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US Tells Lies About Torture, Say Members of Parliament

by: Tracy McVeigh  |  The Observer UK

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British Foreign Secretary David Miliband, seen here at the UN in September 2007, strongly condemned US interrogation techniques. (Photo: Eric Thayer / Reuters)

Denials of waterboarding "cannot be believed."

    Britain can no longer believe what Americans tell us about torture, an MPs' report to be published today claims. They also call for an immediate investigation into allegations that the UK government has itself 'outsourced' the torture of its own nationals to Pakistan.

    In a damning criticism of US integrity, the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee said ministers should no longer take at face value statements from senior politicians, including George Bush, that America does not resort to torture in the light of the CIA admitting it used 'waterboarding'. The interrogation technique was unreservedly condemned by Foreign Secretary David Miliband, who said it amounted to torture.

    A change in approach would have implications for extradition of prisoners to the US, especially in terror or security cases, as the UK has signed the UN convention which bars sending individuals to nations where they are at risk of being tortured. During waterboarding, a person is tied to a board with their feet raised and cellophane wrapped around the head. Water is then poured on to the face, causing the victim to start to drown.

    Today's committee report said there were 'serious implications' of the striking inconsistencies between British ministers continuing to believe the Bush administration when it denies using torture. 'The UK can no longer rely on US assurances that it does not use torture, and we recommend that the government does not rely on such assurances in the future,' said the committee. 'We also recommend that the government should immediately carry out an exhaustive analysis of current US interrogation techniques on the basis of such information as is publicly available or which can be supplied by the US.'

    It also urges the government to press the US authorities for information on whether any American military flights landing in the UK were part of the 'rendition circuit', even if they did not have detainees on board at the time.

    The government has repeatedly accepted US assurances that UK territory has not been used for 'rendition', the extra-judicial transfer of suspects between countries. But in February, Miliband told the Commons he had been informed by the US that two rendition planes refuelled on the British territory of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean.

    The MPs also urged the Foreign Office to investigate a Guardian report that six British nationals claimed to have been detained and tortured by the ISI, Pakistan's intelligence agency, where they were also interrogated by British intelligence officers. Foreign Minister Lord Malloch-Brown told the committee: 'We absolutely deny the charge that we have in any way outsourced torture to Inter-Services Intelligence [ISI] as a way of extracting information, either for court use or for use in counter-terrorism.'

    The report also called on the Foreign Office to seek consular access to all British citizens, including those of dual nationality, detained in Pakistan and asked for an explanation from ministers why one of those detained was apparently denied consular access but was visited by a British official, who may have been an intelligence officer.

  

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Wonderful!! LOL!! The

Wonderful!! LOL!! The British government may yet do what our own Congress is afraid to do... and bring more of this under a bright light. Bush may yet go down in flames...

Seems as if the British

Seems as if the British should at lease demand a statement from Mukasey, the US's esteemed Attorney General, as to whether he actually thinks waterboarding IS torture. He was supposed to give an opinion on this as part of his confirmation discussions with COngress -- or, at least that was what he promised. As I recall, he was going to "study" this idea and get back to us. HIs techniques for "study" may actually mirror our President's approach to such intellectual endeavors. Ya think? Seems as all honesty and candidness has left the government of the United States for the past few years. Consider the issue of leaking a CIA Agent's identity - easier to hide it under "executive privilege" than disclose any information about it. Good for the Brits!

It's a bad day at black

It's a bad day at black rock, when you take the word of the Bush regime,and it's BS to assume they are just now finding that out

"The first casualty when war

"The first casualty when war comes, is truth," was coined by Hiram Johnson a Republican politician from California who served in the United States Senate for nearly 30 years, beginning in the midst of World War I and concluding with his death in 1945 -- on the same day the U.S. dropped its first atomic bomb on Hiroshima... Indeed, it took 935 LIES, carefully orchestrated by the Bush administration -- with the full cooperation of our Big Media -- to start the invasion; continue the occupation; and to continue the funding of this bloody, pack of lies with the enthusiastic complicity of our gutless Congress! 3 TRILLION DOLLARS LATER, the same "Rogues' Gallery" are rattling their sabres, threatening Iran!! SHAMELESS LIARS!

"Britain can no longer

"Britain can no longer believe what Americans tell us about torture, an MPs' report to be published today claims." No. Not Americans. Bush is not an American regardless of his place of birth. Bush and his thugs have soiled the reputation of my country and violated our Constitution. Anyone who refers to the Constitution as a "god-damned piece of paper" isn't an American. He's no better than a traitor and belongs in jail. But, don't condemn Americans. We didn't elect him. Two elections were stolen from us.

All the nations of the world

All the nations of the world should follow the British MP's lead in damning the torture policies of the US and refuse to allow there territories to be used for any American military flights which would include their rendition circuit. It would be a consumate moral victory for humanity if all nations condemned the US for it's illegal wars and in the name of Justice imposed sanctions on the US until they correct their international criminal behavior and make reparations for the tragic crimes against humanity that they have committed and continue to commit.