Andy Worthington: An Archive of Guantánamo Articles and Other Writing – Part 12, January to June 2012

3.10.13

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Since March 2006, I have been researching and writing about Guantánamo and the 779 men (and boys) held there, initially through my book The Guantánamo Files, and, since May 2007, as a full-time independent investigative journalist, assiduously chronicling the crimes of the Bush administration, and for the last four years and 10 months, President Obama’s failure to close the prison, as he promised, as well as the obstacles raised by Congress and parts of the judiciary.

In an effort to make it as easy as possible for readers and researchers to find my work, I began, three years ago, to put together chronological lists of all my articles, in the hope that they will provide a useful tool for navigation, and will provide researchers — and anyone else interested in this particularly bleak period of modern history — with a practical archive. Unfortunately, time restraints left me unable to find the time to make lists for my work from the start of 2012 onwards, so I’m remedying this now with a list covering all my articles from January to June 2012, and will follow up soon with two further articles covering July to December 2012 and January to June this year.

In this period, as well as relentlessly covering Guantánamo, I was also involved in campaigning to try to save the NHS from a full-on assault by the Tory-led government here in the UK, intent of privatising it, as well as, more broadly, resisting the age of austerity cynically introduced by the Tories to wage a disgusting and disgraceful civil war against the poor, the unemployed and the disabled. These are themes that continue to inform my work, as well as the horrors of Guantánamo, torture and indefinite detention. As a famous saying states, “The mark of a civilised society is how it treats its most vulnerable members.”

As with my work today, the majority of the 169 articles I wrote in this period were made available without any financial backing, an exercise in reader-funded journalism that has only been made possible through the generosity of you, my readers and supporters. If you want to donate to help me to keep working as an independent researcher and commentator, please click on the “Donate” button above. All donations are welcome.

I hope this archive is more than a largely pointless exercise in nostalgia, and that it will be of some use. On Guantánamo, my intention all along has been to puncture the Bush administration’s enduring propaganda about the prison holding “the worst of the worst” by telling the prisoners’ stories and bringing them to life as human beings, rather than allowing them to remain as dehumanized bogeymen.

This has involved demonstrating that the majority of the prisoners were either innocent men, seized by the US military’s allies at a time when bounty payments were widespread, or recruits for the Taliban, who had been encouraged by supporters in their homelands to help the Taliban in a long-running inter-Muslim civil war (with the Northern Alliance), which began long before the 9/11 attacks and, for the most part, had nothing to do with al-Qaeda or international terrorism.

As I explained in the introduction to my four-part Definitive Prisoner List (last updated in April 2012), I remain convinced, through detailed research, through comments from insiders with knowledge of Guantánamo, and, most recently, through an analysis of classified military documents released by WikiLeaks, that “at least 93 percent of the 779 men and boys imprisoned in total” had no involvement with terrorism.

