Wilkerson: ‘Let Me Waterboard Donald Rumsfeld and Then We’ll See if He Says It’s Torture or Not’
May 5, 2011 No Comment
Click here to view this media Ed Schultz asked former Colin Powell Chief of Staff Lawrence Wilkerson about Donald Rumsfeld’s repeated claims that the United States got actionable intelligence from waterboarding Khalid Sheikh Mohammad and others, and his claim that waterboarding is not torture. Wilkerson did not hold back his disdain for this torture apologist. Wilkerson reminded me a little bit of Jesse Ventura when he said this a couple of years ago about Dick Cheney — Jesse Ventura: You Give Me a Water Board, Dick Cheney and One Hour, and I’ll Have Him Confess to the Sharon Tate Murders . WILKERSON: Well my former boss Colin Powell recently said that Donald Rumsfeld was delusional and deceptive and he could prove both points. My former boss is right. And on this issue Donald Rumsfeld is more delusional than deceptive, probably than any other. First of all his last statement about hordes of intelligence is preposterous. It didn’t produce hoards of intelligence. In fact, I never saw any raw intelligence pass my desk that came from such things that was actionable, that really led to any circumstance at all that produced a result that was positive. Secondly, Donald Rumsfeld only has as knowledge what his bureaucracy gave him. He wasn’t there. He wasn’t at the site. Multiple tiers of bureaucracy gave him the information that he had. And he made damned sure that that bureaucracy was sycophants, yes men, yes women. He made sure that the people working for him told him what he wanted to hear. So one has to expect that Donald Rumsfeld heard what he just said and that was that actionable intelligence was produced by these procedures. It is preposterous. And let me say one last thing. As Christopher Hitchens said after he was actually waterboarded, this is torture, changing his view. Let me waterboard Donald Rumsfeld and then we’ll see if he says it’s torture or not. Schultz asked him why he thought Rumsfeld was doing this. WILKERSON: He’s got to. He’s got to cover his rear end. I mean there are cases in foreign countries right now being worked by lawyers there. one in Switzerland actually kept President George Bush from visiting Switzerland that will under international auspices against Cheney, Rumsfeld, Feith, Addington et al. They don’t dare resort to anything other than defending their positions because ultimately even within their lifetime they may be subject to litigation. I will predict that as I’ve said many times before, they will not travel except perhaps to Israel and Saudi Arabia. Those will be the only two countries Cheney, Rumsfeld and others will travel to. Now that’s something you don’t hear anyone remind the public of on television. Thanks Lawrence.
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National Day of Prayer 2011 Pray with Archangel Uriel for national day of prayer How to Pray for our Media? National Day of Prayer 2011 Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove: National Day of Prayer 2011 : Let Us … We cry out to God because we know we need help. But we have a God who does not want to change the world without us — a God who chooses to work in and through us. National Day of Prayer 2011 takes place on May 5 | Top U.S Post.com Atmore residents will be the National Day of Prayer Thursday, May 5 at Tom Byrne Park. National Day of Prayer 2011 National Day of Prayer 2011 ,National Day of Prayer: Millions of Americans are meeting today, the hotel’s banquet halls and town squares, churches and the lawn of the campus, the National Day of Prayer. national day of prayer – May 5, 2011 | Submit Digital Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove: National Day of Prayer 2011 : Let Us … Thu, 05 May 2011 00:34:31 GMT – We cry out to God because we know we need help. But we have a God who does not want to change the world without us — a God who chooses … National Day of Prayer 2011 : Lillie Ammann, Writer & Editor Join Americans around the country today praying for our country, using the prayer of your choice or this one written for today by Joni Eareckson Tada, Honorary Chairman of the National Day of Prayer 2011 : … welovejesus says: Must read… National Day of Prayer 2011 http://bit.ly/kwRWbH #WeLoveJesus
