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GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba — Interrogators got intelligence from detainees that helped U.S. troops in Afghanistan attack Taliban fighters last summer — and they did it through casual questioning and not torture, the military's chief interrogator here said. In a rare interview, Paul Rester complained that his profession has gotten a bad rap due to accounts of waterboarding and other rough tactics used by the CIA at "black sites."

The Supreme Court heard a spirited argument yesterday on whether foreign enemies, captured and held overseas, are entitled to the protections of the United States Constitution. Since the founding of our republic, the answer to that question has always been an unequivocal "No." If, after hearing Boumedienne v. Bush, the court makes up new rules, it will mark an unprecedented expansion of judicial power into areas--the conduct of foreign affairs and war making--the Constitution reserves to the president and Congress, the elected representatives of the American people. The Boumedienne case is as much about the Supreme Court's willingness to constrain...

Washington, Sep 22: US President George W. Bush won over rebel Republican lawmakers in a deal that would allow his CIA programme of capturing and secretly interrogating terrorist suspects to continue. Bush's aides worked out the agreement with three leading US senators from his own centre-right party in days of tense negotiations, apparently salvaging a key part of his anti-terrorism agenda that he refused to publicly acknowledge until two weeks ago. "I'm pleased to say that this agreement preserves the single most potent tool we have in protecting America and foiling terrorist attacks, and that is the CIA programme to...

No quarter in dealing with terrorists By KARL WEINBERG COMMUNITY VOICE On the subject of how to treat terrorists once caught in our fight against Islamofascists, the mainstream media would have us believe that we are torturing the captives by using sleep deprivation, loud rock'n' roll music, female interrogators and such. Many Americans, including me, do not believe this is torture at all. Instead, we believe that much harsher treatment should be used to get information from these terrorists. While the U.S. Supreme Court, Sens. John McCain and Lindsay Graham have said these terrorists are covered under Common Article three...

NEW REVELATIONS BY AMERICAN SOLDIERS OF ABUSE IN IRAQ FRONTLINE Presents “THE TORTURE QUESTION” Tuesday, October 18, 2005, from 9 to 10:30 P.M. ET on PBS Boston, MA -- Another American soldier has come forward to reveal abusive interrogation techniques by military personnel in Iraq. Tony Lagouranis, a former Army interrogator at Abu Ghraib and member of a special intelligence team in Iraq, has given FRONTLINE a firsthand account of his involvement in the harsh treatment of prisoners. “It’s all over Iraq,” Lagouranis told FRONTLINE. “The infantry units are torturing people in their homes. They would smash people’s feet with...

It is perhaps not as widely known as it ought to be—in light of the hyperventilating criticism of our alleged treatment of detainees at the U.S. military’s detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba—that there has never been a single death recorded at the center known by the military as “GTMO” (pronounced gitmo). It is perhaps also not as widely known that many of the detainees at GTMO do not complain of their treatment. In fact, many detainees report that conditions at GTMO are better than those they suffered fighting coalition forces in Afghanistan and Iraq prior to their being captured:...

'Cause they stand on a wall. And they say "Nothing's gonna hurt you tonight. Not on my watch." Guantanamo prisoners are treated nicer than U.S. Navy SEALs in training. I support Guantanamo Prison policies. www.MoveOnYourself.com Hypocracy in Action.

Newsweek has retracted the story, but the damage is already done. Like many Arabs and Muslims, I believe the incident did take place. I read reports in Arab media of similar incidents long before Newsweek's article came out. [. . .] I can't speak for all Arab Americans, but I do find it difficult to believe the administration's denials. It has a long track record of telling whoppers that would make Pinocchio's nose longer than an elephant's trunk. This leadership fabricated stories to promote foreign military adventures as well as harass and imprison innocent people. It currently promotes torture and...

HAVANA -- A former political prisoner whose case was highlighted by President Bush urged Cuba's government Friday to hold a referendum on whether to change the communist island's political system. In a 10-page report called "The Cuba We Want," Leonardo Bruzon Avila and fellow dissident Carlos Rios Otero called for the referendum and laid out a plan for Cuba's transition to a multiparty, democratic system and free-market economy. The report was delivered Friday to the offices of Cuban Justice Minister Roberto Diaz Sotolongo. There was no public reaction by the President Fidel Castro's government to the recommendations. The proposal echoed...

Ex-General to Oversee Guantanamo Trials Dec 30, 3:02 PM (ET) By ROBERT BURNS WASHINGTON (AP) - A retired Army general will oversee military tribunals for suspected terrorists held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, including approving charges, the Pentagon said Tuesday. Chosen for the job was John D. Altenburg, Jr., who retired as a two-star general in 2002. His last military assignment was assistant judge advocate general for the Department of the Army. None of the 660 suspected terrorists held at Guantanamo Bay has been charged, and although the Pentagon has not said when it expects to begin military trials, the first...

What does international law say about prisoners of war? The most important rule, enshrined in Common Article 3 of the 1949 Geneva Conventions, is that prisoners of war (POWs) must be treated humanely. What are the most serious violations? Violence, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment, and torture. Violations of personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment. Sentencing and executing prisoners without a judgment handed down by a regularly constituted court that offers all standard judicial guarantees. Hostage-taking. Withholding treatment from the wounded and sick. What are the Geneva Conventions? Part of the body of international...

Two held over US fears of radical cell in forces By David Rennie in Washington (Filed: 24/09/2003) The United States military is urgently investigating a potential radical Muslim cell among its own servicemen at the Guantanamo Bay prison as it emerged yesterday that two more members of the garrison are in custody. Senior Airman Ahmad I al-Halabi, an Arabic language translator, was secretly arrested a month ago, Pentagon officials said last night. He is being held at an air base in California and is charged with more than 30 counts of espionage, aiding the enemy, disobeying a lawful order and...

<p>SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — A soldier who guarded suspected terrorists at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has disappeared, U.S. military officials said Thursday.</p> <p>Also Thursday, U.S. military officials announced that Army Maj. Gen. Geoffrey D. Miller will assume control of the detention mission next month.</p>

Two more U.S. service members working at the prison on the grounds of the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base (search) are in custody, under suspicion of espionage and possible improper communications with the camp's detainees, senior military officials told Fox News Tuesday afternoon. One of the accused is in the Navy, the other is in the Air Force, officials said. Their roles at the camp have not been disclosed yet, nor their ranks and religion. Fox News has learned they both were detained roughly two weeks before Islamic military chaplain James Yee (search) was arrested. Officials declined to tell Fox News...

<p>WASHINGTON — An Air Force airman who worked at the U.S. prison camp for suspected terrorists at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base (search) has been charged with espionage and aiding the enemy, a military spokesman said Tuesday.</p> <p>Senior Airman Ahmad I. al-Halabi worked as an Arabic language translator at the prison camp for Al Qaeda and Taliban suspects, spokesman Maj. Michael Shavers said. The Air Force enlisted man knew the Muslim chaplain at the prison arrested earlier this month, but it's unclear if the two arrests are linked, Shavers said.</p>

WASHINGTON (AP) — An Air Force airman who worked as a translator at the U.S. prison camp for suspected terrorists has been charged with espionage and aiding the enemy, a military spokesman said Tuesday. Senior Airman Ahmad I. al-Halabi is being held at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, spokesman Maj. Michael Shavers said. Al-Halabi worked as an Arabic language translator at the prison camp for al-Qaida and Taliban suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Shavers said. The Air Force enlisted man knew the Muslim chaplain at the prison arrested earlier this month, but it's unclear if the two arrests are...

Per CNN just now. He was taken into custody a month ago. No info on his identity past saying he has an arab sounding name.