An archive of Guantánamo articles: Part 12, January to June 2012

January 2012

February 2012

19. Life after Guantánamo: Why Algeria Is Not A Safe Country for the Repatriation of Guantánamo Prisoners
20. Life after Guantánamo: Former Guantánamo Prisoner Adel Al-Gazzar Is Freed in Egypt After Six Months in Custody
21. Video, Guantánamo anniversary, US visit: Video: In Washington D.C., Andy Worthington Discusses Protests in Guantánamo, and the Campaign to Free Shaker Aamer
22. Video, Guantánamo anniversary, US visit: Video: Guantánamo Panel Discussion in Washington D.C. with Andy Worthington and Lawyers Tom Wilner, Darold Killmer and Mari Newman
23. Life after Guantánamo: Life After Guantánamo: The Suffering of the Uighurs in Palau
24. Life after Guantánamo: An Update on the Plight of Former Guantánamo Prisoner Abdul Aziz Naji, Sentenced to Three Years in Prison in Algeria
25. Video, Guantánamo anniversary, US visit: Video: Close Guantánamo: End Ten Years of Injustice — Andy Worthington and Jason Leopold in Discussion in San Francisco
26. Guantánamo media: New “Close Guantánamo” Campaign Begins Prisoner Profiles, Features Abdul Razak Qadir, One of Five Innocent Uighurs Still Held
27. Torture: George W. Bush’s Torture Program Began Ten Years Ago
28. Interviews: “It’s a Disgrace”: Guantánamo Expert Andy Worthington Interviewed for Truthout
29. Shaker Aamer: 10 Years in Guantánamo: British Resident Shaker Aamer, Cleared for Release But Still Held
30. Radio: “Brought to Justice? — The Indefinite Detention and Targeted Killing of the Rule of Law”: A KPFA Special with Andy Worthington and David Rovics
31. Video: Video: Andy Worthington Discusses the Documentary “Death in Camp Delta,” Examining the Alleged Suicides in Guantánamo in June 2006
32. “Outside the Law: Stories from Guantánamo”: Three New UK Screenings of “Outside the Law: Stories from Guantánamo,” with Co-Director Andy Worthington
33. Guantánamo media: US Military Attorney Compares Rationale for “War on Terror” to Nazi Ideology
34. Kuwait visit: In Kuwait, Looking for American Justice — and Showing “Outside the Law: Stories from Guantánamo” on Alrai TV
35. Federal court trials: As the Underwear Bomber Receives a Life Sentence in Federal Court, Lawmakers’ Obsession with Military Trials Looks Idiotic
36. Kuwait visit: After a Wonderful Visit to Kuwait, New Plans to Close Guantánamo and to Free the Last Two Kuwaiti Prisoners
37. Video, Kuwait visit: Video (in Arabic): On Kuwaiti TV, Tom Wilner and Andy Worthington Discuss the Last Two Kuwaitis in Guantánamo
38. Guantánamo media: To Mark 10 Years of Guantánamo, Stern Magazine Profiles Five Former Prisoners
39. Kuwaitis in Guantánamo: Justice Denied: The Unacceptable 10-Year Detention of Fawzi Al-Odah and Fayiz Al-Kandari, the Last Two Kuwaitis in Guantánamo

March 2012

40. Military commissions: How to Leave Guantánamo: Via a Plea Deal, or In A Coffin
41. Radio: Andy Worthington Discusses Guantánamo and Bagram with Scott Horton on Antiwar Radio
42. Video, Guantánamo anniversary, US visit: Video: Andy Worthington, Jason Leopold and the “True Secret” of Guantánamo
43. Deaths in Guantánamo: Were Two Prisoners Killed at Guantánamo in 2007 and 2009?
44. Shaker Aamer: Petition to Free Shaker Aamer from Guantánamo Launched in the US and Internationally
45. Bradley Manning: UN Torture Rapporteur Accuses US Government of Cruel and Inhuman Treatment of Bradley Manning
46. Recidivism: Guantánamo and Recidivism: The Media’s Ongoing Failure to Question Official Statistics
47. Video: Video: Andy Worthington Discusses the US-UK Special Relationship on Russia Today, Involving War, Torture, Extradition and Shaker Aamer
48. WikiLeaks: The Complete Guantánamo Files: WikiLeaks and the Prisoners Released in 2007 (Part Three of Ten)
49. Afghans in Guantánamo: The Case of Shawali Khan, an Afghan in Guantánamo, Sold to US Forces 10 Years Ago
50. Afghans in Guantánamo: The “Taliban Five” and the Forgotten Afghan Prisoners in Guantánamo
51. Life after Guantánamo: Life after Guantánamo Bay: Jenifer Fenton Talks to Kuwaiti Ex-Prisoners for Al-Jazeera
52. Life after Guantánamo: News from Albania: One Ex-Guantánamo Prisoner Becomes A Father, While Another Is Not Allowed to Return Home
53. Omar Khadr: Omar Khadr to Return to Canada from Guantánamo by End of May
54. Aafia Siddiqui: Rallies Worldwide to Mark the 9th Anniversary of the Disappearance of Aafia Siddiqui
55. Torture: Ten Years of Torture: On Anniversary of Abu Zubaydah’s Capture, Poland Charges Former Spy Chief Over “Black Site”
56. Afghans in Guantánamo: Close Guantánamo: Abdul Ghani, An Insignificant Afghan Villager Held for Nine Years

April 2012

57. Kuwaitis in Guantánamo: For the Last Two Kuwaiti Prisoners in Guantánamo, US Relies on Unreliable Witnesses and Experts Find Evidence Unconvincing
58. Shaker Aamer: EXCLUSIVE: “They Want Me to be Harmed”: Shaker Aamer, the Last British Resident in Guantánamo, Describes His Isolation
59. Shaker Aamer: “I Affirm Our Right to Life”: Shaker Aamer, the Last British Resident in Guantánamo, Explains His Peaceful Protest and Hunger Strike
60. US prisons: Solitary Confinement as Torture: Some US Prisons Recognize the Problem, as California Inmates Ask the UN to Act
61. Torture: US Training Manual Used As Basis for Bush’s Torture Program Is Released by Pentagon
62. Recidivism: Guantánamo and Recidivism: New Report Debunks Government’s Inflated Claims
63. Algerians in Guantánamo: Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Calls for Release of Djamel Ameziane, an Algerian in Guantánamo
64. US federal courts: Tarek Mehanna’s Powerful Statement As He Received a 17-Year Sentence Despite Having Harmed No One
65. Video, Guantánamo anniversary, US visit: Video: Andy Worthington Discusses Ten Years of Guantánamo with Brian Becker
66. Video, Shaker Aamer: Videos: Shaker Aamer’s Children Call for His Return from Guantánamo to the UK, and Ask Supporters to Sign Petition to British Government
67. Torture: Guest Post: Polish Journalist Discusses the Ongoing Investigation into the CIA’s Torture Prison in Poland
68. Video, Aafia Siddiqui: Video: Aafia Siddiqui and America’s Disappeared – Andy Worthington Speaks at a Protest at the US Embassy in London
69. Abu Qatada, UK politics: If Abu Qatada is Guilty of Crimes, Why Not Prosecute Him in the UK?
70. Guantánamo media: The Human Face of Indefinite Detention: Shaker Aamer, Guantánamo and the NDAA – Panel Discussion in New York, April 24
71. Military commissions: The Torture Trials at Guantánamo
72. Prisoners released from Guantánamo: Guantánamo: Who Are The Two Uighurs Freed in El Salvador, and Why Are 87 Men Cleared for Release Still Held?
73. Extradition, UK politics: Babar Ahmad and Talha Ahsan: Why It’s Time to Scrap the US-UK Extradition Treaty
74. Shaker Aamer: Return Shaker Aamer from Guantánamo to the UK: E-Petition Relaunched with New One-Year Deadline of April 20, 2013
75. Guantánamo media: Guantánamo: The Definitive Prisoner List Updated on 1st Anniversary of Release of WikiLeaks’ Guantánamo Files
76. Omar Khadr: Canada’s Shameful Scapegoating of Omar Khadr
77. Afghans in Guantánamo: How US Investigators Established that Obaidullah, an Afghan Still Held in Guantánamo, Is Innocent

May 2012

78. Guantánamo media: The Permanent Injustice of Guantánamo
79. Life after Guantánamo: Six Years in Hell: Former Prisoner Omar Deghayes Recalls Bagram and Guantánamo
80. Guantánamo media: US Company That Built Guantánamo Hopes to Win Tender to Run Police Services in UK
81, Uighurs in Guantánamo: Close Guantánamo: Washington Post Calls for Last Three Uighur Prisoners to Be Freed in the US
82. Torture, book reviews: How America Became A Torture Nation
83. Torture: Torture: The Bush Administration on Trial
84. Military commissions: Chaos at Guantánamo as the 9/11 Trial Begins
85. Guantánamo campaigns: “Close Guantánamo” Calls on US Communities to Demand Release of Cleared Prisoners in US
86. US war crimes: War Crimes Tribunal in Malaysia Finds Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld Guilty of Torture in Guantánamo and Iraq
87. Abu Zubaydah, military commissions, torture: Why No Trials for Abu Zubaydah and Seven Other “High-Value Detainees” in Guantánamo?
88. Algerians in Guantánamo: Ahmed Belbacha, An Algerian Refugee in Guantánamo, Has Been Waiting for a New Home Since 2007
89. Abu Zubaydah, military commissions, torture: US Government Turns Down Request for Trial by Guantánamo Prisoner and CIA Torture Victim Abu Zubaydah
90. WikiLeaks: The Complete Guantánamo Files: WikiLeaks and the Prisoners Released in 2007 (Part Four of Ten)
91. John Yoo, torture: John Yoo: A Fugitive from Justice, With the Help of the US Courts, in the Torture of Jose Padilla
92. Music, “war on terror”: Video: “The War on Trevor,” A Four-Part Anti-War Song by Sarah Gillespie
93. National Defense Authorization Act, Guantánamo: US Judge Rules Against Military Detention of US Terror Suspects – But What About the Foreigners in Guantánamo?
94. Algerians in Guantánamo: Nabil Habjarab, the “Sweet Kid” in Guantánamo, Was Cleared in 2007 But Is Still Held
95. Bradley Manning: Two Years Since His Arrest, Bradley Manning’s Lawyers Accuse US Government of Extreme Secrecy, Worse than at Guantánamo
96. National Defense Authorization Act, Guantánamo: How Guantánamo Is the Basis for the Mandatory Military Detention Provisions in the NDAA
97. Abu Zubaydah: How A Comment on My Website Led Jason Leopold to Discover the Story of Abu Zubaydah’s Brother, Living in the US
98. Life after Guantánamo: A Powerful Interview with Former Guantánamo Prisoner Lakhdar Boumediene

June 2012

99. Music torture: Video: “Songs of War,” an Al-Jazeera Film About Music Torture in Guantánamo, Afghanistan and Iraq
100. Guantánamo media: EXCLUSIVE: Guantánamo Scandal: The 40 Prisoners Still Held But Cleared for Release At Least Five Years Ago
101. President Obama, drones, Guantánamo: “Pragmatism Over Ideology”: Obama’s Failure to Close Guantánamo, and His Love of Drones
102. Video, Guantánamo and Supreme Court: Video: On RT, Andy Worthington Discusses Guantánamo, Obama’s Refusal to Release Cleared Prisoners and the Supreme Court’s Failure to Act
103. Video, Guantánamo and Supreme Court: Video: On Democracy Now! Andy Worthington Discusses the Failure of Every Branch of the US Government to Deliver Justice to the Prisoners at Guantánamo
104. Guantánamo and Supreme Court: The Supreme Court Abandons the Guantánamo Prisoners
105. Guantánamo and Supreme Court: Meet the Seven Guantánamo Prisoners Whose Appeals Were Turned Down by the Supreme Court
106. Guantánamo anniversary, US visit, photos: My Photos on Flickr: Campaigning to Close Guantánamo, Washington D.C., January 2012
107. Extradition: Stop the Extradition to the US of Talha Ahsan, Babar Ahmad, Gary McKinnon and Richard O’Dwyer
108. Torture, Jose Padilla: Still No Accountability for Torture
109. Guantánamo, Aafia Siddiqui, photos: Andy Worthington’s Photos on Flickr: Protest 2012 – Guantánamo, Aafia Siddiqui and Shaker Aamer
110. Omar Khadr: Bring Omar Khadr Home: His Lawyers Demand His Return to Canada from Guantánamo
111. Guantánamo, torture: On 25th Anniversary of UN Convention Against Torture, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed’s Lawyers Submit Case to Rapporteur
112. Omar Khadr: Meet the Canadian Professor Who Has Been Teaching Omar Khadr at Guantánamo
113. Guantánamo media: The Saudi Gazette Urges President Obama to Close Guantánamo
114. Torture: Polish Senator’s Startling New Allegations About the CIA Torture Prison in Poland

An archive of articles about British (and European and international) politics, January to June 2012

February 2012

1. Save the NHS: Save the NHS: 100,000 GPs and Physiotherapists Call for Health Bill to be Scrapped
2. Save the NHS: Save the NHS: A Doctor’s Moving Defence of Her Profession, and How Care is More Important Than Budgets
3. Save the NHS: Save the NHS: The Most Damaging Week Yet for the Tories’ Privatisation Plans
4. Greece: Greek Despair: Will the EU and the Bankers Finally Accept That Austerity is Killing Greece?
5. UK austerity: Who Will Rid Us of This Callous Government, Assaulting the Poor, the Unemployed and the Disabled?

March 2012

6. UK austerity: Lying Bully David Cameron Hails Passage of Welfare Reform Bill
7. Save the NHS: Save the NHS: The Battle Is Not Yet Won, But the Tories Are Under Severe Pressure
8. Save the NHS: Save the NHS: The Need to Scrap the Tories’ Privatisation Bill Is More Urgent Than Ever
9. Save the NHS: Save the NHS: London Protest Outside the Department of Health on Saturday March 17 — Plus A Last-Minute Call to Lobby Lib Dem MPs and Peers
10. Save the NHS: Killing the NHS: Why Are The Tories Getting Away With It?
11. Save the NHS: Four Days Left to Save the NHS: Petitions, Protests and Lobbying the Lords
12. Save the NHS: As Armed Police Turn Up At A Peaceful Protest in Whitehall to Save the NHS, I Reflect on the First Anniversary of My Hospitalisation and Cure
13. Save the NHS: Last Chance to Save the NHS: Will the House of Lords Stop the Government’s Wretched Bill?
14. Save the NHS: As the House of Lords Passes the NHS Privatisation Bill, Labour Secures an Emergency Debate Tomorrow
15. UK austerity: Austerity Isn’t Working: UK Uncut Protest Outside Downing Street on Budget Day, March 21, 2012
16. Save the NHS: The Privatisation of the NHS: Why It Will Be the Death Knell for the Tory-Led Coalition Government
17. UK austerity, photos: Photos: The “Austerity Isn’t Working” Protest Outside Downing Street and Parliament
18. Save the NHS: The Baleful Effects of NHS Privatisation Are Already Happening
19. Syria: The Syrian People’s Revolution, One Year On: Torture, Disappearances and Exile
20. Tory sleaze: As Sleaze Engulfs the Tories, Is This the Beginning of the End?
21. Save the NHS: Early Version of NHS Risk Register Leaked: Warns of Increased Cost of Privatisation, Worries About Fragmented Service

April 2012

22. Save the NHS: On NHS, Tribunal Rules That Tories Violated Manifesto Promise, Calls Public Interest in Risk Register “Very High, If Not Exceptional”
23. UK austerity, disability: The Full Extent of the Tories’ Assault on the Disabled Exposed
24. Tory sleaze: Can Jeremy Hunt Prevent a Tsunami of Sleaze from Engulfing David Cameron?
25. Save the NHS: The Fight for the NHS Isn’t Over; It’s Only Just Begun
26. UK austerity: As Britain Enters Double-Dip Recession, George Osborne and David Cameron Remain Clueless, Arrogant and Inflexible
27. Occupy Wall Street: Occupy Wall Street: May Day General Strike Called in US; Other Workers Actions Worldwide
28. UK austerity: Today the Tories Took £100 A Week from Some of the UK’s Most Disabled People: How Can This Be Right?

May 2012

29. Occupy Wall Street, UK housing crisis, photos: A Future for the Occupy Movement? Occupy Our Homes in the US, And People Before Profit in South London
30. May Day, photos: Photos: May Day Celebrations in London, Including Occupy London Protestors
31: UK elections: UK Elections: Huge Labour Gains, Huge Tory and Lib Dem Losses, Boris Holds London, But Also Sweeping Apathy
32. Austerity in Europe: Austerity Under Attack in Europe: Can Socialism Offer A Cure, and Keep Fascists and Conservatives at Bay?
33. Save the NHS: Tories Disobey Court Order, Refuse to Release Damning NHS Risk Register
34. UK austerity: How Can We Stop the Tories’ Relentless Destruction of Britain?
35. Occupy Wall Street: The Occupy Movement’s Global May Manifesto: Actions Worldwide on May 12 and 15
36. Occupy London: Occupy London Plans a Multitude of Actions on Global Days of Protest, May 12 and 15, 2012
37. Occupy London, photos: Occupy London, May 12: Photos from St. Paul’s Cathedral Protest
38. Occupy London, photos: Occupy London, May 12: Photos from the Bank of England Protest and a Call for Global Solidarity
39. Workfare: The Tories’ Vile Workfare Project, and How It Has Now Infiltrated the NHS
40. Olympics: Our Olympic Hell: A Militarised, Corporate, Jingoistic Disgrace
41. UK housing crisis: Rents Out of Control: How Londoners Are Being Fleeced by Greedy Landlords
42. UK austerity: Come to UK Uncut’s Anti-Austerity Street Party in London and Across the UK, Saturday May 26
43. UK austerity: UK Uncut Holds Anti-Austerity Party Outside Nick Clegg’s House in Putney, London

