Portside

A former permanent representative of Israel to the United Nations said he was very puzzled by the constant concern which the world is showing for the Palestinian people. He cited U.S. actions after Sept. 11 as a model for what Israel should do

Expect the military officials who commanded Afghanistan to invoke ‘cutting and running.’ Let’s talk about why they failed.

Reader Comments: Condo Collapse; Rumsfeld Dead; Voting Rights; Critical Race Theory; Filibuster; How to Defeat Capitalism; Maggie Phair Remembered; Take Action - Syringes to Cuba; Book Sale; Summer Organizing Institute; Black Arts; more....

The New York Times editorial - in the paper of record - demanded that those responsible for the vicious torture policies be brought to trial. Any credible investigation should include former Vice President Dick Cheney; Mr. Cheney's chief of staff, David Addington; the former CIA director George Tenet; and John Yoo and Jay Bybee, the Office of Legal Counsel lawyers who drafted what became known as the torture memos. There are many more names that could be considered.

It came from the top and that's never been a secret. The president authorized the building of those CIA "black sites" and the use of what came to be known as "enhanced interrogation techniques" and has spoken of this with a certain pride. The president's top officials essentially put in an order at the Department of Justice for "legal" justifications that would, miraculously, transform those "techniques" into something other than torture. - Tom Engelhardt

One thing that I wanted to learn in talking to a torturer - I guess every person is different - but I wanted to see: did this destroy him? Did this destroy his soul? Is he like a broken man wracked with guilt? And he wasn't.