Carter attacks Blair's Iraq role
Former US President Jimmy Carter has criticised outgoing British Prime Minister Tony Blair for his "blind" support of the war in Iraq.

Mr Carter told the BBC Mr Blair's backing for US President George W Bush had been "apparently subservient".

He said the UK's "almost undeviating" support for "the ill-advised policies of President Bush in Iraq had been a major tragedy for the world".

His comments came as Mr Blair paid what is likely to be his last visit to Iraq.

From the serenity of the White House Rose Garden to the chaos of Baghdad and Basra the Tony Blair farewell tour rolled into Iraq yesterday with the Prime Minister insistent that good progress was being made in bringing stability to the country.

His comments came only a few hours after a mortar bomb had fallen in the protected green zone near the British embassy and in a weekend when eight American soldiers were killed and 43 Iraqi civilians were found murdered.

Friday, 11 October, 2002, 20:22 GMT 21:22 UK
Nobel winner Carter voices Iraq concern

Winner of this year's Nobel Peace Prize, former US President Jimmy Carter, has said the US Congress was wrong to give President George W Bush power to go to war with Iraq.

However, speaking hours after being awarded the accolade, Mr Carter declined to comment on remarks by the chairman of the Nobel committee, who said the award was a criticism of President George Bush's policy on Iraq.

Chairman Gunnar Berge's remarks have sparked controversy within the committee, with some members arguing they are not representative of the group.

Mr Berge was commenting upon a line in the committee's announcement which said: "In a situation currently marked by threats of the use of power, Carter has stood by the principles that conflicts must as far as possible be resolved through mediation and international co-operation."

'Signs of change'
Mr Carter said the prize served as an inspiration not only to him, but also to suffering people around the world.

Human rights in Iraq: a case to answer Revealed: How Lord Goldsmith advised Army chiefs to deny detainees 'full' legal protection By Robert Verkaik, Law Editor Published: 29 May 2007

The Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith, is facing accusations that he told the Army its soldiers were not bound by the Human Rights Act when arresting, detaining and interrogating Iraqi prisoners.

Previously confidential emails, seen by The Independent, between London and British military head-quarters in Iraq soon after the start of the war suggest Lord Goldsmith's advice was to adopt a "pragmatic" approach when handling prisoners and it was not necessary to follow the " higher standards" of the protection of the Human Rights Act.

That, according to human rights lawyers, was tantamount to the Attorney General advising the military to ignore the Human Rights Act and to simply observe the Geneva Conventions. It was also contrary to advice given by the Army's senior lawyer in Iraq, who urged higher standards to be met.

Yes Gus,

Meanwhile, the "torturer-in-chief", bushit, is still at it .... & still doesn't get it .....

‘As the Bush administration completes secret new rules governing interrogations, a group of experts advising the intelligence agencies are arguing that the harsh techniques used since the 2001 terrorist attacks are outmoded, amateurish and unreliable.

The psychologists and other specialists, commissioned by the Intelligence Science Board, make the case that more than five years after the Sept. 11 attacks, the Bush administration has yet to create an elite corps of interrogators trained to glean secrets from terrorism suspects.

While billions are spent each year to upgrade satellites and other high-tech spy machinery, the experts say, interrogation methods — possibly the most important source of information on groups like Al Qaeda — are a hodgepodge that date from the 1950s, or are modelled on old Soviet practices.’

Interrogation Methods Are Criticized

The Tortured Lives of Interrogators
Veterans of Iraq, N. Ireland and Mideast Share Stark Memories

By Laura Blumenfeld
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, June 4, 2007; A01

CHICAGO -- The American interrogator was afraid. Of what and why, he couldn't say. He was riding the L train in Chicago, and his throat was closing.

In Iraq, when Tony Lagouranis interrogated suspects, fear was his friend, his weapon. He saw it seep, dark and shameful, through the crotch of a man's pants as a dog closed in, barking. He smelled it in prisoners' sweat, a smoky odor, like a pot of lentils burning. He had touched fear, too, felt it in their fingers, their chilled skin trembling.

But on this evening, Lagouranis was back in Illinois, taking the train to a bar. His girlfriend thought he was a hero. His best friend hung out with him, watching reruns of "Hawaii Five-O." And yet he felt afraid.

"I tortured people," said Lagouranis, 37, who was a military intelligence specialist in Iraq from January 2004 until January 2005. "You have to twist your mind up so much to justify doing that."