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Tag: Endless War

US Stalling Release Of Thousands Of Torture Photos Worse Than Abu Ghraib
On January 7, 2013, Activists in black hoods and orange jumpsuits march in Washington, D.C. to protest the use of torture by the U.S. government. (Flickr / Justin Norman)
December 16, 2015
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US Stalling Release Of Thousands Of Torture Photos Worse Than Abu Ghraib

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

Next month, the U.S. government will return to court again to prevent the release of thousands of photos of military personnel torturing detainees at Abu Ghraib and other sites in Iraq and Afghanistan that have been described as more horrific than the infamous Abu Ghraib torture photos.

It’s the latest round in a protracted legal battle that began in 2004 when the American Civil Liberties Union filed a suit demanding the release of some 2,000 photographs which were withheld by the government after it released the infamous images of Abu Ghraib, the Iraqi prison where U.S. soldiers tortured prisoners.

One photo is said to depict a mock execution, while another reportedly shows the body of a farmer shot who was by an American soldier while he was handcuffed.

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School Of The Americas: Training Torturers & Secret Police For US-Backed Dictators Since 1946
A guest instructor debriefs students from the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation and Naval Small Craft Instruction and Technical Training School after a field training exercise. (U.S. Navy / RJ Stratchko)
December 14, 2015
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School Of The Americas: Training Torturers & Secret Police For US-Backed Dictators Since 1946

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

For the past 69 years, many of the most notorious U.S.-backed South American dictators, along with their secret police and torturers, have learned their dark arts from a secretive American training facility.

Located in Fort Benning, Georgia, the facility changed its name from “School of the Americas” to “Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation” in 2001. Human rights advocates say the change was purely cosmetic, a result of the increasing pressure the facility faced from activists and other critics. In November, thousands protested outside Fort Benning in what has become an annual occurrence.

Originally founded in 1946 and based in Panama, it was expelled from the nation in 1984 under the terms of the Panama Canal Treaty. According to SOA Watch, a nonprofit which seeks the closure of the torture school, hundreds of thousands of Latin Americans have been tortured, raped, murdered or “disappeared” through the work of its 64,000 graduates.

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Army Vet Faces Felony For Helping Other Veterans Treat PTSD With Cannabis (Updated)
Sean Kiernan turned to cannabis treatment after an almost fatal struggle with PTSD.
November 11, 2015
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Army Vet Faces Felony For Helping Other Veterans Treat PTSD With Cannabis (Updated)

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

Even though more states are legalizing medical marijuana, and federal officials have claimed that the prosecution of pot smokers is no longer a priority, the “war on drugs” continues to destroy the lives of Americans suffering from dire medical conditions.

Sean Kiernan is a U.S. Army veteran from Rancho Santa Fe, California, who, along with his wife, pleaded guilty earlier this year to felony charges related to growing marijuana for other veterans.

Kiernan attempted suicide in 2011, nearly becoming part of a horrifying statistic: Although the figure is disputed, some estimates suggest that an average of 22 veterans commit suicide each day. Still struggling two years later, Kiernan was involuntarily committed by officials at a Veterans Affairs hospital, an experience which he says led him to embrace the benefits of cannabis over pharmaceutical drugs.

Read moreArmy Vet Faces Felony For Helping Other Veterans Treat PTSD With Cannabis (Updated)
Mainstream Media Focuses On Israeli Deaths While Ignoring Israeli Violence
Palestine 2009. Israel's Wall in Bethlehem, West Bank with graffiti which reads "Free Palestine." (Flickr / Montecruz Photo)
October 23, 2015
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Mainstream Media Focuses On Israeli Deaths While Ignoring Israeli Violence

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

Despite widespread criticism over the ways Israel has provoked the latest wave of violence engulfing the West Bank and Gaza, the media in the West mostly focuses on attacks by Palestinians on Israeli settlers and soldiers, ignoring the context that led to the current tensions.

Electronic Intifada, a site that advocates for Palestinian freedom, noted that a prominent BBC radio programon Monday attempted to imply that all of the dead in recent violence were Israelis:

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Rumors Persist That The CIA Helps Export Opium From Afghanistan
U.S. Army Sfc. Scott Kehn of Alpha Company, 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 101st Parachute Infantry Division, conducts a patrol through poppy fields near Nalghan, Afghanistan, April 21, 2011. (Flickr / U.S. Army /Pfc. Justin A. Young)
September 19, 2015
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Rumors Persist That The CIA Helps Export Opium From Afghanistan

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

Despite billions spent to eradicate opium crops in Afghanistan, the crop is more popular than ever there, leading many to wonder whether some U.S. forces may actually be encouraging its growth and the heroin it later becomes.

In July, the Centers for Disease Control warned of record-breaking numbers of heroin deaths in the United States. “Heroin use more than doubled among young adults ages 18–25 in the past decade,” the CDC reported.

In the same month, it was reported that opium production is stronger than ever in Afghanistan, which now produces 90 percent of the world’s supply of the plant that’s refined to create heroin. This rise in production would have been impossible prior to the U.S.-led invasion, and it comes despite some $8.4 billion spent in counternarcotics efforts by the U.S., specifically designated to wipe out opium production in Afghanistan.

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US And UK Arm Child Soldiers At World’s Largest Arms Fair In London
At a protest against London's Defence and Security Equipment International, a banner hung on a fence reads "Arms Dealers Here Today. This Is Not Ok." September 8, 2013. (Flickr / cs2002)
September 18, 2015
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US And UK Arm Child Soldiers At World’s Largest Arms Fair In London

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

Against the objections of the United Nations, this week the United States and the United Kingdom together helped arm the world’s child soldiers.

Tuesday through Friday this week, the British capital played host to the world’s largest arms fair, Defence and Security Equipment International, where global arms vendors — many from the U.S. — sell their wares to world governments seeking to upgrade their arsenals. The event was expected to draw 32,000 visitors from 60 countries, including multiple nations that make use of child soldiers in violation of international law.

According to a report from The Guardian, of the 23 nations known by the United Nations to use child soldiers, the U.K. sold arms to 19 of them during the past five years.

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