Torture Report Points the Finger at Rumsfeld

Staff / Truthdig Dec 12, 2008 A bipartisan report released by Sens. Carl Levin and John McCain blames former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other high-level officials for interrogation abuses. Based on an 18-month investigation by the Senate Armed Services Committee, the report determined that prisoner abuse "was not simply the result of a few soldiers acting on their own," as the administration has claimed. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Bush Memos OK’d CIA Torture

Staff / Truthdig Oct 15, 2008 Two recently disclosed memos from 2003 and 2004 show the Bush administration giving CIA torture techniques, most famously waterboarding, an explicit executive nod after worries arose in the intelligence community about the legality of the treatment of detainees. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

The Ghosts of Abu Ghraib

Staff / Truthdig May 21, 2008 Documentary whiz Errol Morris is turning his camera on Abu Ghraib's most notorious moments in his latest film, "Standard Operating Procedure," in which he unearths a host of unsettling information about torture, "ghost" prisoners and interrogators, and, as Morris describes in this blog about his new project, exactly what happened to prisoner Manadel al-Jamadi's body after he died under interrogation at the prison in Iraq. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

The Tortured Law on Torture

Robert Scheer / Truthdig May 14, 2008 Ah, yes, those torture confessions have proved so useful. That, at least, was the claim of our president in justifying one of the most egregious assaults ever on this nation's commitment to the rule of law. But now comes news that charges have been dropped against the so-called Sept. 11 attacks' 20th hijacker, one of dozens so identified, because the "evidence" he supplied under torture and later recanted is not credible enough to go to trial. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

U.S. Army Officer Cleared in Abu Ghraib Case

Staff / Truthdig Jan 12, 2008 The disgrace brought on the U.S. by members of the military who participated in the abuse of prisoners at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison will likely linger for some time, but one of the key Army figures involved in the case, Lt. Col. Steven Jordan (pictured), has been cleared of any serious charges from the 2003 scandal. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Bush Reportedly Pushed for Harsh Interrogations

Staff / Truthdig Oct 23, 2007 A new book by two ACLU lawyers, "Administration of Torture," includes documents in which one Gen. Michael Dunlavey claims that President Bush gave him "marching orders" to get the Pentagon's approval of more severe interrogation methods at Guantanamo. Also, it alleges that then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was "personally involved" in the interrogation of Mohammed al Qahtani. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Bush Plays Hide and Seek with Torture

Mike Luckovich / Truthdig Oct 6, 2007 Dig deeper

Truthdigger of the Week: Gen. Antonio M. Taguba

Staff / Truthdig Jun 26, 2007 Truthdig tips its hat this week to Army Maj. Gen. Antonio M. Taguba, whose 2004 report about prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib was damningly thorough and truthful -- and who thus found himself contradicted and chastised by Pentagon and Bush administration officials for doing his job right. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

‘Legal Stealing’

Staff / Truthdig May 10, 2007 This is the four-minute highlight reel from "Iraq for Sale" that documentarian Robert Greenwald wanted to screen for Congress as part of his testimony. Republicans blocked him from doing so. If you haven't been following the outrageous war profiteering going on in Iraq -- like many of our elected officials -- this is a must-see clip. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

A Former Interrogator Speaks

Staff / Truthdig Feb 9, 2007 The U.S. military insists that Abu Ghraib was an isolated abuse, but at least one soldier suggests a wider system of torture is at work: "I watched as detainees were forced to stand naked all night, shivering in their cold cells and pleading with their captors for help. Others were subjected to long periods of isolation in pitch-black rooms. Food and sleep deprivation were common, along with a variety of physical abuse, including punching and kicking." Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

A Soldier’s Cost for Exposing Abu Ghraib

Staff / Truthdig Feb 7, 2007 In this "60 Minutes" segment, Anderson Cooper interviews the former U.S. soldier who brought the Abu Ghraib pictures to light. Video and/or transcript Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Army Finally Bans Torture

Staff / Truthdig Sep 6, 2006 Yielding to pressure from humanitarian groups, Congress and the Supreme Court, the U.S. Army will release a new field manual that affords all detainees protection from torture under the Geneva Convention. The new document will ban several ?interrogation? methods that have drawn criticism, including simulated drowning and the use of dogs to terrorize detainees. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )