Lawyer: U.S. Destroyed Gitmo Torture Notes

Charges Arise In Case Against Canadian Man Detained When He Was 15

(AP)  The Pentagon urged interrogators at Guantanamo Bay to destroy handwritten notes in case they were called to testify about potentially harsh treatment of detainees, a military defense lawyer said Sunday.

The lawyer for Toronto-born Omar Khadr, Lt. Cmdr. William Kuebler, said the instructions were included in an operations manual shown to him by prosecutors and suggest the U.S. deliberately thwarted evidence that could help terror suspects defend themselves at trial.

Kuebler said the apparent destruction of evidence prevents him from challenging the reliability of any alleged confessions. He said he will use the document to seek a dismissal of charges against Khadr.

A Pentagon spokesman, Navy Cmdr. Jeffrey Gordon, said he was reviewing the matter Sunday evening.

The "standard operating procedures" manual that contained the purported instructions was made available to Kuebler last week as part of a pretrial review of potential evidence, the Navy lawyer said.

"The mission has legal and political issues that may lead to interrogators being called to testify, keeping the number of documents with interrogation information to a minimum can minimize certain legal issues," the document is quoted as saying in an affidavit signed by Kuebler.

The document could support challenges by other detainees to suppress confessions at Guantanamo, where the U.S. military says it plans to prosecute as many as 80 of roughly 270 detainees before the first U.S. war-crimes tribunals since World War II.

The case against Khadr, who was captured in Afghanistan when he was 15, is on track to be one of the first to trial. He faces war-crimes charges including murder for allegedly throwing a grenade that killed a U.S. Special Forces soldier during a 2002 firefight.

Kuebler said the nature of the interrogations is particularly relevant in Khadr's case because prosecutors are relying on evidence "extracted" from him at Bagram air base in Afghanistan and at Guantanamo.

"If handwritten notes were destroyed in accordance with the SOP, the government intentionally deprived Omar's lawyers of key evidence with which to challenge the reliability of his statements," Kuebler said in an e-mail to reporters.

The operations manual, which dates to January 2003, was attached to a 2005 report on an investigation into detainee abuse allegations at Guantanamo, Kuebler said. A summary of the findings was released at the time, but the defense lawyer said the section including the manual has not been made available publicly.

The so-called Schmidt-Furlow report documented degrading treatment, including one instance of a top terror suspect forced to dance with another man and behave like a dog. But investigators stopped short of saying torture occurred.

[hoseobama]

FDS - Fox Derangement Syndrome.

The name for those far left posters that can''t stand the fact that Fox News has both a Republican point of view, as well as the usual Democratic point of view, (as every other news media has only the latter.)

But, be kind folks - those people with FDS can''t help themselves... It''s hard to take on reality when it doesn''t fit your agenda.

First there is denial, then claims of ''unfair'', then a great deal of gnashing of teeth, followed by finger pointing, and at some point the slow realization that it IS fair and more balanced dawns on them.

At this point the FDS victim has moved from far left to just liberal. Not all make it. Some are too firmly entrenched in their denial of the facts.

Have pity. They expect it. It is an entitlement. It''s a Democrat ''thing''.

[impeach_w]

Posted by CallMeWhite

I would give up certain freedoms to make sure that this sort of thing never happens again, maybe I should be posting this on FoxNews where the dem''''s don%u2019t reside, but still this is making me mad.. This dumb little ingrate threw a grenade at US forces.. One Angry American.One Pissed Off American

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You are no American if you would give up any freedom for any reason-ever. *** do you think all our forces in history have died for?

Also, A war is a conflict with two legitimate sides fighting. Go post at fox news with the rest of the stup1d sheep!

[killface7]

They could not have beheaded anyon that was not over there causing problems, stealing, raping and murdering, destroying family and infrastructure. Leave ASAP and the problems will stop. But, we haven''t finished robbing, looting and stealing yet, have we? Sad the general public is so dam dumb they don''t even know what is really happening in the Middle East. Bush and Co. are war criminals and will be dealth with in a legal manner, before they leave office, and after.

[callmewhite]

***..
Have anyone of you lost friends or loved ones in this war?? I know I have, and I would give up certain freedoms to make sure that this sort of thing never happens again, maybe I should be posting this on FoxNews where the dem''s don%u2019t reside, but still this is making me mad.. This dumb little ingrate threw a grenade at US forces.. US FORCES, we should reserve the right to $#*$ you up..
Lastly, as of the rights of certain individuals "War Crime Combatants" they gave up there rights when they singed up to kill people who are only trying to give them a better way of life, even if it''s our way of life, it''s still better then what they had before.
respectfully,
One Angry American.

One Pissed Off American.

[stevedoer]

enemy combatants = no rights. bury them at sea. oh yeah wrap the koran around then for additional weight

[ioweign]

Did we ever get those Al Qaeda beheading notes?

Posted by SistaTee at 02:49 PM : Jun 09, 2008

Just like bin Laden, those are not a priority for da Shrub...

[ioweign]

Whitehouse secretary to IBM service rep:

"Yeah, the shredder%u2019s jammed again and I%u2019ve got a mountain of documents to destroy by January. Can you send someone over right away?"

Posted by dragonwagon5 at 01:25 PM : Jun 09, 2008


Fire damages US vice-president''s office

Dec 19, 2007

WASHINGTON (AFP) %u2014 A fire broke out Wednesday near US Vice President *** Cheney''s ceremonial office, in a building overlooking the White House, causing considerable damage, US officials said.

Authorities ruled out terrorism as a cause for the blaze in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, which forced hundreds of US government workers to evacuate but only injured one person, who suffered minor cuts to one hand.

"The vice president''s ceremonial office received smoke and water damage, but there is no fire damage," said the president''s spokeswoman Dana Perino, who said that local fire authorities were "working at the direction of the Secret Service to determine the cause" of the blaze.

Perino said the blaze began in an electrical room, or electrical closet, or telephone bank steps from Cheney''s ceremonial office, whose "gorgeous wood floor" was now "mostly underwater."

Music on the intercom at the time was "Light My Fire" by The Doors

Bush wanted to know if it would work on the emails too...

[impeach_w]

Listen, There were many "Camps" at Gitmo. The FBI Was involved in almost all of the interogations. They were ordered to leave when laws were being broken.
Get these agents. Under Oath, Ask them which prisoners they had access to. Which interogations did they have to leave? Why? Who was present? Let''s get get duty records of staff there. We can jog some memories folks and without torture. "I was just following orders" won''t save anyone when the FBI told them flat out they were commiting crimes. The only thing they had to protect them was a Jutice Dept Memo saying it was o.k. and they don''t have it now.

Pardon no one!

Start the trials for the terrorists AND the torturers alike we can have a mass execution!

[kansas1946]

Did we ever get those Al Qaeda beheading notes?


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Posted by SistaTee at 02:49 PM : Jun 09, 2008
+ report abuse
*****************************************

"We have seen the enemy, and they are us."

The point is, we are supposed to be better than that. I guess some Americans think it is better to be as evil as the enemy. If so, then how do you know who the good guys are??

[kansas1946]

Lawyer: U.S. Destroyed Gitmo Torture Notes
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Of course they did. They are ashamed of their behavior because it was barbaric and unAmerican. The Bush adminsitration tried to make a case that it wasn''t torture and was legal but they knew better. The administration was rotten, immoral, and evil, from the start and now are just trying to cover their sorry a**es. Pitiful.