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I cower at the mere sight of fake guns in the theatre. Why must plays be peppered with this weapon of mass distraction? “Warning: shots will be fired during tonight’s performance.” Oh no. Must they be? Can’t I persuade you to reconsider? If there’s one thing I like even less than shots being fired during tonight’s performance, it’s the nervous anticipation of shots being fired during tonight’s performance. Like many a victim of hand-held weaponry before me, I put my hands up: I am scared of gunfire in the theatre. Being shot, to my mind, could scarcely be more painful. Is it just me? We should be able to identify each other easily, we fake-gun-phobes. I’m the one wriggling in discomfort, my fingers poised over my ears, eyes glued to the waggling gun-shaped prop, willing it not to go off – or to bloody well go off now and get things over with. It’s happened repeatedly in the last fortnight. (Gun crime-wise, Britain’s theatres make South Central LA look like Henley-on-Thames.) At Mamet’s Prairie du Chien at the Arcola , a gunshot warning at the auditorium entrance had me on edge throughout. When the shot was fired out of the blue, I all but went through the roof. (It’s unexpected loud noises I can’t stand; bursting balloons and champagne corks have a similar effect. Pathetic, isn’t it?) Guns fired in Little Eagles at Hampstead; guns fired in Uncle Vanya , also at the Arcola. There Vanya was, swinging his shotgun hither and yon, out to avenge some property-related slight; and in the audience, I cowered and winced. This particular episode is at least mercifully brief. Theatre-makers aren’t always so delicate. I’ve seen dozens of productions that derive the lion’s share of their drama from a brandished pistol. Sometimes, it’s justified. Often – and this is usually in sub-Tarantino tough-guy capers – it’s instant, unearned tension; a way for everyone involved to feel like Joe Pesci without doing the spadework. If you’re cursed with my phobia, it can compromise your evening. Screeds of dialogue have passed me by over the years, as I’ve sat with fingers in lugs, anticipating gunfire. That’s not irrational. If there’s a gun being toted in one’s vicinity, one seldom focuses elsewhere. And to be nervous of guns is a survival instinct, right? Just ask the actor David Birrell, accidentally shot in the eye with a fake pistol during a performance last year of Sondheim’s Passion at the Donmar . Guns – even stage ones – are dangerous things. But it’s not the danger that bothers me, it’s the ear-splitting, heart-juddering pop. In a real-life held-at-gunpoint scenario, I reckon I’d be fine – given that, if the bullet was fired, either death or extreme pain would presumably take my mind off the noise. But at the theatre, where there’s no such consolation, I’m happiest when I get less bang for my buck. Theatre Brian Logan guardian.co.uk
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Remains, which were discovered still strapped into seat, raised from Atlantic almost two years after 228 people died on flight 447 The first body to be recovered from the sunken wreckage of Air France Airbus that crashed in June 2009 en route from Rio to Paris has been retrieved from the bottom of the Atlantic, still strapped to a seat. French gendarmes said the partially decomposed remains had lain at a depth of almost 2.5 miles since flight 447 went down on 1 June, 2009. The body, brought to the surface by mini-submarines, will now be DNA tested before being taken to France. Rescuers said the search, using sea robots to recover bodies from the ocean off Brazil, is complex and “unprecedented”. Experts said that the cold and lack of oxygen at that depth could mean bodies were comparatively well preserved . But they could rapidly decompose on being moved through warmer surface waters and into the air. In the days after the crash about 50 bodies and parts of the plane were pulled from the sea by the Brazilian navy, but after that nothing was found for almost two years. Earlier this week the black boxes and cockpit voice recorder were recovered, which could help explain the crash in which all 228 people on the Airbus A330 died. The quest to recover bodies from the ocean is controversial among victims’ families. Some fear it will further traumatise relatives, others are concerned about the state of the remains two years after the crash. One relative, Corinne, whose daughter, Caroline, and her husband died in the crash, told French TV she was against the mission. “I wanted Caroline to rest in peace at the bottom of the ocean, because for me that was her final resting place and tomb. To think she could be hauled up to the surface hugely perturbs me because they are going to disturb that rest which began two years ago for her.” Other families were keen for remains to be recovered in order for closure. The brother of one victim said: “I want to be able to start the grieving process. It’s very sad to have my brother at the bottom of the ocean. I want him to be brought up to the surface so we can bury him and have a place to go to remember him.” It is unlikely that the remains of all the victims will be found. France Brazil Europe Air transport Airbus Angelique Chrisafis guardian.co.uk
