Tyler Scott Drumheller - CIA Europe Division Station Chief - Exposed USG Lies re Iraq

Article SOURCE as marked https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/tyler-drumheller-cia-officer-who-exposed-us-reliance-on-discredited-iraq-source-curveball-dies-at-63/2015/08/06/b45aeed2-3b99-11e5-b3ac-8a79bc44e5e2_story.html Tyler Drumheller, CIA officer who exposed U.S. reliance on discredited Iraq source ‘Curveball,’ dies at 63 [Veteran CIA officer Tyler Drumheller on “60 Minutes” in 2007. (Courtesy of CBS)]   By Greg Miller August 6, 2015 Tyler S. Drumheller, a high-level CIA officer who publicly battled agency leaders over one of the most outlandish claims in the U.S. case for war with Iraq, died Aug. 2 at a hospital in Fairfax County. He was 63. The cause was complications from pancreatic cancer, said his wife, Linda Drumheller. Mr. Drumheller held posts in Africa and Europe over a 26-year career during which the CIA’s focus shifted from the Cold War to terrorist threats. He rose to prominent positions at CIA headquarters, serving as chief of the European division at a time when the agency was abducting al-Qaeda suspects on the continent and U.S. allies there faced a wave of terrorist plots. But he was best known publicly for his role in exposing the extent to which a key part of the administration’s case for war with Iraq had been built on the claims of an Iraqi defector and serial fabricator with the fitting code name “Curveball.” In contrast to Hollywood’s depiction of spies as impossibly elegant and acrobatic, Mr. Drumheller was a bulky, rumpled figure who often seemed oblivious to the tufts of dog hair on his clothes. “I always thought of him as an overfed George Smiley,” said Bill Murray, a former CIA colleague, referring to the character in John le Carré spy novels known for his espionage acumen but unassuming appearance. Mr. Drumheller spent the bulk of his career as an undercover officer seeking to avoid public attention. But after retiring in 2005, he emerged as a vocal critic of the George W. Bush administration’s use of deeply flawed intelligence to build support for its decision to invade Iraq in 2003. Curveball, who had defected to Germany in the late 1990s, was the primary source behind the administration’s assertions that Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq had developed biological weapons laboratories — lethal germ factories supposedly built on wheels or rails to evade detection. The claim was included in Bush’s 2003 State of the Union speech as well as then-Secretary of State Colin Powell’s presentation to the United Nations designed to marshal international support for intervention in Iraq. Mr. Drumheller later came forward to say that he had learned early on that German authorities had grave doubts about Curveball’s credibility. In his book “On the Brink” (2006), written with Elaine Monaghan, he recounted the Curveball debacle in detail, noting that his German counterpart had cautioned that Curveball “could be a fabricator. He’s a very erratic character.” Mr. Drumheller said he relayed that warning to top CIA officials, and even attempted to strike the language on mobile labs from an early draft of Powell’s speech, only to be stunned to learn that the text was subsequently restored. In “On the Brink,” Mr. Drum-heller described feeling his “heart sinking” as he watched Powell’s speech. “We had failed,” he wrote. “It was bad enough that we had not prevented the Sept. 11 attacks and we were being blamed for that. Now the nation was about to embark on a war based on intelligence I knew was false, and we would surely be blamed for that, too.” A scathing 2005 report on the intelligence failures in Iraq did not mention Mr. Drumheller by name but concluded that officials in the agency’s European division had “expressed serious concerns about Curveball’s reliability to senior officials at the CIA,” and that the warnings were inexplicably dismissed. The allegation touched off a bitter feud. When then-CIA Director George J. Tenet denied that he had ever been warned about Curveball, Mr. Drumheller fought back in public, saying that “everyone in the chain of command knew exactly what was happening.” Mr. Drumheller was widely quoted in news accounts and appeared on the CBS program “60 Minutes.” No mobile germ warfare labs were found, and the defector, Rafid Ahmed Alwan al-Janabi, has since admitted that the story was a fiction he fed to German intelligence while seeking asylum. The blow-up over Curveball coincided with Mr. Drumheller’s retirement from the CIA. “I think he was really proud of standing up against the war,” Linda