-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger
It’s been nearly a decade since the death of Manadel al-Jamadi, an Iraqi prisoner known as “the Iceman.” In Alexandria, Virginia, a secret federal grand jury has begun calling witnesses in its investigation of the death of “the Iceman”. Manadel al-Jamadi was killed while in CIA custody at Abu Ghraib and got his nickname from an attempt to keep his body cool and make him look less than dead.
John Durham, a Republican-appointed U.S. Attorney, is leading the grand jury that “is conducting an investigation of possible violations of federal criminal laws involving War Crimes (18 USC/2441), Torture (18 USC 2340A) and related federal offenses.”
In 2009 the new U.S. Attorney General, Eric Holder, picked Durham to investigate whether some at the CIA went beyond the Bush DOJ’s guidance on the use of so-called “enhanced interrogation” techniques. Seven former CIA directors wrote to Obama soon after Holder’s appointment of Durham and asked him to scrap the investigation. Michael Mukasey, Bush’s last Attorney General, declared it an “absolutely outrageous” action that would demoralize the agency.
Official investigations ruled al-Jamadi’s death a homicide, with the prisoner succumbing to asphyxiation and “blunt force injuries.” Shortly after the prisoner’s death, the CIA’s Inspector General referred the case to the Justice Department but no action was taken.
Reports indicate that the focus of the probe is a non-covert CIA interrogator and polygraph expert named Mark Swanner, who questioned al-Jamadi immediately before his death.
This investigation is eerily reminiscent of another Abu Ghraib investigation wherein only low-level soldiers were convicted in courts-martial, sentenced to military prison, and dishonorably discharged from service. Only one officer, Brigadier General Janis Karpinski, was reprimanded for dereliction of duty and then demoted to the rank of Colonel. The higher-ups, who orchestrated the war crimes, got off scot-free.
H/T: Time, TPMMuckraker, Scott Horton, Jane Mayer.
Obama has traded his unearned Nobel Peace Prize for the gold key to the “Old Boys Club”. -HenMan
Ain’t it the truth.
lottakatz,
Re: “Dan Ellsberg/Joe Wilson, Dan Elsberg/Joe Wilson, a B&E and it’s cover-up to further political ends could bring down a President but now treason to further political ends can’t. What a difference a generation or two can make.”
In spite of the apparent impediments, one never knows when some “twist of fate” may alter the course of history and bring those who are clearly involved in treasonous activities to their knees. It’s happened before…
HenMan, I recall those incidents also. Nothing came of the APA deliberations, the complaint against the doctor Larry James, was dismissed.
http://psychoanalystsopposewar.org/blog/category/mental-health/psychology/apa/
yes, but then anna nicole smith died and brittney shaved her head. gotta have priorities.
I recall that during the time of the Abu Ghraib revelations , an officer from the U.S. Army Inspector General’s Office announced that of the deaths that occured at Abu Ghraib, 23 had been ruled as “homicides”. That was the last I heard of that officer or the investigation. Apparently, an airtight lid was immediately dropped on the investigation like the proverbial Monty Python 50 ton weight.
I also recall that the American Psychiatric Association was talking about expelling members who participated in devising torture techniques or in cooperating in the torture program and revoking their medical licenses, but I don’t know the outcome of that discussion either.
I hope the Grand Jury has some success in shining a light on the war crimes of the Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld,et.al. regime. Obama and his timid Justice Department certainly have no guts and no integrity when it comes to prosecuting these war crimes.
Obama has traded his unearned Nobel Peace Prize for the gold key to the “Old Boys Club”.
Anon Nurse: “The Most Dangerous Man in America” was streamed live on PBS the other night. If you haven’t yet seen it, I highly recommend it. We need another Ellsberg, we need something resembling another Watergate…”
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I have not seen it but I intend to. How distant and naive the furor over the Ellsberg break-in seems. People weren’t surprised or troubled by the full weight of government being brought to bear on Ellserg for his actions but there was genuine shock and surprise that the government would break into his doctor’s office looking for material to smear him with.
Dan Ellsberg/Joe Wilson, Dan Elsberg/Joe Wilson, a B&E and it’s cover-up to further political ends could bring down a President but now treason to further political ends can’t. What a difference a generation or two can make.