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Incoming CBS Evening News anchor Scott Pelley was asked by the Politico's Keach Hagey for his reaction to the MRC's Profile in Bias on him and the longtime 60 Minutes correspondent, who once compared global warming skeptics to Holocaust deniers , seemed to deny the charge of liberal bias as he brushed off the issue : “CBS has been called liberal for a lot of years,” adding,
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X Factor mogul worth £200m joins Andrew Lloyd Webber and Sir Paul McCartney in top 10 of Sunday Times music rich list Simon Cowell has soared into the top 10 of the annual Sunday Times music rich list, with an estimated fortune of £200m. It is the first time the X Factor mogul has made the top 10, reaching No 6, up from 11 last year. The ongoing success of the show, plus the deal to export it to the US this year can be credited with his spike. Clive Calder, who co-founded Zomba Records and its subsidiary Jive, tops the list with £1.3bn, with Andrew Lloyd Webber in second place with £680m. The rest of the top 10 comprises Sir Cameron Mackintosh (£675m), Sir Paul McCartney (£495m), Simon Fuller (£375m), with the four remaining places after Cowell going to Sir Elton John (£195m), Sir Mick Jagger (£190m), Sting (£180m) and Keith Richards (£175m). Cowell has increased his personal wealth by £35m this year. But Ben Cardew, news editor of Music Week, cast doubt over whether Cowell belongs in the music list at all. He told the Guardian: “I’m slightly dubious about any of these lists but whatever his actual ‘fortune’ may be, it’s clear Cowell has done well financially over the past few years. For all his success with selling music, I would imagine most of his money comes from TV.” Rich List editor Ian Coxon told Bloomberg: “Simon Cowell owns a share of the programmes he’s involved in as well as being in front of the camera. He’s busy behind the scenes and also responsible for many of the performers, so he’s taking pots of money in all directions.” Perhaps a more revealing picture of where the music industry is heading can be seen in the top 20 young music millionaires, in which the top five are all women. Classical-crossover singer Katherine Jenkins tops the list with an estimated £13m. Cheryl Cole climbs two spots to second place, shared jointly with Leona Lewis and Katie Melua (all £12m), then Joss Stone (£9m). Charlotte Church (£8m) drops to sixth place, with Adele, Lily Allen, Natasha Bedingfield, Duffy and Amy Winehouse each in joint ninth place with £6m each. Cowell recently confirmed he would not be taking a weekly judging role on the UK X Factor, with Take That singer Gary Barlow hotly tipped to replace him. However, the judging panel for the British export remains uncertain, with Cheryl Cole’s future in question. Other performers who have been variously linked to the role include Rihanna, Katy Perry, Nicole Scherzinger, Nicki Minaj and Paula Abdul. Simon Cowell Pop and rock Sunday Times Newspapers & magazines News International National newspapers Newspapers Rich lists The X Factor Television Entertainment Dan Martin guardian.co.uk
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Geordie star to join Simon Cowell on Fox TV show, prompting questions over whether she will stay with UK version Poll: Will Cheryl Cole be a success on the US X Factor? Simon Cowell has ended months of speculation by confirming that Cheryl Cole will join him as a judge on the US version of The X Factor. The Girls Aloud singer will join record producer Antonio “LA” Reid and one other as yet unconfirmed judge on the Fox TV show, which will begin filming on Friday. The announcement is likely to spark a whole new round of speculation over whether Cole will continue as a judge on the ITV1 version of the show. The UK show, which she joined three years ago, will return later this year. “I’m thrilled for Cheryl. She is massively excited about this show, and has been fantastic to work with,” said Cowell. “She is also a complete brat. Most importantly, this girl can spot talent.” Cole added: “I’m so excited to be taking part in the American version of The X Factor. I absolutely love it here in the UK and with the talent they have out in America, I’m sure we’re going to find someone very special. I can’t wait to get started.” Cowell quit his role as a judge on Fox’s other talent show, the Simon Fuller-produced American Idol, to launch The X Factor in the US . Cowell’s US commitments mean he will not appear on ITV1′s Britain’s Got Talent until its final week , and it remains to be seen what, if any, role he has in the final stages of The X Factor in the UK later this year . The Fox president of alternative entertainment, Mike Darnell, said: “Cheryl Cole has the whole X Factor package: She’s an incredibly talented artist and performer, as well as a style icon, and she has that special charisma that draws in fans around the world.” “Cheryl’s charm and chemistry with Simon have been a key part of the overwhelming success of The X Factor in the UK, and we can’t wait to welcome her to the US on our air.” But it remains to be seen how American viewers take to Cole’s Geordie accent. The winner of the US X Factor will win a $5m recording contract with Cowell’s Syco/Sony Music. The show will be produced by Cowell’s Syco Television and FremantleMedia North America. •