Drumheller said in an interview. “That was his personal greatest achievement.” The son of an Air Force chaplain, Tyler Scott Drumheller was born in Biloxi, Miss., on April 12, 1952. He spent part of his childhood in Germany before attending the University of Virginia. He graduated in 1974 with a history degree and did postgraduate work in Chinese at Georgetown University before being hired by the CIA in 1979. He met Linda Blocher while she was working at the spy agency as a secretary in the Africa division, and proposed to her in a stairwell at CIA headquarters after learning that he would soon be sent to Zambia. It was the first in a series of stops for the couple that would also include South Africa, Portugal, Germany and Austria. Two and sometimes three pet dogs accompanied every move. ... Mr. Drumheller’s affable manner made it easy for him to form lasting connections with people throughout his career, Linda Drumheller said. He also had a prodigious memory, she said, that enabled him to keep track of cryptonyms, children’s birthdays and Detroit Tigers statistics. Mr. Drumheller “understood human nature,” Murray said. “Beneath that pleasant and fun kind of personality, he understood exactly what people were and what he was dealing with. Good or bad.” Mr. Drumheller had retained a young CIA recruit’s enthusiasm for much of his career. But he seemed to grow tired of the internal conflicts after the Sept. 11 attacks. In his memoir, he wrote that in retirement he asked to have his Distinguished Career Intelligence medal delivered by mail rather than returning to headquarters for a ceremony. When the envelope arrived, he wrote, “I opened it up and fell into a bit of a reverie, reflecting on my career and the years past, the successes and the friends gained, the colleagues lost and the mistakes made.” Greg Miller covers intelligence agencies and terrorism for The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/tyler-drumheller-cia-officer-who-exposed-us-reliance-on-discredited-iraq-source-curveball-dies-at-63/2015/08/06/b45aeed2-3b99-11e5-b3ac-8a79bc44e5e2_story.html -------/\/\/ SUMMARY source http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/01/01/286004/-Book-Review-Tyler-Drumheller-rsquo-s-ldquo-On-the-Brink-rdquo Illegal War on Iraq Following appointed to investigate "what went wrong with the intelligence gathering/application pre-invasion" of Iraq: Senate Intel Committee Robb-Silbermann Commission yet the White House was given a 'clean bill of health' -- re distortion of intel & misleading the nation re 'weapons of mass destruction' in Iraq -- despite Drumheller account indicating that White House:     -- politicised Iraq intelligence     -- cherry-picked Iraq intelligence -- and none of this was recorded in the commissioned reports -- nor was it mentioned: -- White House ignored a CIA key informant in Iraqi govt -- who informed the US that there were no active weapons programs -- even though Drumheller was interviewed by:     -- Robb-Silbermann Commission - three (3) times     -- Senate Select Committee on Intelligence - two (2) times -- the what-went-wrong re Iraq invasion reports were dishonest -- Drumheller's account was not included in these reports -- Josh Marshall:  speaks volumes re agenda of writers of such reports -- both Drumheller & his colleagues (presumably CIA?) in shock so little mention in reports -- Investigators re lead-up to Iraq: -- principal goal wasn't not covering up for the White House (Marshall concludes) Article goes on to discuss Drumheller book. Pre 9/11 -- US intel / securty agencies appear to have a vast amount of overlap of agency and of task -- jealous guarding of info -- either hoarded or forced each other -- stove-piping info - without verification stovepipe -- pathway for transmitting info higher in org. hierarchy while bypassing -- mid levels that remain uninformed re this info http://www.thefreedictionary.com/stovepipe LOL ... arguments CIA vs. Dept. Defence -- re 1.  verification of validity of source responsibilities 2.  who to analyse material & place into context "One group says: Hey, all we do is report info. We don’t guarantee the source or if it’s valid. Another group says: No, all we do is pass it along; it’s up to someone else to draw conclusions from it." [source] Post 9/11 & pre-Iraq Invasion: -- Bush admin cherry picks info -- takes from one source; ignores another -- re-using same info as if info provided by two separate sources -- no analysis in interim -- pre Iraq invasion even more layers bureaucracy, assistance + experts added -- but no clear hierarchy re channels of reporting or procedures for verification of sources Drumheller -- pro streamlined methods re info flow & decision making -- per tested methods of Cold War Drumheller discusses role USA shares with Western allies -- re growth of corrupt, oppressive govts. in Middle East -- as legacy of colonisation & of Cold War -- refers to USA having made a 'deal with the devil' to get support -- US & allied support of dictators & corrupt rulers -- to supposedly deal with "global threat posed by Soviet Union" -- ie pragmatic choice of USA, followed by FALLOUT -- fallout results from poor & disenfranchised being drawn to al-Qaeda -- & other radical orgs that offer "simple explanations" -- & ready villain:  USA & allies http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/01/01/286004/-Book-Review-Tyler-Drumheller-rsquo-s-ldquo-On-the-Brink-rdquo ---------------------- ---------------------- COMMENT -------/\/\/ Drumheller sounds really brainwashed about the nature of communism & Russians. / I think he has an enormous blind spot as far as US and US allies are concerned ... How can that be, after 26 years of service?  Doesn't he know he's dealing with a bunch of sociopaths and that the villain title is well-deserved? / and I think he under-estimates the dangers inherent in culture & ideology of the Middle East -------/\/\/ Found myself wondering if the 'war on terror' is even real, and if the entire thing isn't a series of false flag ops or something, to keep the CIA in funds post Cold War -- ie. to justify the existence of a massive agency etc. Look at the extremes they go to in Latin America, with the history of all the investment in undermining elected governments, funding opposition, non-stop interference, lies, deceiving the American public, manipulating the American media, crafting pretexts for aggression -- any excuses -- to back intervention and brutal take-over. Bet those pretexts would also include false flag ops.  So how would we ever know when it's a false flag op and when its genuine terrorist attacks? Sounds like the CIA isn't the big happy family I thought it might have been.  But that could be in the past.  Not sure. Wonder if any foreign agencies exploited that vulnerability?

Article - 'Julian Assange and Collateral Murder – part 1'

ꕤ COLLATERAL MURDER VIDEO(S) https://collateralmurder.wikileaks.org/ Julian Assange and Collateral Murder – part 1 by Gerry Georgatos    December 31st, 2015 Julian Assange remains in wait within London’s Ecuadorean Embassy, notoriously hounded despite his courage to tell the truth. He has committed no crime against humanity. He has murdered no-one. He is hounded as if he has. But the murderers and their keepers of the July 12, 2007 Baghdad airstrikes by US forces where air to ground attacks deploying US AH-64 Apache helicopters killing innocent civilians and journalists, have never been brought to account. Three years on from this incident the world would be availed to the awful truth. WikiLeaks released 39 minutes of the ‘classified’ gunfight footage. [ ... CONTINUES ... ] SOURCE http://thestringer.com.au/julian-assange-and-collateral-murder-part-1-11460 ---------------------- ꕤ ---------------------- Julian Assange Editor, WikiLeaks Justice4Assange WikiLeaks Site WikiLeaks Twitter BOOK:  The WikiLeaks Files (2015) Link | here ꕤ

Free Political Prisoner - Julian Assange

ꕤ SUPPORT https://justice4assange.com/ FREE JOURNALIST JULIAN ASSANGE [CLICK image to ENLARGE] [CLICK image to ENLARGE] USA & Allies Use of paramilitary death squads Torture of Iraqis Indiscriminate killing of civilians Deliberate civilians killings Large-scale, unreported killing of civilians (eg machine-gunning bus) 2007 US Army helicopter gunning civilians (incl. press) Secret drone strikes US special ops offensive ops in Pakistan Cover-up of massacres US govt systemic wrongdoing & wide-scale deception Violation of INTERNATIONAL LAW Extraordinary rendition (kidnappings & illegal transfers) Illegal torture of detainees US threatening Italian govt to influence court case re CIA kidnapping CIA Black Sites Extra-judicial killings by 'black' unit Afghanistan (kills incl. civilians) Violation of 1949 UN Convention - spying on leadership of United Nations GMOs proposed military-style trade war v. European countries opposing GMOs US diplomats working directly for GM companies (eg Monsanto) NOT AN EXHAUSTIVE LIST --------------------------------------------------------------- Source Vincent Warren Director, Centre for Constitutional Rights - 1 Vincent Warren Director, Centre for Constitutional Rights - 2 Vincent Warren Director, Centre for Constitutional Rights - 3 Ryan Gallagher Link | Slate --------------------------------------------------------------- ꕤ

2013 - Abu Ghraib & Other Captive Torture Iraq - US Govt Contractor to Pay Tortured Captives

ꕤ Article SOURCE Archived News - 2013 http://www.timesofisrael.com/us-defense-contractor-pays-over-5-million-to-ex-abu-ghraib-inmates/ Times of Israel  / AP  - 2013 Summary: Engility Holdings Inc Chantilly, Virginia, USA US government defence contractor lawsuit:  conspiring to torture detainees at:   Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq Paid $5.28 million to 71 former inmates held Abu Ghraib (& at other US-run detention sites) between 2003 and 2007 L-3 Services Inc. (now an Engility subsidiary) provided translators to US military in Iraq over  6,000 translators in Iraq (at $450 million per annum contract) CACI International Inc. Arlington, Virginia, USA (another US government defence contractor) case expected to go on trial each of the 71 Iraqis received a portion Torture - Iraq mock execution (trigger pulling) wall slammed until unconscious stripped, bound (chain) & hooded, threatened with rape forced to consume so much water, vomited blood several captives raped & beaten kept naked extended periods of time 2003 to 2006 USA Defence Department paid $30.9 million to Iraqi & Afghan civilians re killings, injuries, property damage due to US or coalition forces' military actions US government is immune from lawsuits stemming from combatant activities of the military at war 2013 - Times of Israel: "Courts are still sorting out whether contractors in a war zone should be accorded legal immunity from being sued, just as the government is immune." In its defense four years ago against the lawsuit, L-3 said the fact that the claims in the case “cannot be brought against the government means that they also cannot be brought against L-3.” “No court in the United States has allowed aliens — detained on the battlefield or in the course of postwar occupation and military operations by the US military — to seek damages for their detention,” the company told the federal court four years ago. “Yet these plaintiffs bring claims seeking money damages for their detention and treatment while in the custody of the US military in the midst of a belligerent occupation in Iraq.” Allowing the case to proceed “would require a wholly unprecedented injection of the judiciary into wartime military operations and occupation conduct against the local population, in particular the conditions of confinement and interrogation for intelligence gathering,” L-3 added. http://www.timesofisrael.com/us-defense-contractor-pays-over-5-million-to-ex-abu-ghraib-inmates/ ---------------------- ꕤ ---------------------- COMMENT The Iraqi torture victims didn't receive much:  $5.28 million between 71 victims is peanuts. Maybe the whole of Iraq should mount a class action lawsuit and get restitution for decades, seeing the entire Iraq war was illegal. If the US cannot be sued re 'war' military actions, why have US taxpayers paid:  $30.9 million to Afghans and Iraqis? And check out the $450-million American taxpayer money that went to the interpreters. And let's not forget the 2010 monthly costs borne by the American taxpayer, that's in the BILLIONS (and, no, that's not a typo): February 2010 Cost of War to USA Taxpayers Afghanistan - $6.7 billion per month Iraq - $5.5 billion per month Link  | Post Bankers must love war USA debt clock: Over $18 Trillion dollars payable to bankers by US taxpayers for generations ahead More US debt clocks: http://www.usadebtclock.com/ www.usdebtclock.org/ *I think that's 'trillions' ... but I'm no good at reading big numbers. ꕤ

USA - Rome Statute - ICC

ꕤ Info ROME STATUTE as marked USA & ISRAEL - 'UNSIGN' AS SIGNATORIES TO ROME STATUTE [Click on Image for Clear View, or link to article(s)] Jurist [Click on Image for Clear View, or link to article(s)] USA THREATENS MILITARY FORCE IF USA BROUGHT BEFORE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT American Free Press [Click on Image for Clear View, or link to article(s)] American Free Press [Click on Image for Clear View, or link to article(s)] US-NATO / CIA PROPAGANDA SELLING AFGHANISTAN WAR USA UNSIGNING ROME STATUTE USA THREATENING MILITARY ACTION RE BRINGING USA BEFORE ICC CIA PROPAGANDA & MEDIA CONTROL - GENERAL Page | Link ---------------------- ꕤ ---------------------- COMMENT As at 2015, USA is not party to the Rome Statute (nor is Israel ... and some others). However, both USA and Israel were parties to the Rome Statute, but both 'unsigned' themselves -- in the US case, by the Bush-Cheney administration in 2002 (post invasion of Afghanistan, and just prior to illegal invasion of Iraq). I'd forgotten that the US has threatened to USE FORCE if its citizens were brought before the International Criminal Court (ICC), per the Rome Statute. How shady is this?   And how hypocritical is it to then expect (and lobby) to bring other states before the ICC for war crimes prosecution?  Especially states targeted for regime change:  Libya and Syria. -------/\/\/ Edit  |  March 2016: In the lead-up to the establishment of the ICC, USA signed up to the ICC just before the December 2000 deadline: -- to ensure that it would be a State party to the agreement -- that could participate in DECISION-MAKING on how the Court works To make certain it would remain immune to prosecution: Washington began to negotiate bilateral agreements with other countries, insuring immunity of US nationals from prosecution by the Court. As leverage, Washington threatened termination of economic aid, withdrawal of military assistance, and other painful measures. Washington ... has no intention to join the ICC, due to its concern about possible charges against US nationals. https://www.globalpolicy.org/international-justice/the-international-criminal-court/us-opposition-to-the-icc.html 'Hague Invasion Act'  - Servicemembers Protection Act (ASPA) (2002)   In addition: US threatens military force if personnel held at The Hague: -- U.S. President George Bush -- 3 August, 2002, signs: -- Servicemembers Protection Act (ASPA) (2002) -- dubbed the 'Hague Invasion Act' -- because the law:     -- law authorises the use of US military force     -- to liberate any American or citizen of a US-allied country     -- being held by ICC in The Hague -- USA punishing those that ratify ICC treaty     -- Servicemembers Protection Act     -- provides for withdrawal of US military assistance     -- from countries ratifying the ICC treaty     -- reconstructs US participation in UN peacekeeping, unless US obtains immunity from prosecution     -- but provisions may be waived on 'national interests' grounds -- however, the US has written into law, the provision that the US may:     -- assist internationally to 'bring to justice' those accused of:         -- genocide;         -- war crimes;         -- crimes against humanity;     -- including assistance with efforts of ICC. *USA makes an exception of itself and its partners in crime. http://www.globalissues.org/article/490/united-states-and-the-icc [Think I might need to re-work this untidy post some time  :)  ] ꕤ

No Nuremberg for Anglo-American War Criminals

ꕤ Article SOURCE as indicated http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2015/10/18/433878/Tony-Blair-Bush-Iraq-war- Bush, Blair plotted Iraq war 1 year before invasion had started: White House memo Sun Oct 18, 2015 12:54AM A damning White House memo has revealed details of the so-called “deal in blood” forged by former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and US President George W. Bush over the Iraq war. The document, titled “Secret... Memorandum for the President”, was sent by then-US Secretary of State Colin Powell to President Bush on March 28, 2002, a week before Bush’s summit with Blair at his Crawford ranch in Texas, Britain’s Daily Mail reported on Sunday. The sensational memo revealed that Blair had agreed to support the war a year before the invasion even started, while publicly the British prime minister was working to find a diplomatic solution to the crisis. The document also disclosed that Blair agreed to act as a spin doctor for Bush and convince a skeptical public that Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein had Weapons of Mass Destruction, which actually did not exist. In response, Bush would flatter Blair and give the impression that London was not Washington’s poodle but an equal partner in the “special relationship.” Powell told Bush that Blair “will be with us” on the Iraq war, and assured the president that “"the UK will follow our lead in the Middle East."  