Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Odds & Ends

  • New information comes to light on the role of psychologists in U.S. interrogations.
  • Yemen gets educated about Guantánamo.
  • Omar Khadr, detained by the U.S. at the age of 15, is losing hope.
  • Presidential candidate, John Edwards, calls for the closure of Guantánamo and and end to "war on terror" rhetoric.
    The war on terror is a slogan designed only for politics, not a strategy to make America safe .... It's a bumper sticker, not a plan. It has damaged our alliances and weakened our standing in the world. As a political frame, it's been used to justify everything from the Iraq War to Guantanamo to illegal spying on the American people.


Solidarity Among Journalists


Sami al-Hajj, the Sudanese cameraman held in Guantánanmo, has called on the captors of Alan Johnston to release the BBC reporter. Johnston was captured by a militant group in Gaza two months ago. Said al-Hajj: "while the United States has kidnapped me and held me for years on end, this is not a lesson that Muslims should copy."

The United States styles itself as a champion of liberty and democracy, but al-Hajj's noble defense of Johnston must make us wonder what kind of example the U.S. is now setting for the world.

More from Reuters.