Perhaps the IceMan will become as mighty as Quinn the Eskimo. (Nal, great topics this weekend)
http://tortureaccountability.org/
For all of us, I would love to be right about this one, rafflaw…
And Happy Father’s Day to all of you “dads” out there…
Mark Reneau 1, June 19, 2011 at 5:46 pm
Let us hope this is just the beginning (or continuation) of many sleepless nights for the persons (no matter how far up the chain of command) who were responsible for bringing this blight upon our country. Justice (and a fat stack of subpoenas) may yet be served.
Mark Reneau,
I’m with you… in hoping… “Justice (and a fat stack of subpoenas)” sounds mighty good…
anon nurse,
I sure hope you are right!! 🙂
rafflaw,
Maybe something unexpected will occur in the course of the investigation and we’ll see a domino effect that will eventually get to Bush and Cheney. You can’t blame a gal for hopin’…
anon nurse,
I agree that it is good that an investigation is being done, but why isn’t the Grand Jury looking at the principals? Nal is correct that a whitewash is in the works. If this victim’s death was already ruled a homicide why hasn’t Justice done anything before this prosecutor was name?
Let us hope this is just the beginning (or continuation) of many sleepless nights for the persons (no matter how far up the chain of command) who were responsible for bringing this blight upon our country. Justice (and a fat stack of subpoenas) may yet be served.
Mitchell and Jessen should be prosecuted. Who knows where it might lead…
An interesting interview with one of Jessen’s colleagues:
http://www.truth-out.org/cia-psychologists-notes-reveal-bushs-torture-program68542
http://boingboing.net/2011/04/25/creepy-handwritten-n.html
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Lottakatz wrote:
“I sincerely hope it doesn’t end with some low-level stooge.”
“It is though troubling that by prosecuting persons that may have gone beyond the torture program guidelines, such judicial action reinforces the notion that there is a legally acceptable level of torture. ”
Lottakatz,
I’d like to believe that when the full extent of the Bush-Cheney “torture program” is known, higher level heads will roll, but a rather large subset of Americans would seem to have a pretty high tolerance level when it comes to “torturing” other human beings, so it’s impossible to predict where this current investigation might (or might not) lead. And as you rightly say, there is “no acceptable level of torture”, legal or otherwise, but some seem to be able to make what I find to be ludicrous distinctions…
“The Most Dangerous Man in America” was streamed live on PBS the other night. If you haven’t yet seen it, I highly recommend it. We need another Ellsberg, we need something resembling another Watergate…
This torture/coverup by the government will be a blight on our country for years to come…So bad so very bad.
On principle I don’t like secret tribunals or Grand Juries and find the Grand Jury system to be deeply flawed. Even with those reservations I’m happy that an investigation is in progress. I sincerely hope it doesn’t end with some low-level stooge.
Anon nurse: “If Mitchell and Jessen are indeed targets, that could well explain the near panic of the torture defenders when they refer to the Durham investigation.”
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I too recall that hue and cry among the apologist’s and I hope it signified a real effort to bring some measure of justice to people involved at all levels of this deplorable policy. It is though troubling that by prosecuting persons that may have gone beyond the torture program guidelines, such judicial action reinforces the notion that there is a legally acceptable level of torture. That’s not the case in my book, and turns this action into just a fancy, labor intensive cover-up.
Hey look….Just because he quit breathing….that was his choice….don’t you know…this is not torture….and its clearly possible for someone to suffer blunt head trauma from a fall…numerous times….cops have all of those techniques….oh yeah…a lot of cops are former GI’s…..Now I wonder if GI is used with the understanding of the military term or the medical term….
Nal, Thanks for this posting.
Torture Accountability After All?
Wednesday 15 June 2011
by: Stephen Soldz, Truthout
http://www.truth-out.org/torture-accountability-after-all/1308146637
Excerpt:
Thus, this investigation may be the beginning of a broader investigation of “CIA officers and contract employees.” One wonders if the CIA’s torture psychologist contractors James Mitchell and Bruce Jessen may be among Durham’s targets. This seems plausible since – based on later torture memos – their waterboarding and other “enhanced interrogation” tactics went well beyond those authorized at the time in their intensity and longevity, providing potential liability under Durham’s mandate.
If Mitchell and Jessen are indeed targets, that could well explain the near panic of the torture defenders when they refer to the Durham investigation. These former officials and their apologists may be worried that an investigation into the actions of Mitchell and Jessen will go higher up the chain of command. Reportedly, everything done in the secret CIA prisons was approved in Washington, sometimes even in the White House. And, as Watergate demonstrated, investigations, once started, can sometimes climb the command chain to the very top. (end of excerpt)