What's really fascinating about this article is what it does not say -- that the Americans basically took their detention and interrogation techniques straight from the Israelis. This is especially evident at Abus Ghraib, where the sinister defense contractor CACI International coordinated much of the torture. That shadowy company has close ties to the Israeli defense establishment, which in many ways is itself just a glorified torture factory (whatever shine the Israeli courts may put on the issue, for international consumption, to the contrary).
It really does show the extent to which free discussion is stifled by the strangling influence of the Israel Lobby that the most widespread torture used by the US against Iraqis is called, in Israel by Israeli soldiers, a "Palestinian hanging" and that was never mentioned in this article.
This state of affairs will continue in this country as long as Zionists continue to exert pressure on the political establishment and there is no counterweight. We must establish a counterweight for the politicians to fear even more than the wrath of the zionist imperialists.
Meanwhile, here's something from a blog by a Palestinian human rights activist, see if this sounds familiar. The fact of the matter is that the US is in Iraq to do Israel's dirty work for it, it's not about oil or WMDs. And we are using their sinister methods as we do so.
"Since 1967, 650,000 to 700,000 Palestinians have been arrested and detained. That totals 20% of the total population and 80% of all adult Palestinian males have been arrested.
“Most of these arrests occur after midnight when large numbers of IDF storm into neighborhoods or refugee camps, horrifying everyone and arresting anyone 14 years or older. Sometimes they storm into business offices and arrest the breadwinners of the families without any charges.
"These arrests and detentions are based on military orders; we live under a kind of Martial Law which rules every aspect of Palestinian life: where we live, our license plates that restrict our movement and limited voting rights. Under these military orders the Israeli government is free to hold anyone eight days without accusations or charges. They can hold anyone up to 180 days for interrogation and up to 60 days without benefit of a lawyer.
[...]
“The interrogations lead to Military Trials which is theoretically like court with three Judges presiding but only one is required to have an education and a law degree is not at all necessary. The Military Commander appoints the translators, issues all orders, assigns the judges, and has total control. One appeal is allowed, but if the judges are settlers the Palestinian is in deep shit!