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New York Times reports US navy Seals killed sole gunman at start of raid, while Pakistan angrily defends its record on terror Further doubts have emerged about the official US account of the raid in which Osama bin Laden was killed, with reports saying US navy Seals were fired on only at the very beginning of the operation and that four of the five people who died, including the al-Qaida leader, were not armed. Meanwhile Pakistan’s foreign secretary has widened his country’s rift with the US over the unilateral American operation by suggesting it could have violated guarantees in the UN charter over national sovereignty. Unnamed US officials told the New York Times that the only shots fired from within the compound in Abbottabad where Bin Laden was sheltering came from his courier Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti, who was behind the door of a guesthouse adjacent to the main house. The US raiding party shot and killed Kuwaiti and a woman in the guesthouse, and on entering the main house were not fired on again, the officials said. This is a markedly different version of events to that released by the Pentagon, which said the US forces were “engaged in a firefight throughout the operation”. Separately, MSNBC news reported that four of the five people killed during the operation were unarmed at the time and did not fire a shot. However, the New York Times quoted officials as saying the Seals were in a “threatening and hostile environment” and believed throughout that they were under threat. The next person shot, the courier’s brother, was killed after they believed he was preparing to fire a weapon, while Bin Laden’s son Khalid died as he lunged towards the Seal team. When Bin Laden was shot in a room on the top floor of the house he was not armed but had an AK-47 assault rifle and a Makarov pistol within reach, the paper said. After the building was secured the team seized about 100 USB drives, DVDs, computer disks, five computers and 10 hard drives, the paper added. The continuing disputes about precisely what happened during the raid have threatened to take some of the gloss off what is otherwise viewed as a triumph for Barack Obama and his administration. The White House has already put out a series of corrections to its initial account . The fact it was carried out without any prior warning to Pakistan’s government or military, for fear of leaks, has angered ministers in Islamabad. “There are legal questions that arise in terms of the UN charter,” Salman Bashir told a press conference in Islamabad, apparently referring to sections of the document, and subsequent UN resolutions, guaranteeing national sovereignty. While the US remained a “friend and important partner”, Bashir said, “any other country that would ever act on the assumption that it has the might, and mimic unilateralism of any sorts, will find, at least as far as Pakistan is concerned, that it has made a basic miscalculation”. Bashir dismissed criticism of his country’s intelligence service, the ISI, widely seen in Washington as, at best, not fully committed to tackling al-Qaida. The fact that Bin Laden had been able to evade capture for so long was “a global intelligence failure”, Bashir said, adding: “The ISI has done invaluable work, it has a brilliant track record in combating terror.” Such questions will matter little in New York on Thursday when Obama visits Ground Zero, the site of al-Qaida’s 2001 attacks. During his first visit to the site as president he plans to lay a wreath and meet the families of some of the victims. “He wants to meet with them and share with them this important and significant moment, a bittersweet moment,” Carney said. Obama said on Wednesday night that he had blocked the publication of gruesome pictures of Osama bin Laden’s corpse, telling CBS: “It is important for us to make sure that very graphic photos of somebody who was shot in the head are not floating around as an incitement to additional violence.” Releasing the pictures would not silence doubters and would be gratuitous, he said. “That’s not who we are. You know, we don’t trot out this stuff as trophies.” America’s discovery of Bin Laden sheltering in an affluent town near Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, rather than scurrying around various hiding places in the