In November 2002, US President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell applaud at a summit in Prague. Between them is National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, to their right, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. (Reuters photo) Another sensational memo revealed how Bush used “spies” in the British Labour Party to help him to influence public opinion in the United Kingdom in favor of the Iraq war. Both documents were obtained and published by The Mail on Sunday. They are part of a number of classified emails stored on the private server of former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton which courts have forced her to reveal. Blair has always denied the claim that he and Bush signed a deal “in blood” at Crawford to launch a war against Iraq that began on March 20, 2003, that has killed hundreds of thousands of people. The Powell memo, however, showed how Blair and Bush secretly prepared the Iraq war plot behind closed doors at Crawford. Powell told Bush: “He will present to you the strategic, tactical and public affairs lines that he believes will strengthen global support for our common cause.” The top US diplomatic official added that the UK premier has the presentational skills to “make a credible public case on current Iraqi threats to international peace.” Powell wrote that Blair will “stick with us on the big issues” but he needs to show the British public that “Britain and America are truly equal partners in the special relationship.”  In March 2003, the US and Britain invaded Iraq in blatant violation of international law and under the pretext of finding WMDs; but no such weapons were ever discovered in Iraq. More than one million Iraqis were killed as the result of the US-led invasion, and subsequent occupation of the country, according to the California-based investigative organization Project Censored. The US war in Iraq cost American taxpayers $1.7 trillion with an additional $490 billion in benefits owed to war veterans, expenses that could grow to more than $6 trillion over the next four decades counting interest, according to a study called Costs of War Project by the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University. http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2015/10/18/433878/Tony-Blair-Bush-Iraq-war- http://www.globalresearch.ca/kuala-lumpur-war-crimes-tribunal-bush-convicted-in-absentia-it-s-official-george-w-bush-is-a-war-criminal/30839 Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Tribunal. Bush Convicted in Absentia: IT’S OFFICIAL – George W Bush is a war criminal. By Yvonne Ridley Global Research, May 14, 2012 Foreign Policy Journal 14 May 2012 EXTRACT In what is the first ever conviction of its kind anywhere in the world, the former US President and seven key members of his administration were today (Friday) found guilty of war crimes. Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and their legal advisers Alberto Gonzales, David Addington, William Haynes, Jay Bybee and John Yoo were tried in absentia in Malaysia. The trial held in Kuala Lumpur heard harrowing witness accounts from victims of torture who suffered at the hands of US soldiers and contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan. They included testimony from British man Moazzam Begg, an ex-Guantanamo detainee and Iraqi woman Jameelah Abbas Hameedi who was tortured in the notorious Abu Ghraib prison. At the end of the week-long hearing, the five-panel tribunal unanimously delivered guilty verdicts against Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and their key legal advisors who were all convicted as war criminals for torture and cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment. Full transcripts of the charges, witness statements and other relevant material will now be sent to the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, as well as the United Nations and the Security Council. The Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Commission is also asking that the names of Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Gonzales, Yoo, Bybee, Addington and Haynes be entered and included in the Commission’s Register of War Criminals for public record. The tribunal is the initiative of Malaysia’s retired Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who staunchly opposed the American-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. FULL AT SOURCE http://www.globalresearch.ca/kuala-lumpur-war-crimes-tribunal-bush-convicted-in-absentia-it-s-official-george-w-bush-is-a-war-criminal/30839 http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2011/11/20111128105712109215.html Kuala Lumpur tribunal: Bush and Blair guilty A war crimes tribunal in Malaysia offers a devastating critique of international criminal law institutions today. 