the Pentagon asked Israel for its "rules of
engagement" in the occupied West Bank and Gaza. Israeli
officers have briefed their US opposite numbers and,
according to the Associated Press, "in January and
February of 2003, Israeli and American troops trained
together in southern Israel's Negev desert ... Israel
has also hosted senior law enforcement officials from
the United States for a seminar on counter-terrorism".
Staphanovic of CACI, who may also be Australian, was
accused by Taguba's army report of making "a false
statement to the investigation team regarding ... his
knowledge of abuses". Another outside interrogator, Adel
Nakhla,who may be of Egyptian origin, was a witness to
the "stacking" of naked prisoners in Abu Ghraib. John
Israel "misled" investigators by denying he had
witnessed misconduct and did not have "security
clearance". Israel, according to Titan - two of whose
employees were mentioned in Taguba's report - works for
one of the company's "sub-contractors". Titan refused to
name the "sub-contractor".
Why? Among the company's former directors is ex-CIA
director James Woolsey, one of the architects of the US
invasion of Iraq, a friend of Ahmed Chalabi and a
prominent pro-Israeli lobbyist in Washington. Dr London
says CACI "does not condone or tolerate or endorse in
any fashion (sic) any illegal, inappropriate behavior on
the part of its employees in any circumstances at any
time anywhere".
But it is clear the torture trail at Abu Ghraib has to
run much further than a group of brutal US military
cops, all of whom claim "intelligence officers" told
them to "soften up" their prisoners for questioning.
Were they Israeli? Or South African? Or British? Are we
going to let the story go?
*************************************************************************************
Robert Fisk writes for the Independent and has covered
the Middle East for over 30 years.
More related stories on the Middle East
Israeli Agents At Abu Ghraib
http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20040607&s=barenboim
Building Malls- Not Nations - by Steve Chapman
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.chapman25may25,0,46
91278.story?coll=bal-oped-headlines
Pro-War Think Tank Admits Iraq War Made World Less Safe
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=524939
Israeli Conductor Calls For Reconciliation With
Palestinians
http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20040607&s=barenboim
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