lawless tribal land near the Afghan border as long presumed, has not helped relations between the countries. Some US politicians have suggested Washington should cut off billions of dollars in aid. Pakistan has in turn been angered at not being warned of the raid, with intelligence officers saying they would probably refuse any US requests to speak to Bin Laden family members arrested at the compound. The country’s most influential Islamist party, Jamaat-e-Islami, has called for rallies on Friday to demand Pakistan’s government withdraw support from US operations targeting al-Qaida and other militants. “Even if there was any sympathy for the Americans, that would dissipate after the way they crushed and violated our sovereignty and our independence,” the party’s leader, Syed Munawar Hasan, told Reuters. Across the border in Afghanistan, a crowd of around 10,000 people rallied in Kabul against the Taliban. A speech by former Afghan intelligence chief Amrullah Saleh was continually interrupted by chants of “Death to the Punjabis” and “Death to the Taliban”. Osama bin Laden United States US military New York Times Barack Obama Obama administration Ground Zero Peter Walker Haroon Siddique guardian.co.uk
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Everyone from Facebook to Ken Livingstone is using the internet to direct marketing at individuals Ever get the feeling you’re being followed? I did when I got an email from “Matthew Gale”, co-curator of the Joan Miró exhibition at Tate Modern last week, less than 24 hours after seeing the show. “I’m so pleased you visited,” he said. “From what I’ve read on Tate’s blog, people appear to be relating to Miró’s work in a deeply personal way.” I’ll tell you what I am relating to in a deeply personal way, “Matthew Gale”: being stalked electronically. “Matthew Gale” is not the only piece of software stalking me. I’m also in communication with “Ken Livingstone” and “Ed Miliband”. “Ed” sends me rousing emails insisting that I do something about the government. I confess I have been a bit remiss about that. After March’s budget he wrote to me: “We’re left with a chancellor claiming to deliver a budget for growth – while downgrading the growth forecast. You and I know it’s not the wrong type of snow that’s to blame, it’s the wrong type of chancellor. Get involved.” “Ken” has thanked me for all I am doing (think nothing of it, Ken), but he’d like me to do more: “I’ve launched a new campaign #getagripboris calling on the mayor to sort out the transport crisis in London. Click here to sign the petition,” he urged in a “personal” email to me a couple of weeks ago. Meanwhile Facebook is watching my every move, telling me today – seconds after I made a brief visit to the site for the purpose of research – “Welcome back to Facebook!” (I am NEVER coming back, Facebook) and a few days earlier: “You haven’t been back to Facebook recently.” Have I brought this unwelcome electronic attention on myself? Well, yes: in the sense that, when I signed up for membership of these things, I accepted the privacy policies that went along with them. “Cookies” and similar devices are used to make online interaction more efficient – and to direct marketing and advertising at individual users. Without them, the ability of the internet to function smoothly would be impeded. Cookies are files put on to our computers by websites so that they can remember things about us, such as our browsing habits and payment details when we transact online. They are not illegal. However, the Data Protection Act provides that websites should not process “excessive” personal data, and guidance from the information commissioner’s office (ICO) says that organisations collecting data should consider the extent to which that data can be processed anonymously. Later this month a new law amending the EU’s privacy and electronic communications directive will come into force, which will require organisations to obtain consent from visitors to their websites before using cookies. However, the directive doesn’t require that user consent is obtained if the cookie is “strictly necessary” in order for the website to provide the service requested. The government has confirmed, in its response to consultations on the implementation of the directive, that it regards, for example, the use of cookies in online shopping baskets as “strictly necessary”. The government is talking to the industry about enhanced browser settings to harvest consent in other cases and about the use of cookies in behavioural advertising, but that work will not be completed before the 25 May deadline for implementing the directive. In the meantime, the ICO is not expected to take enforcement action where websites are “working to address their use of cookies or are engaged in development work on browsers and/or other solutions”. The directive does not apply to Facebook, a US company, and it is not clear whether it would apply to the sort of communication I received from the Tate. I can, in theory, unsubscribe to emails (the Tate was unable to process my request today). That would solve the “Ed” and “Ken” problem, but it wouldn’t stop Tate and Facebook snooping on me, because the Faustian contractual pact to which I signed up lets them do it. Internet Facebook Social networking Siobhain Butterworth guardian.co.uk
