Bill Van Auken

The body of CIA torture victim, Manadel al-Jamadi. At Abu Ghraib
prison, CIA officers took al-Jamadi to a shower stall. They put a sand-
bag over his head, cuffed his hands behind his back and chained his
arms to a barred window.(Credits: docudharma.com/examiner.com)

On Thursday US Attorney General Eric Holder shut down a more than three-year investigation into CIA torture and murder of detainees, with no charges being brought against anyone.

This final ignominious chapter in the Obama administration’s protection of those responsible for the crimes carried out under the Bush administration concerned the CIA’s torturing to death of two detainees, one in Afghanistan in 2002 and another in Iraq in 2003.

In a statement announcing that no one would be prosecuted, Attorney General Holder claimed, “admissible evidence would not be sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction,” adding that this conclusion had been reached following a review of “substantive criminal statutes as well as the statutes of limitations and jurisdictional provisions.”

He did not say what charges had been contemplated and provided no concrete explanation of why they could not be brought. He included in his statement an obsequious tribute to those responsible for the torture and murders carried out under the Bush administration: “I also appreciate and respect the work of and sacrifices made by the men and women in our intelligence community on behalf of this country. They perform an incredibly important service to our nation, and they often do so under difficult and dangerous circumstances. They deserve our respect and gratitude for the work they do.”

Incredibly, Holder also praised the Justice Department’s investigation: “I continue to believe that our Nation will be better for it,” adding that the probe “was not intended to, and does not resolve, broader questions regarding the propriety of the examined conduct.”

In other words, after three years of investigation, the Obama administration has not only granted full impunity to those involved in the crimes of rendition, torture and murder carried out under Bush. It has failed to even issue a ruling on the “propriety” of torturing detainees to death. The clear implication is that the US government and legal system sanction such practices, and they will continue.

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Paul Craig Roberts

The latest “rights group” to jump on Russia’s President Putin about Pussy Riot is RootsAction. Following the propaganda line that Washington has established, RootsAction’s appeal for money and petition signers states that the three Russian women were sentenced to two years in prison “for the ‘crime’ of performing a song against Russia’s president Vladimir Putin in a Moscow church.”

This statement is a propagandistic misrepresentation of the offense for which the women were tried and convicted.

I have expressed my sympathies for the convicted women, and as a member of Amnesty International and the American Civil Liberties Union, I support human rights.

But I do not support the use of human rights organizations in behalf of Washington’s propaganda.

If Putin or some other official has the power to commute the sentences, I hope he uses it. But I do not think that the concerted Western propaganda campaign against Putin encourages that result. Twice as many Russians support the sentence than oppose it.

If the sentence is commuted in response to the Western propaganda campaign against Putin, Russian nationalists will depict Putin as a weak leader unable to stand up to Western intimidation. The more internal dissension there is in Russia, the easier for Washington to marginalize the country and kick it out of Washington’s path to the overthrow of Syria and Iran by brutal human-rights-violating violence, such as Washington has applied to Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya.

The State Department, the EU, and human rights groups are sufficiently politically astute to be aware of this fact. Yet, the propaganda continues.

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Stephen Lendman

Washington and Israel wage dirty covert wars. Iran's been targeted for years. Imperial aims are prioritized. Rule of law principles don't matter. Israel wants sole regional dominance. America wants it globally. Lawless tactics continue. They include cyber attacks, other sabotage, targeted assassinations, deadly explosions, sophisticated satellite, drone, and other spying, bogus accusations, a virtual blockade, hostile saber rattling, multiple rounds of sanctions, and attempts to cripple its central bank and oil industry. In addition, relentless anti-Iranian propaganda substitutes malicious misinformation and bald-faced lies for accuracy and truth.

At issue is Iranian independence. The Islamic Republic threatens no one. Its nuclear program is peaceful. It seeks cooperative international relations. It wants its sovereign rights respected. However, belligerence is America's option of choice. Regime change is planned. It wants pro-Western governments replacing independent ones. Peace and stability are sabotaged. Pretexts are created. One war follows another. After Syria comes Iran.

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