June 2012

44. Battle of the Beanfield: Remember the Battle of the Beanfield: It’s the 27th Anniversary Today of Thatcher’s Brutal Suppression of Traveller Society
45. Workfare: Slave Labour During the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee
46. UK austerity, disability: RIP Karen Sherlock, Another Victim of the Tories’ Brutal, Heartless Disability Reforms
47. UK austerity, tax avoidance: Video: Watch UK Uncut’s New Film, “The Missing Billions,” About Savage Austerity Cuts and Corporate Tax Avoidance
48. US photos: Andy Worthington’s Photos on Flickr: New York, January 2012
49. Battle of the Beanfield: Radio: On Eve of Summer Solstice at Stonehenge, Andy Worthington Discusses the Battle of the Beanfield and Dissent in the UK
50. Stonehenge: Stonehenge and the Summer Solstice: On the 28th Anniversary of the Last Free Festival, Check Out “Festivals Britannia”
51. US photos: My Photos on Flickr: San Francisco and Chicago, January 2012
52. Tax avoidance: Britain’s Tax Avoidance Scandal and David Cameron’s Colossal Hypocrisy
53. UK housing crisis: The Housing Crisis and the Gulf Between the Rich and the Poor: Half of UK Workers Earn Less Than £14,000 A Year
54. London photos: My Photos on Flickr: Deptford and Greenwich, May 2012
55. London photos: My Photos on Flickr: The Isle of Dogs, the River Lea and the Olympics

Andy Worthington is a freelance investigative journalist, activist, author, photographer and film-maker. He is the co-founder of the “Close Guantánamo” campaign, and the author of The Guantánamo Files: The Stories of the 774 Detainees in America’s Illegal Prison (published by Pluto Press, distributed by Macmillan in the US, and available from Amazon — click on the following for the US and the UK) and of two other books: Stonehenge: Celebration and Subversion and The Battle of the Beanfield. He is also the co-director (with Polly Nash) of the documentary film, “Outside the Law: Stories from Guantánamo” (available on DVD here — or here for the US).

To receive new articles in your inbox, please subscribe to Andy’s RSS feed — and he can also be found on Facebook (and here), Twitter, Flickr and YouTube. Also see the four-part definitive Guantánamo prisoner list, and “The Complete Guantánamo Files,” an ongoing, 70-part, million-word series drawing on files released by WikiLeaks in April 2011. Also see the definitive Guantánamo habeas list and the chronological list of all Andy’s articles.

Please also consider joining the “Close Guantánamo” campaign, and, if you appreciate Andy’s work, feel free to make a donation.

11 Responses

Andy Worthington says...

On Facebook, Andrew Crow wrote:

Not sure if you’ve heard about this but an artist I know made a sculpture called ‘breaking point’ of a prisoner at Abu Ghraib. Thought it might be relevant. http://kevindagg.com/page11.htm

...on October 3rd, 2013 at 10:17 pm
Andy Worthington says...

Thanks for that, Andrew. Other nice work on Kevin’s site as well, I thought.

...on October 3rd, 2013 at 10:18 pm
Andy Worthington says...

Willy Bach wrote:

Andy, first to congratulate you on the great body of work. You have done a great service to all of us citizens and associate members of the Empire (those of us who are dragged in but don’t have a vote in the USA). Thank you so much.

I also admire the work of Kevin Dagg, which I just discovered here. His sculpture ‘breaking point’ is a true icon of our dark and troubled times. When we look back on the War of Terror and all who have been terribly harmed by it we will be left with a hollow feeling. It was all for nothing.

I have a book of poems called ‘Picking Mangoes that are still Green’ which begins with the Trade Center in New York and takes you through my two years as a human rights investigator in Uganda, a military dictatorship supported by the US, Britain and well… It deals with many aspects of war.

How about a web site that has links to all of Andy’s Guantanamo material (which already exists), Kevin’s sculpture (I also particularly liked the Ministry of Misinformation) and other artifacts of this era. Alexa O’Brien, Jeremy Scahill and Kevin Gosztola would have links there and we would think of many others too.

...on October 4th, 2013 at 6:55 am
Andy Worthington says...

