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“We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world.”
- Hindu Prince Gautama Siddharta, the founder of Buddhism, 563-483 B.C.
Updating on my earlier piece regarding Khalid Rashid, the Mail & Guardian reports that the plane used in the rendition, with flight number A6-PHY, was “a Gulfstream II jet owned by AVE”, and not Phoenix Aviation as had originally reported, “a company legally domiciled in the central Asian republic of Kyrgyzstan, whose main base of operations is Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates.”
8 June 2006
Another Possible Case of Rendition … This Time In South Africa
Filed under: War on Terror, Politics
It seems that an incredible story is brewing in South Africa over the suspected rendition of Khaled Rashid. As the European Parliament releases their investigation into the American CIA’s practice of “rendition” (i.e. kidnapping), Reuters reports that lawyers for Rashid’s family have claimed that, “Beyond a reasonable doubt this was a case of rendition. Here is a man who was kidnapped, sent to a military base and whisked away to who knows where. This is not the kind of thing that happens in a democracy.”
The big news of today is, of course, the announcement from Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki that al-Zarqawi is dead, “killed in a U.S. air raid north of Baghdad” (MSNBC). U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad described the announcement as “a huge success for Iraq and the international war on terror.” He also claimed that al-Zarqawi was the “godfather of sectarian killings and terror in Iraq”. Tony Blair echoed these sentiments saying, “This is a very important moment for Iraq. A blow against al-Qaida in Iraq is a blow against al-Qaida everywhere.” (Guardian) But is it really a “huge success”?
Do we think about the inhabitants of Guantanamo Bay? What does the media say about them? They pop up occasionally - a small item on page six. They have been consigned to a no man’s land from which indeed they may never return. At present many are on hunger strike, being force-fed, including British residents. No niceties in these force-feeding procedures. No sedative or anaesthetic. Just a tube stuck up your nose and into your throat. You vomit blood. This is torture. What has the British Foreign Secretary said about this? Nothing. What has the British Prime Minister said about this? Nothing. Why not? Because the United States has said: to criticise our conduct in Guantanamo Bay constitutes an unfriendly act. You’re either with us or against us. So Blair shuts up.
- Harold Pinter, 2005 winner of the Noble Prize for Literature
The prisoners of Guantanamo Bay have popped up again, this time with news that there are 89 inmates on hunger strike at the “gulag of our times” (Amnesty) or the “anomaly” (Tony Blair). A few months ago, it was admitted that several hunger strikers were being force fed in a process that Captain John S Edmondson, commander of the Guantanamo Hospital, admitted resulted in bleeding and nausea. Despite the latest news that dozens of the hunger strikers have given up their attempt, this is just another sordid chapter in the history of Guantanamo’s force feeding.
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I’ve written before about Bruce Sterling’s speech at Space in London. Finally, MAzine has put up a link to download the full speech. Worth listening to!