Democracy Now! Thursday, June 19, 2008

Today's Headlines

• Gen. Taguba: Bush Administration Committed War Crimes
• Exxon Mobil, Shell, BP to Get No-Bid Oil Contracts in Iraq
• Israel-Hamas Ceasefire Begins
• NATO Launches Large-Scale Anti-Taliban Offensive
• Officials: 30 Levees Along Mississippi River Could Overflow
• Bush Urges Congress to Lift Oil Drilling Ban
• McCain Calls for 45 New Nuclear Reactors
• Ex-Clinton Cabinet Officials to Advise Obama on Foreign Policy
• Muslim Women Kept from Camera at Obama Rally
• Prosecution of Undocumented Immigrants Reaches New High
• Protesters to Rally Against Health Insurance Companies
• CBS Reporter: Watching US Media “Would Drive Me Nuts”

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  Congressional Hearings Shed New Light on Government's Endorsement of Torture; Maj. Gen. Taguba Accuses Bush Administration of War Crimes

  On Tuesday, the Senate Armed Services Committee held an eight-hour hearing that exposed the role of top Bush administration officials in authorizing the use of harsh interrogation techniques. Meanwhile, Retired Major General Antonio Taguba, the Army general who first investigated the abuse at Abu Ghraib, has accused the Bush administration of committing war crimes. “The commander in chief and those under him authorized a systematic regime of torture,” Taguba said. [includes rush transcript]

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  As Senate Confirms Psychologists Helped Devise Military Interrogation Techniques, APA Presidential Candidate Steven Reisner Condemns Role of Psychologists in Torture

  The Senate investigation confirmed the Pentagon sought the help of military psychologists as early as 2002 to devise so-called aggressive interrogation techniques. Dr. Steven Reisner is a psychoanalyst and a leading critic of the American Psychological Association’s policy governing the role of psychologists in interrogations. He is running for president of the APA and has received more nominating votes than any other candidate. [includes rush transcript]

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  “Broken Laws, Broken Lives”: Medical Study Confirms Prisoners in U.S. Custody Were Physically & Mentally Tortured

  A new report by the Physicians for Human Rights has, for the first time, found medical evidence corroborating the claims of former prisoners who say they were tortured while in US custody. Teams of medical specialists conducted physical and psychological tests on the former prisoners, including exams intended to assess if they were lying. We speak to Dr. Allen Keller.

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  McClatchy Interviews 66 Fmr. Prisoners Held by U.S., Finds Widespread Abuse and Wrongful Imprisonments

  McClatchy newspapers has conducted an extensive, eight-month investigation of the US detention system created after 9/11. Based on interviews with sixty-six former prisoners the investigation found that the U.S. imprisoned innocent men, subjected them to abuse, stripped them of their legal rights and allowed Islamic militants to turn the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay into a school for jihad.