Thank you, Willy, for your wonderful support and kind words. I love the idea of a website, a central hub for writers and all kinds of creative people tackling the lies and distortions of our times, this endless phony “war on terror” – or the long war, as its apologists now call it.
Willy, I had not seen your poetry before. It is very powerful, and I would like to recommend a few links I found: http://www.postpressed.com.au/book/picking-mangoes-that-are-still-green/
http://www.thedrunkenboat.com/bach.html
I am also reminded of a project begun by David Schwittek, an artist in New York, called “Redact This! Artists Against Torture,” which features work by dozens of artists, but hasn’t been published beyond a few sample copies:
http://schwittek.com/special-projects/121-redact-this-artists-against-torture

...on October 4th, 2013 at 6:57 am
Andy Worthington says...

Ghaliyaa Haq wrote:

I wish you would do a sequel to the book… that is just print the articles etc that you already have written. Not everyone can be online long enough to read them all, it would be fantastic to have it in book form as well. I guess it would be like an encyclopedia huh? How many volumes do you think? Ten? Twelve? 🙂

...on October 4th, 2013 at 7:30 am
Andy Worthington says...

Hi Ghaliyaa, I very much want to collect my articles in book form. It’s something I’ve been toying with for several years now. If anyone has any ideas please get in touch. I’d need to publish it in the States, and am happy to co-fund with a publisher.

...on October 4th, 2013 at 7:30 am
Andy Worthington says...

Willy Bach wrote, in response to 4, above:

Thanks Andy, I thought of a title, but no need to rush this, what about Testament to a Wasted Decade?

Yes, we can both go on thinking and discussing this idea. It could be worthwhile. With your current projects one could say that the War of Terror brought to Britain by Tony Blair has helped to unfold the ideological nightmare of David Cameron’s real agenda.

...on October 4th, 2013 at 7:31 am
Andy Worthington says...

Good title, Willy. My only caveat would be that it’s already more than a decade, and there’s still no end in sight! Do let us keep discussing it.
As for the Tories’ age of austerity, I hadn’t thought before that perhaps it is an extension of the “war on terror.” That brought the brutal simplicity of us v. them back into fashion, after the end of the Cold War, and now, economically, the poor are a substitute for al-Qaeda. What still worries me the most, however, is that the Tories’ lowest common denominator hatred echoes the intolerance and hatred that accompanied the rise of Nazism, and points to a very bleak future unless it is thoroughly repudiated.

...on October 4th, 2013 at 7:31 am
Andy Worthington says...

Willy Bach wrote:

Andy, yes to all of this. I agree that it has been more than a decade and there is no end in sight, my partner made that observation too. More thought.

As for Britain sliding into fascism, there is no clearer indication than the treatment of Glenn Greenwald’s partner and the disturbing meeting with The Guardian. Yes, lots of other hints too.

...on October 4th, 2013 at 7:32 am
Andy Worthington says...

My hope, Willy, is that the official US troop withdrawal from Afghanistan next year will remove the rationale for Guantanamo’s continued existence, but I’m not counting on lawmakers to care about that, as it would clearly be difficult to dream up a more dysfunctional collection of people masquerading as capable and responsible legislators. Nevertheless, the troop withdrawal provides real opportunities for lawyers to mount new challenges. The first motion has just been submitted, by lawyers for Fawzi al-Odah, one of the last two Kuwaiti prisoners. I’m looking into finding out more, because the only article online is hidden behind Murdoch’s paywall at the Times: http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/world/americas/article3882083.ece

...on October 4th, 2013 at 7:32 am
Andy Worthington says...

And as for my addled homeland, Willy, the treatment of David Miranda was indeed a blatant act of intimidation, and the process whereby the Guardian was obliged to destroy its hard drive of material provided by Edward Snowden in the presence of UK intelligence personnel – if that is the disturbing meeting you’re referring to – was like something out of a dystopian novel. Since then, of course, we’ve had a Yemeni human rights activist, Baraa Shiban, also detained, and other individuals opposed to America’s drone program (Shahzad Akbar from Pakistan) and the NSA surveillance scandal (German-Bulgarian writer and professor Ilija Trojanow) prevented from visiting the US: http://www.reprieve.org.uk/press/2013_09_24_Yemen_drone_activist_detained/
http://www.reprieve.org.uk/press/2013_09_24_obama_blocks_shahzad_visa_congress/
http://www.dw.de/us-denies-entry-to-german-writer-and-nsa-critic-trojanow/a-17131039

...on October 4th, 2013 at 7:33 am