War on Terrorism

Torture, Preventive Detention and the Terror Trials at Guantánamo

by Andy Worthington December 1, 2008

In the real world outside the U.S. Naval Base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, Barack Obama’s pledge to close Guantánamo and scrap the military commissions (the system of trials for “terror suspects” that was established in the wake of the 9/11 attacks) has provoked a rare outburst of frenzied media coverage. With no concrete plans announced by the President-elect’s transition team, ...

After 7 Years, Judge Orders Release of Guantánamo Kidnap Victims

by Andy Worthington November 24, 2008

On Thursday, in the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., Judge Richard Leon, an appointee of President George W. Bush, delivered a major blow to the outgoing administration’s “war on terror” detention policies by ordering the immediate release of five Algerian-born Bosnian prisoners at Guantánamo, after concluding that the government had provided no credible evidence that, as was alleged, ...

20 Reasons to Shut Down The Guantnamo Trials

by Andy Worthington November 17, 2008

As Barack Obama and his transition team begin looking at ways to fulfill the President-elects pledge to close Guantánamo, Andy Worthington, author of The Guantánamo Files, recalls that Barack Obama also promised to reject the Military Commissions Act (the legislation that revived the system of terror trials conjured up in the office ...

Conscience over Career: The Prosecution of the American Taliban (video)

by Jesslyn Radack November 15, 2008

On June 7, 2008, Jesselyn Radack gave the following Speech at FFF’s conference Restoring the Republic 2008: Foreign Policy and Civil Liberties. The speech can viewed below in its entirety.

Prisoner Release Highlights Guantánamo Failures

by Andy Worthington November 10, 2008

Guantánamo, it seems, is about to become a buzzword once more, as it is, in many ways, the most iconic symbol of Barack Obama’s challenge to undo the Bush administration’s zeal for unfettered executive power. Already, however, pundits are stepping forward to point out the difficulties involved in dismantling the system, whining about the dangerous terrorists held there, ...

Closing Guántanamo: How to Do It (and How Not to Do It) – video

by Joanne Mariner November 7, 2008

On June 7, 2008, Joanne Mariner gave the following Speech at FFF’s conference Restoring the Republic 2008: Foreign Policy and Civil Liberties. The speech can viewed below in its entirety.

Silence on War Crimes

by Andy Worthington November 3, 2008

Last week, Bill Kovach, former Washington Bureau Chief of the New York Timesand the founding chairman of the Committee of Concerned Journalists, blasted the U.S. media for its failure to ask tough questions of both presidential candidates regarding their opinions of the Bush administration’s unprecedented adherence to the controversial “unitary executive theory” of government. The theory, which became prominent in the ...

Corruption at Guantánamo: Military Commissions Under Investigation

by Andy Worthington October 29, 2008

Last month saw the “reassignment” of Air Force Brig. Gen. Thomas Hartmann, the legal adviser to Susan Crawford, the Convening Authority who oversees the Military Commissions at Guantánamo (the system of “terror trials” conceived by Vice President Dick Cheney and his close advisers in November 2001). Hartmann, who was appointed in July 2007, was removed from his post ...

Guantánamo: Justice Delayed or Justice Denied?

by Andy Worthington October 27, 2008

In the real world, guilt and innocence are clearly defined, and those believed to be responsible for a crime are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Since the 9/11 attacks, however, the U.S. administration has done away with such long-standing conventions. Under the guise of waging a “war on terror,” those in charge of America’s post-9/11 ...

Meltdown at the Guantánamo Trials

by Andy Worthington October 24, 2008

Recent events at Guantánamo are turning out like some kind of Christian fable. A principled military officer — politically conservative and a devout Catholic — who served in Iraq, where he was “praised by his superiors for his bravery,” and was now serving his government as a prosecutor in a system of special trials conceived for prisoners held in ...

The Curse of Visionary Politicians

by George Leef October 22, 2008

Much nonsense has been written about the great financial debacle of 2008, much of it deliberately crafted to confuse and mislead people into believing that it was caused by free-market capitalism. The truth is that this is the latest manifestation of our national curse — the curse of visionary politicians. That curse stems from our proclivity for electing politicians who ...

Omar Khadr: The Guantánamo Files

by Andy Worthington October 20, 2008

When is a child not a child? Apparently, when he is Omar Khadr, a 15-year-old Canadian who was shot in the back after a firefight in Afghanistan in July 2002. Omar has been in U.S. custody ever since, first at a prison at Bagram airbase in Afghanistan, and for the last six years in Guantánamo. Disturbingly, he has ...