28 Nov 2011 13:37 GMT Richard Falk Richard Falk is Albert G Milbank Professor Emeritus of International Law at Princeton University and Research Fellow, Orfalea Center of Global Studies. He is also former UN Special Rapporteur on Palestinian human rights. EXTRACTS In Kuala Lumpur, after two years of investigation by the Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Commission (KLWCC), a tribunal (the Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Tribunal, or KLWCT) consisting of five judges with judicial and academic backgrounds reached a unanimous verdict that found George W Bush and Tony Blair guilty of crimes against peace, crimes against humanity, and genocide as a result of their roles in the Iraq War. The proceedings took place over a four-day period from November 19-22, and included an opportunity for court-appointed defense counsel to offer the tribunal arguments and evidence on behalf of the absent defendants. They had been invited to offer their own defense or send a representative, but declined to do so. ... Universal jurisdiction The KLWCT did not occur entirely in a jurisprudential vacuum. It has long been acknowledged that domestic criminal courts can exercise universal jurisdiction for crimes of state wherever these may occur, although usually only if the accused individuals are physically present in the court. The underlying legal theory is based on the recognition of the limited capacity of international criminal trials to impose accountability in a manner that is not entirely dictated by geopolitical priorities and reflective of a logic of impunity. In this regard, universal jurisdiction has the potential to treat equals equally, and is very threatening to the Kissingers and Rumsfelds of this world, who have curtailed their travel schedules. The United States and Israel have used their diplomatic leverage to roll back universal jurisdiction authority in Europe, especially in the United Kingdom and Belgium. "War must be outlawed. That will have to be our struggle for now. We must struggle for justice and freedom from oppression, from economic hegemony. But we must remove the threat of war first. With this sword of Damocles hanging over our heads we can never succeed in advancing the interests of our countries.  War must therefore be made illegal. The enforcement of this must be by multilateral forces under the control of the United Nations. No single nation should be allowed to police the world, least of all to decide what action to take, [and] when." Mahathir Mohamed anti-war speech of February 24, 2003 ... In his 2007 statement, Mahathir promised that a future KLWCT would not, in his words, be "like the 'kangaroo court' that tried Saddam". Truly, the courtroom proceedings against Saddam Hussein was a sham trial excluding much relevant evidence, disallowing any meaningful defense, and culminating in a grotesque and discrediting execution.  ... FULL AT SOURCE http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2011/11/20111128105712109215.html ---------------------- ꕤ ---------------------- COMMENT When you don't know what's going on, the conviction for war crimes in absentia sounds vaguely amusing -- as if the Malaysians were off their heads and had gone rogue in deciding to convict such fine and upstanding Americans (and Blair) for war crimes. It's only down the track that you learn that, yes, there really is grounds for such an outlandish-sounding conviction, as there is a convention against torture and against waging wars of aggression. Yes, people were tortured and, yes, the Iraq invasion was illegal and was launched on false pretexts (WMDs). So these government representatives are totally bent and criminal in their actions. And, as time progresses, more information comes out supporting that ugly fact.  The latest is just more confirmation that these people and their governments really are criminals. Germans were tried by the victors at Nuremberg and hanged for war crimes. But there won't be any such trials for the Anglo-American war criminals. ________________ Wonder if those Clinton e-mails were meant to come out, to maybe influence elections.  As in, Bush is Republican and Clinton is Democrat.  So creating a situation (private server) where this information would be released could maybe have been deliberate to advantage the Democrats, I'm thinking. Of course, I could be completely wrong.  lol ꕤ

CIA - Rendition - Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr / Abu Omar - ex-CIA, Sabrina De Sousa Held Portugal

ꕤ Article SOURCE http://www.allgov.com/news/us-and-the-world/cia-agent-convicted-in-italy-for-kidnapping-detained-in-portugal-151012?news=857615 CIA Agent Convicted in Italy for Kidnapping Detained in Portugal Back to News submit to reddit Monday, October 12, 2015 A former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer who was convicted in absentia for the kidnapping of a terror suspect in Italy was prevented from leaving Portugal and may be sent to Italy to serve her sentence. Sabrina De Sousa was convicted, along with 22 other Americans, of participating in the abduction from a Milan street of Egyptian cleric Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr, also known as Abu Omar, in 2003. He was taken to Egypt, where he was tortured, according to his wife and Italian prosecutors. He was freed in 2007. De Sousa says she wasn’t involved in the kidnapping, but did serve as an interpreter during its planning stages, according to The Washington Post. Since she and the other Americans—most of them CIA officials— were convicted by the Italian court in 2009, De Sousa has been outspoken in her criticism of the U.S. government’s seeming abandonment of those involved in the kidnapping. She told the Post that she knew that she could be detained by traveling to Portugal, but wanted to bring the matter to a head, either with the United States granting her diplomatic immunity or by Italy reinvestigating the kidnapping or granting her and those also convicted clemency. “This has gone on for 10 years,” De Sousa said. “It’s impacted my life. I’ve got relatives in Europe, and I don’t see any reason to give that up. The rendition should have never taken place, and we were all thrown under the bus for it.” De Sousa expressed surprise that it took Portuguese authorities as long as it did to detain her. “The interesting part of it is the timing,” De Sousa told the Post. “Why now? When I came into Portugal I did not get detained. I have been here for several months and the Italians never asked Portugal to surrender me to Italy. When was it put into their system at the airport? Someone in Italy seemed to know I was traveling.” She said she was prohibited last Monday from leaving the country, but after a court hearing only had to surrender her passport and was not jailed. De Sousa left the CIA in 2009 and sued to get diplomatic immunity to protect her from the Italian charges, but her case was dismissed. Only one other defendant in the case has come close to being extradited. Robert Seldon Lady, who was the CIA’s station chief in Milan at the time of the kidnapping, was detained in Panama two years ago at Italy’s request but was released. One of the defendants, Col. Joseph L. Romano III, a retired Air Force commander, was pardoned by the Italian court in 2013. SOURCE http://www.allgov.com/news/us-and-the-world/cia-agent-convicted-in-italy-for-kidnapping-detained-in-portugal-151012?news=857615 The Rendition Project UK Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr, a.k.a. Abu Omar, was born in Egypt in 1963. Having been detained and tortured by the Egyptian regime for his involvement in Egypt’s militant Islamic Group, he was granted political asylum in Italy in 2001. In the lead up to the Iraq war of 2003, he campaigned against the invasion and occupation of Iraq. This sparked surveillance by the Italian authorities of his activities, and investigations into the contacts he kept. The Italian authorities alleged that he was recruiting fighters to go to Iraq and resist the occupation. He denies this.   On 17 February 2003 Nasr was apprehended in Milan by a man in a police uniform. He was bundled into a van where men in balaclavas beat, blindfolded and restrained him. The journey lasted several hours, and on arrival at what is now known to be the US airbase at Aviano, Nasr was prepared for his rendition to Cairo, via the Ramstein airbase in Germany. Common with other rendition victims, his clothes were cut off, a suppository was forcibly inserted into his rectum, his head was taped leaving holes only for his mouth and nose, and he was forced onto a CIA-contracted Gulfstream IV jet with registration number N85VM, operated by Richmor Aviation.  EXTRACT - SOURCE http://www.therenditionproject.org.uk/prisoners/abu-omar.html ---------------------- ꕤ ---------------------- COMMENT These people don't deserve immunity or clemency, but they'll get it because we live in a corrupt world in which corruption and might is right. Even if this guy had been organising a resistance to the 2003 US invasion, how does that make him a 'terrorist' when the US invasion of Iraq was illegal and on false pretexts? Robert Seldon Lady was released by Panama and Col. Joseph L. Romano III was pardoned by Italy, so I don't see Italy playing hard ball regarding De Sousa. Everybody's corrupt, but I get the impression that Italy and Latin America are that bit extra corrupt and somehow linked and closely linked to the US and CIA, so why are they even bothering to go through this farce of convicting the CIA? Found the torture and rape of this guy rather disturbing. ꕤ