A couple of months ago, I heard Craig Murray speak at the University of Chicago. He is the ex-ambassador to Uzbekistan for the UK, which makes him a fairly reliable witness.
While much of the discussion was on the usual anti-Bush issues that any Republicans reading this are already gearing up to fight me on, the heart of his talk was this: the US and the UK were actively promoting torture on an unprecedented scale in Uzbekistan purely for propaganda purposes. Much more information is available on his website under "Uzbekistan" ...I've summarised some of it below. It's from memory, so forgive any details that I get wrong.
The current regime in Uzbekistan was placed there by the United States. This is a country where the cash crop is cotton, and they export 50% of the world's cotton, meaning that you're probably wearing cotton picked by slave labour right now. The general population works as slaves for $2 per month, and everyone (students, professors, everyone) is forced to leave work and work in the fields for two months or more every year.
The regime frequently captures and detains people, for no given region, tortures them, and then finds them guilty of terrorism against the United States. In exchange, the US keeps the regime in power. The US also had a very profitable oil deal with this regime, which was recently awarded to a Russian firm instead...whereupon the US government has become suddenly critical of Uzbekistan.
Craig says that he was in office a short period when a mother brought him pictures of a tortured body. She had had her son brought home in a closed casket, and was ordered to bury him with the casket sealed. She waited till the soldiers were asleep, took the body out, photographed it, and then resealed the casket. Craig had the photograph sent to London for intelligence to analyze, and they said the man had had his fingernails and toenails pulled before being boiled alive.
He asked the Uzbekistani government, and was told that this was standard interrogation practice, and that the man had confessed to being a member of Al Quaeda.
On examining the intelligence coming out of Uzbekistan, headed for the British Intelligence and the CIA, he found a great many irregularities. Fully 75% or more of those "interrogated" eventually confessed to travelling to Afganistan and meeting Osama Bin Laden, and being trained by him to commit terrorist acts. Question...how did that many Uzbekistanis, who cannot legally travel to another city in their country, manage to fly to Afganistan, meet Bin Laden, and then fly back undetected? Mr. Bin Laden must have a special fondness for Uzbekistanis, to have met and trained so many of them personally.
There was also intelligence on a massive hidden terrorist base, where they were poised to swoop down and attack a nearby town. Craig travelled there himself, and found nothing there.
He reported to his superiors in London and to the Americans that they were supporting the systematic torture of Uzbekistanis, resulting in inacurrate and incomplete intelligence. He was told, by both parties, that the information was "operationally useful" ...regardless of its accuracy.
Draw what conclusions you will. His story carried a great deal that was painful to hear, and hard to stomach. He's seen a lot, and spoken to a great many people who have suffered incredibly. He was told that neither government would do a thing to stop this, because the information they were receiving was "operationally useful" ...it was never once denied that the information was coming as a result of torture, or that it was incorrect. Merely that it was useful.
The US policy on Uzbekistan changed suddenly after the Enron scandal, when the Uzbekistani regime suddenly granted an oil contract to the Russians...which had erstwhile been granted to the US. Uzbekistan kicked our airbase out soon afterwards. Craig's information is that the US systematically flew prisoners and detainees in to Uzbekistan for questioning, on an ongoing basis. This has prompted outrage in Europe, with many European countries apalled that their air bases had been used as refuelling stops for flights carrying torture victims.
The US is no haven for human rights. If what Craig says is true (and I have no reason to believe otherwise) then this country has truly sacrificed all morality for short-term profits, dictated by a few powerfully placed corporations.
Let the flaming begin. I'll ignore it. I welcome thoughtful commentary on this, whether you agree or disagree with what is being said. I'd like to hear an honest critique of his statements, if possible, though I'm not sure much can be said to negate his testimony.
Dave.
While much of the discussion was on the usual anti-Bush issues that any Republicans reading this are already gearing up to fight me on, the heart of his talk was this: the US and the UK were actively promoting torture on an unprecedented scale in Uzbekistan purely for propaganda purposes. Much more information is available on his website under "Uzbekistan" ...I've summarised some of it below. It's from memory, so forgive any details that I get wrong.
The current regime in Uzbekistan was placed there by the United States. This is a country where the cash crop is cotton, and they export 50% of the world's cotton, meaning that you're probably wearing cotton picked by slave labour right now. The general population works as slaves for $2 per month, and everyone (students, professors, everyone) is forced to leave work and work in the fields for two months or more every year.
The regime frequently captures and detains people, for no given region, tortures them, and then finds them guilty of terrorism against the United States. In exchange, the US keeps the regime in power. The US also had a very profitable oil deal with this regime, which was recently awarded to a Russian firm instead...whereupon the US government has become suddenly critical of Uzbekistan.
Craig says that he was in office a short period when a mother brought him pictures of a tortured body. She had had her son brought home in a closed casket, and was ordered to bury him with the casket sealed. She waited till the soldiers were asleep, took the body out, photographed it, and then resealed the casket. Craig had the photograph sent to London for intelligence to analyze, and they said the man had had his fingernails and toenails pulled before being boiled alive.
He asked the Uzbekistani government, and was told that this was standard interrogation practice, and that the man had confessed to being a member of Al Quaeda.
On examining the intelligence coming out of Uzbekistan, headed for the British Intelligence and the CIA, he found a great many irregularities. Fully 75% or more of those "interrogated" eventually confessed to travelling to Afganistan and meeting Osama Bin Laden, and being trained by him to commit terrorist acts. Question...how did that many Uzbekistanis, who cannot legally travel to another city in their country, manage to fly to Afganistan, meet Bin Laden, and then fly back undetected? Mr. Bin Laden must have a special fondness for Uzbekistanis, to have met and trained so many of them personally.
There was also intelligence on a massive hidden terrorist base, where they were poised to swoop down and attack a nearby town. Craig travelled there himself, and found nothing there.
He reported to his superiors in London and to the Americans that they were supporting the systematic torture of Uzbekistanis, resulting in inacurrate and incomplete intelligence. He was told, by both parties, that the information was "operationally useful" ...regardless of its accuracy.
Draw what conclusions you will. His story carried a great deal that was painful to hear, and hard to stomach. He's seen a lot, and spoken to a great many people who have suffered incredibly. He was told that neither government would do a thing to stop this, because the information they were receiving was "operationally useful" ...it was never once denied that the information was coming as a result of torture, or that it was incorrect. Merely that it was useful.
The US policy on Uzbekistan changed suddenly after the Enron scandal, when the Uzbekistani regime suddenly granted an oil contract to the Russians...which had erstwhile been granted to the US. Uzbekistan kicked our airbase out soon afterwards. Craig's information is that the US systematically flew prisoners and detainees in to Uzbekistan for questioning, on an ongoing basis. This has prompted outrage in Europe, with many European countries apalled that their air bases had been used as refuelling stops for flights carrying torture victims.
The US is no haven for human rights. If what Craig says is true (and I have no reason to believe otherwise) then this country has truly sacrificed all morality for short-term profits, dictated by a few powerfully placed corporations.
Let the flaming begin. I'll ignore it. I welcome thoughtful commentary on this, whether you agree or disagree with what is being said. I'd like to hear an honest critique of his statements, if possible, though I'm not sure much can be said to negate his testimony.
Dave.
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