Skip to: Content
Skip to: Site Navigation
Skip to: Search

December 2, 2008 7:12:23 AM CST

Learn about Newser Points »

« Back to the grid | Next story »

White House 'Duped' General Into Torture: Book

Posted Apr 19, 08 7:54 AM CDT in Politics 

(Newser) – The Bush administration "hoodwinked" one of the country's top military men in order to establish harsh interrogation techniques on Guantanamo Bay prisoners, according to revelations in a new book reported in the Guardian. Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Richard Myers was misled by White House aides into abandoning the military's long-standing ban on inhumane treatment of prisoners, according to London law professor Phillipe Sands in his book Torture Team.

The professor discovered that the general thought techniques like hooding and sensory deprivation had come from the military's own field manual—but they actually breached the military's rules, and some had been thought up by young officers inspired by the TV series 24. "As we worked through the list of techniques, Myers became increasingly hesitant and troubled," the professor writes. Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was "able to run rings around him."

Source Guardian (UK)

0 comments | Print E-mail | Digg Seed this on Newsvine Add this link to Del.icio.us StumbleUpon

Related Newser Stories

  • Gitmo 'Torture' Modeled on Chinese Grilling of US POWs

    Jul 2, 08 3:37 AM CDT
    Gitmo 'Torture' Modeled on Chinese Grilling of US POWs Guantanamo Bay interrogators learned their techniques from Chinese Communists who used them on American POWs in the Korean War, the New York Times reports. A 1957 Air Force chart labeled Communist Coercive Methods for Eliciting Individual Compliance detailed methods like prolonged standing and exposure to cold, and was used as a training aid by military trainers. The chart was copied verbatim for use at Guantanamo. More »

  • CIA Gave Pentagon Torture Tips

    Jun 18, 08 8:06 AM CDT
    CIA Gave Pentagon Torture Tips The CIA gave the Pentagon advice about the legality of harsh interrogation techniques to be used on detainees at Guantanamo Bay and elsewhere, the Washington Post reports. Documents shown to a Senate committee yesterday reveal that the agency had a bigger role than first thought. Torture is "subject to perception,"a CIA lawyer told officials at a 2002 meeting. "If the detainee dies, you're doing it wrong." More »

  • Ex-Pentagon Lawyers Face Grilling in Torture Probe

    Jun 17, 08 5:33 AM CDT
    Pentagon lawyers had more input than was initially thought into the harsh interrogation techniques used on Guantanamo Bay prisoners, sources close to a Senate investigation have told the New York Times. Documents from 2002 reveal that officials in the Department of Defense, then run by Donald Rumsfeld, researched techniques like waterboarding months before they were used on detainees. More »

  • Justice Memo Backed Torture Interrogations

    Apr 2, 08 3:42 AM CDT
    Justice Memo Backed Torture Interrogations Laws banning torture and assault should not apply to US military interrogators overseas, argues a 2003 Justice Department memo released yesterday. The Defense Department was told not to rely on the memo nine months after it was issued, but it established a legal foundation for controversial interrogations, the Washington Post reports. The document contends that presidential wartime powers override laws and treaties, and details justifications for using aggressive tactics against suspected terrorists. More »

Former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, left, and former Joint Chiefs Chairman Richard Myers, right, talk on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2007.   (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Retired Gen. Richard Myers, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, addresses the graduating class at the Army's Command and General Staff College Friday , Dec. 14, 2007 at Fort Leavenworth.   (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
A Guantanamo guard watches over detainees, not pictured, in the exercise area at Camp 5 maximum-security facility in this Oct. 9, 2007 file photo at Guantanamo Bay U.S. Naval Base, Cuba.   (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)
« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow
Our editors also recommend:

Threads (
1
 of 5)

Tags

US military • Guantanamo Bay • Donald Rumsfeld • interrogation techniques • Joint Chiefs of Staff • harsh interrogation


Loading...

Premium Articles from HighBeam

Find more articles like this

Today's Most Popular

Loading...

Other Politics Stories

What is Newser?

2008 Codie Finalist

Face it: there's too much news. At Newser a team of editors and writers culls the most important stories from hundreds of U.S. and international sources and reduces them to a headline, picture, and two paragraphs. It's the Newser guarantee: we can take any report or column or video and pack what you need to know into 120 words or less. Newser's short-form aggregation, visual format, and unique information tools help you get more of the kind of news you want, in a quicker and more entertaining way. And we do it 24/7—you can come back morning, noon, night (and in between) for something new that matters. Read less, know more.

Learn more »