Regional Reactions to the Senate’s Report on U.S. Use of Torture

The Blowback in Retaliation had started and not only grown but spread as the policies, not just on torture and renditions, extremely quickly abandoning the missions and those sent to accomplish after 9/11, were carried out, and continue!!

A Resounding Silence: Regional Reactions to the Senate’s Report on U.S. Use of Torture

December 29, 2014 - The release of the Senate Intelligence Committee report on the Central Intelligence Agency’s use of torture has drawn fairly muted reactions across the Middle East, despite initial White House concerns that it might provoke unrest as well as possible retaliation against American interests and facilities in the region.

Secretary of State John Kerry sought to delay the report’s release on December 5 due to concerns over fall-out from the report’s revelations, while Representative Mike Rogers, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, warned that "foreign leaders have approached the government and said, ‘You do this, this will cause violence and deaths’." Security at U.S. military and diplomatic facilities was enhanced in the run-up to the report’s release. However, few governments in the region released official statements on the issue, with news coverage similarly sparse. There were no significant protests surrounding the report’s release.

Despite the relative dearth of official coverage, information on the report was widely circulated on Twitter under the hashtags #تقرير_التعذيب (#Torture_Report) or تقرير_الكونجرس# (#Congress_Report). Maps showing Arab countries’ participation in the program were shared via Twitter. Many Tweets criticized countries that participated in the program — the Open Society Foundations has cited 54 countries, including many in the region — or praised those that apparently did not, including Oman, Qatar, Tunisia and Sudan. read more>>>

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

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

Human rights groups call for special prosecutor to investigate CIA torture

22 December 2014 - The ACLU and Human Rights Watch say the offences amount to ‘a vast criminal conspiracy’ and are ‘shocking and corrosive’ to US democracy and credibility read more>>>

* * * 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

$14 Million An Hour: War Costs Top $1.6 Trillion Since 9/11, Say Congressional Researchers

December 22 2014 - American taxpayers have shelled out roughly $1.6 trillion on war spending since 9/11, according to a new report from Congress’ nonpartisan research arm. That’s roughly $337 million a day -- or nearly a quarter million dollars a minute -- every single day for 13 years. read more>>>

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!