Torture is bad, empire might even be worse, especially when all the people in the world could be its subjects.
Category: Civil Liberties
Reaction to Criticism
The Bush administration responds to Amnesty International’s cataloging of abuses in Gitmo and beyond by tarnishing Amnesty’s name. The Musharraf regime saves Pakistan’s reputation by not allowing Mukhtaran Bibi, a gang rape victim, to go abroad.
Civil Liberties, Republicans and TV News
There is an interesting public opinion survey out from Cornell. In a study to determine how much the public fears terrorism, almost half of respondents polled nationally said they believe the U.S. government should — in some way — curtail civil liberties for Muslim Americans, according to a new survey released today (Dec. 17) by… Continue reading Civil Liberties, Republicans and TV News
Legal Torture
Obsidian Wings has a very important post about a bill in Congress which will allow the US to legally send suspected terrorists to any country for torture. The Republican leadership of Congress is attempting to legalize extraordinary rendition. “Extraordinary rendition” is the euphemism we use for sending terrorism suspects to countries that practice torture for… Continue reading Legal Torture
Air Marshall on No Fly List
I can’t understand why so many so-called libertarians defend no-fly lists and related actions like refusing to let Cat Stevens into the US when it is clear to me, a social democrat, that the government can be quite incompetent. I have posted previously about members of Congress being on no-fly lists but now comes the… Continue reading Air Marshall on No Fly List
Pakistanis or Arabs?
Via Al-Muhajabah, I found an interesting article in the Detroit Free Press. A new national poll challenges the view that Arab Americans were the only victims of bias and profiling after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. A survey conducted by Florida-based Bendixen & Associates found that Pakistani Americans reported higher levels of discrimination and… Continue reading Pakistanis or Arabs?
No Fly List
Flying frequently between Altanta and Newark, there was a time when I was selected for secondary screening often at the Newark airport but rarely at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson. But that was in the few months after September 2001. Nowadays, I am almost never singled out for secondary screening. I didn’t mind the extra attention, but would… Continue reading No Fly List
Do They Look Like Me?
You might have heard about the terror induced by 14 Syrian musicians on a Northwestern flight. There is no doubt that something out of the ordinary happened on Northwest Airlines Flight 327 from Detroit to Los Angeles on June 29. The plane was met at the airport by squads of federal agents and police responding… Continue reading Do They Look Like Me?
Torture, Emperor and Forgetfulness
Via Mark Kleiman, I came upon the story of the torture memo in the Wall Street Journal. Bush administration lawyers contended last year that the president wasn’t bound by laws prohibiting torture and that government agents who might torture prisoners at his direction couldn’t be prosecuted by the Justice Department. The advice was part of… Continue reading Torture, Emperor and Forgetfulness
Spy? Adulterer? Both?
I blogged about the arrest of Chaplain Captain James Yee who was charged with disobeying an order for allegedly taking classified material from Guantanamo and improperly transporting it. Now, his case has taken a strange turn. The U.S. military on Tuesday charged a Muslim chaplain accused of taking classified material from the U.S. prison for… Continue reading Spy? Adulterer? Both?