‘Not long before Christmas Day 2002, a young man was being held in a US facility known as the Bagram Collection Point, in Afghanistan. Like many other Afghan nationals, he had only one name: Dilawar.

He led a simple, quiet life. He had a wife, a young daughter, and one friend. He was 22 years old, and weighed only 122 pounds. He had become a cab driver because he couldn't feed his family as a farmer anymore.

Most of his captors believed he was not guilty of anything and had "simply driven his taxi past the American base at the wrong time." He died on December 10th. The incident was covered up by the Pentagon. They told inquiring reporters that he had died from natural causes. His family had no idea what really happened.

It turns out he was tortured to death by American guards and interrogators. They were using interrogation techniques they had learned back home in New Jersey from an Army instructor at Fort Dix. The New York Times ran a front page article on Dilawar's story in 2004.

The Pentagon was shamed into conducting a fresh investigation, in which they found one individual guilty of pushing Dilawar one time; he was sentenced to two months in prison.

The United States has been involved in President Bush's so-called "War on Terror" longer than it was involved in World War I, World War II, or even our own Civil War. During that time, top administration officials such as the attorney general, the secretary of defense and President Bush himself have personally authorized interrogation techniques and other military practices that violate both US domestic law and international human rights law to an extent unprecedented in American history. Surprisingly, this has been done openly for the most part, and without judicial or Congressional oversight.’

Torture, Lies & Videotape

elsewhere in sin city …..

‘FBI agents documented more than two dozen incidents of possible mistreatment at the Guantanamo Bay military base, including one detainee whose head was wrapped in duct tape for chanting the Quran and another who pulled out his hair after hours in a sweltering room.

Documents released Tuesday by the FBI offered new details about the harsh interrogation practices used by military officials and contractors when questioning so-called enemy combatants.

The reports describe a female guard who detainees said handled their genitals and wiped menstrual blood on their face. Another interrogator reportedly bragged to an FBI agent about dressing as a Catholic priest and "baptizing" a prisoner.

Some military officials and contractors told FBI agents that the interrogation techniques had been approved by the Defense Department, including directly by former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld.

The documents were released in response to a public records request by the American Civil Liberties Union, which is suing Rumsfeld and others on behalf of former military detainees who say they were abused. Many of the incidents in the FBI documents have already been reported and are summarized in the ACLU's lawsuit.’

Pentagon Not Pursuing Guantanamo Report