CIA Secret, Torture, Rendition Prisons

EU nations face mounting pressure over CIA black sites

17.12.14 - Pressure is mounting on those member states accused of hosting CIA rendition and torture camps to be held accountable for their role.

MEPs and the European Commission in Strasbourg on Wednesday (17 December) roundly condemned the torture of Al-Qaeda suspects carried out by CIA operatives on EU soil in the wake of 9-11, praised the US for exposing the abuse, and called upon Washington to shut down Guantanamo Bay.

“All concerned member states should conduct independent and impartial investigations to establish the facts with regard to CIA activities,” said EU home affairs commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulus.

“One hundred and thirty-six detainees still remain in the Guantanamo detention facility, including detainees who have neither been brought to trial nor have yet been cleared for release.” read more>>>

CIA used Lithuania to house one of the bases where it tortured prisoners

19/12/2014 - Prime Minister of Lithuania Algirdas Butkevicius called on Washington to say whether the CIA used his country to house one of the bases where it tortured prisoners, after a U.S. Senate report into abuse by the spy agency

Lithuania was not named in the heavily redacted report on CIA torture released on Tuesday.

But the description of a “detention center Violet” is consistent with a 2009-2010 Lithuanian parliament investigation, which found that the CIA set up and ran premises that could be used as a detention center near the capital Vilnius.

The Lithuanian investigation found that the CIA ran flights in and out of the country, but could not determine whether the site was used to house prisoners because U.S. officials refused to cooperate.

“The U.S. Senate report, to me, makes a convincing case that prisoners were indeed held at the Lithuanian site,” lawmaker Arvydas Anusauskas, who headed the parliamentary investigation, told Reuters. read more>>>

Former Polish President Confirms Existence of Secret CIA Torture Prison

December 18, 2014 - The Polish government has denied for years the existence of a secret CIA prison on its territory between 2001 and 2003 in the face of previous revelations.

The publication of the US Senate report on CIA torture, however, has not only proven the existence of the “black site” but also the close collaboration between the Polish and American governments in barbaric and illegal practices.

American president Barack Obama called Polish president Ewa Kopacz the night before the report’s release “in order to forewarn the US ally of the publication,” according to Polish sources.

The following day, Aleksander Kwaśniewski, Poland’s president between 1995 and 2005, gave a joint press conference in the country’s parliament, the Sejm, with Leszek Miller, prime minister between 2001 and 2004. For the first time, the two social democrats from the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) admitted that the CIA had operated a secret prison in Poland. read more>>>

Romania Vows to Come Clean on CIA Report

Prime Minister Ponta said the authorities intended to publish any information they possessed about secret detentions centres linked to the controversial CIA rendition program.

18 Dec 14 - In a surprising exercise in openness on security issues, Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta on Wednesday said he was ready to make public all information about Romania’s alleged involvement with CIA detention and rendition programs, after his government earlier said “such proof doesn’t exist”.

“We have a duty to inform the public of everything we know of the past. The government will present all information from the archives to help the prosecutor’s office, parliament or the media to know what happened,” Ponta said. read more>>>

Thailand Says It Was Unaware Of CIA 'Black Site' On Its Soil

December 19, 2014 - Thailand's prime minister says his government had no knowledge of a secret location inside the country where the CIA is said to have waterboarded top al-Qaida operatives in 2002.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha was responding to the so-called "torture report" released by the Senate Intelligence Committee earlier this month that detailed the treatment of terrorism suspects at secret locations — black sites— around the world.

One such center, known by the CIA code-named "Cat's Eye," was reportedly in Thailand. read more>>>

* * * CIA Torture: Read the Senate Intelligence Committee report * * *

In a Democracy: 'Citizens must know what is done in their name'

* * * Seeds of ISIL Planted By Bush/Cheney and Conservative Congresses * * *

* * * The British Iraq War Inquiry * * * Released will carry private communications between GWBush and TBlair, like this already released: TB said there was a danger the Tories would see this as their chance to get rid of him … Bush said they would make it clear to the Tories that if they moved to get rid of TB "we will get rid of them".

* * * Iraq War Promoted Terrorism Rather Than Reducing It * * * 24 April 2014 - Britain’s involvement in the Iraq War promoted terrorism rather than reducing it and was a “strategic failure”, according to a major new report which estimated the cost of all UK conflicts since the end of the Cold War.
The Royal United Services Institute said the UK could face a bill of nearly £65bn, once the cost of long-term care for injured veterans was factored in, with most of the money was spent on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The study, called Wars in Peace, said both conflicts were largely “strategic failures” for the UK, The Guardian reported."

Facts: Matthew Hoh {former Marine and foreign service officer in Afghanistan}: "We spend a trillion dollars a year on national security in this country."
"And when you add up to the Department of Defense, Department of State, CIA, Veterans Affairs, interest on debt, the number that strikes me the most about how much we're committed financially to these wars and to our current policies is we have spent $250 billion already just on interest payments on the debt we've incurred for the Iraq and Afghan wars." 26 September 2014

Bob Herbert "Losing Our Way" : "And then the staggering costs of these wars, which are borne by the taxpayers. I mean, one of the things that was insane was that, as we're at war in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Bush administration cut taxes. This has never been done in American history. The idea of cutting taxes while you're going to war is just crazy. I mean, it's madness." Bill 'Moyers and Company': Restoring an America That Has Lost its Way 10 Oct. 2014

Chris Hayes MSNBC: "If you can run a deficit to go to war, you can run a deficit to take care of the people who fought it" In response to Republican opposition to expanding Veterans' benefits on fiscal grounds

Neither of these recent wars have yet been paid for, let alone the results from, including the long ignored or outright denied existence of, till this Administrations Cabinet and Gen Shinseki, only Government branch consistent for the past six years, issues! As well as under deficits most of the, grossly under funded, VA budget is still borrowed thus added, problem creating, costs that shouldn't exist!