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Digital Outreach is helping marginalised communities to get online. Chief executive Ian Agnew explains why it matters At a sheltered housing complex in Skelmersdale, residents are enjoying their daily coffee morning in the communal lounge. Normally this is a chance for people to catch up with each other’s news but today is different. Today the conversation turns to dongles. Eleven elderly residents crowd around a laptop with their cups of coffee while a local volunteer plugs in a dongle. They learn how to use price comparison websites and send emails. Soon they are using Google Earth to look at a relative’s home in Australia. Most of the residents at this sheltered housing scheme would never have tried the web if this session hadn’t been brought to their coffee morning. The majority are over 75 and many have mobility problems. Seeking out opportunities to get online, be that at the local computer centre or library, just isn’t an option. Some are fearful as they lack computer skills and have worries about online security. Others just don’t see the internet as relevant to them. Over in Manchester, Anne who is 64, lives in Tameside Court, a sheltered housing complex for people over 50. She attends the Ladies Friendship Group and twice a week they meet for bingo. Anne went online for the first time at her bingo night – in between games. She admits she wouldn’t have tried the internet had the taster session not been brought to her group. Having the class take place in the building where she lives made her feel more comfortable as she was learning alongside people she knows. Like most of her fellow bingo players, Anne didn’t think the internet could offer her anything. But Clare Planter, who delivered the web session to residents, knows the Ladies Friendship Group well and the class focused on things they like such as online brain games and staying in touch with family. Clare works for Hattersley and Mottram Community Media . Like hundreds of voluntary sector organisations around the country, HMCM was engaged by social enterprise Digital Outreach to get local older people online. This model of mobilising the trusted voluntary sector to communicate messages is one that Digital Outreach had already used effectively to raise awareness of digital TV switchover amongst 600,000 older and disabled people. With 9 million people in the UK still offline, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills asked Digital Outreach to test whether this model could be used to boost web use. During the Get Connected, Get Online project, web taster sessions were delivered to more than 1,142 people at existing community events. Many of these sessions took place at social housing schemes – from residents’ meetings to domino clubs and keep fit groups. The results speak for themselves. Over 77% of participants reacted positively to the session when it was delivered by someone they already knew. Some 62% reported that having the session take place as part of their group meeting encouraged them to find out more about the web, while 64% said that taking part in the Get Connected, Get Online session helped them to see the personal benefits of the internet. Six months on and Digital Outreach revisited the project to test its longevity. Researchers found that even after the programme had finished, session leaders who had been trained to give people information about the web were continuing to encourage a wide range of groups to get online. This was particularly prevalent in social housing schemes, where there is often a strong network of community organisations working with residents. By training voluntary sector staff who regularly visit sheltered housing complexes and other local groups, support to get online remained in the community for many months after the project had finished. This ability to embed knowledge and support within trusted voluntary sector networks holds the key to changing people’s attitudes to the internet and getting the final third of the population online. Ian Agnew is chief executive of Digital Outreach This content is brought to you by Guardian Professional. Join the housing network for more like this direct to your inbox. Housing network blog Tenants guardian.co.uk
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