Hersh: "They're killing "bad guys." Secretly"

[leftchick]

how refreshing to see the truth about the US in print.....

http://www.calgaryherald.com/News/heeding+hersh/1393382/story.html

<snip>


They're killing "bad guys." Secretly, and it appears, far removed from democratic oversight.

What is most disturbing about this is that no American ever seems to be called to account for these extrajudicial assassinations, yet the superpower continues to pride itself as the world's moral policeman.

There is plentiful documentation, for example, that Henry Kissinger committed a lifetime's worth of war crimes, such as the unprovoked bombing of Cambodia and the bloody overthrow of democratically elected Salvador Allende in Chile.

For decades the U. S. ran an institution called the School of Americas, whose graduates, like Manuel Noriega, staged Latin America's worst atrocities. There is ample evidence that the CIA helped conduct Operation Condor, in which six South American regimes run by right-wing dictators murdered thousands of their own citizens during the '70s and '80s.

So it's worrisome that when Hersh does get around to documenting this latest chapter in cowboy justice, America will likely go on believing it couldn't possibly do something like that.

[H2O Man]

1. Very dangerous.

Cheney needs to be held accountable.

[Mrs. Overall]

2. I'm wondering if any of these squads killed American citizens--either abroad or here at home.

I don't think it is outrageous to ask that question.

[leftchick]

3. Jose Padilla?

John Walker Lind? They are not dead but may as well be. I would assume the CIA squads were involved with those two apprehensions.

[Garbo 2004]

12. Padilla was arrested at the Chicago airport. Initially was in the criminal court system. n/t

[lutefisk]

6. Makes one wonder about all those microbiologist deaths...some of them were U.S. citizens...n/t

[leftchick]

7. and this guy

among many whistle blowers...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=5567680&mesg_id=5567680

[lutefisk]

8. Once they crossed the line and started secret killings, why would anything be off limits?

This has happened so many times in history and is happening around the world today. It's human nature when power and the wrong people mix.

Unfortunately, our current administration wants us to look forward, not back.

[democrank]

4. K & R

Cheney must answer for his crimes.

[chrisa]

5. Oh, it's okay.

They're killing "Bad guys" in secret. If they didn't do that, those bad guys would physically fly to America and kill our families.

These assassinations have nothing to do with money, or imperialistic desires of the US.


:sarcasm:

[yurbud]

9. this sounds a lot like their defense of torture which wasn't just of bad guys

but of Iraqis and other foreign nationals they wanted to intimidate into silence and obedience, and as a way to convince the public that those they held at Gitmo were terribly, terribly dangerous, when only a few were dangerous and most of them only if you happened to visit Afghanistan.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

10. What's worrisome ...

From the link: "So it's worrisome that when Hersh does get around to documenting this latest chapter in cowboy justice, America will likely go on believing it couldn't possibly do something like that."

What's worrisome is not that America will disbelieve it, but that Americans will believe it and think it's normal, no big deal, necessary, should do more of it.

Thanks for the link.

:hi:

[L. Coyote]

11. That is a very old mantra. After decades, some of us are weary of saying it.

Especially if you are one of the people who survived an attempt!

Deja DU: George Bush Sr. May Face Charges: Conspiring to Kidnap and Murder Political Activists
Dec-12-07 - http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x2459135

It was in the NY Times, etc. etc. This is old news.

... the New York Times printed a story headlined : "American Hit Squads: Rumsfeld Weighs Covert Activities by Military Units" back on August 12, 2002. Authors Thom Shanker and James Risen wrote: "Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld is considering ways to expand broadly the role of American Special Operations forces in the global campaign against terrorism, including sending them worldwide to capture or kill Al Qaeda leaders far from the battlefields of Afghanistan, according to Pentagon and intelligence officials". "Proposals now being discussed by Mr. Rumsfeld and senior military officers could ultimately lead Special Operations units to get more deeply involved in long-term covert operations in countries where the United States is not at open war and, in some cases, where the local government is not informed of their presence. This expansion of the military's involvement in clandestine activities could be justified, Pentagon officials believe, by defining it as "preparation of the battlefield" in a campaign against terrorism that knows no boundaries." ............... http://www.opednews.com/articles/Who-Did-Cheney-Have-Murder-by-Robert-Arend-090315-473.html

[ThomWV]

13. I keep asking myself - who has been killed? Presumably such a unit would focus

It would seem that such a unit would focus on high level people. After all, Vice President's don't just go around murdering everyone; on the tiers of victims I'd have to guess that VP's shoot for the top. Other than Benazir Bhutto I can't think of anyone high enough in the international food chain to be deserving of Cheney's attention having got nailed recently.

[leftchick]

17. Hugo Chavez

There have been several attempts on his life in the last ten years. As far as high profile? I really don't think it matters to cheney as long as pain and suffering are involved.

[ThomWV]

19. I don't buy that one at all.

Look at the type of unit they Hersh is talking about, this isn't some chickenshit CIA plot to pay some disgruntled local guy to take a pot shot at the local dictator. These are US Army Special Forces, Navy Seals that sort of guy and when a small group of them is given a mission its going to happen or its going to make all the news papers. Even a failed attempt by any such unit would brings howls of protest at the UN and throughout the world press. We haven't seen that and we haven't seen unfriendly leaders being killed any more or less than is usual and explainable. Think about it. Where are the bodies?

There is a second problem too. While it would be easy enough to excise such a unit from the usual military channels, but where are they now? How would this mysterious command reintegrate itself into the standing Army particularly once Rumsfeld was gone? I don't see any explanation that doesn't bring us right up to the Obama Administration and somehow I'd be surprised if they are continuing such an operation.

So I'm very skeptical.

[MagickMuffin]

14. Was Pat Tillman on the "Hit List"?.?.?

After all they needed an All American Hero.

Considering the way Tillman was treated after his death (and his family after it was discovered he was killed by "Friendly Fire"), make me wonder if Dickie and Donnie ordered the HIT.

[Echo In Light]

15. Nick Berg, and his father, definitely were

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

16. And, of course, the killers were "just following orders". K&R

[Juche]

18. I would like to see if this is tied into Pat Tillman

The evidence surrounding Tillman's death show it likely wasn't friendly fire. And a team of delta force snipers were supposedly in the area when he died. Tillman was a huge critic of the Bush/Cheney war in Iraq.

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2007/07/was-pat-tillman.html

Point is, I would like to see an investigation to see if there is a connection. If so, all gloves come off.