“In February 2009 the provincial government [in Swat, the northern region of Pakistan] did a deal with the Taliban leader in Swat, Maulana Fazlullah…which allowed his self-styled religious warriors to impose their version of sharia law on the region’s inhabitants. As they had with other ‘peace’ deals, the Taliban took the agreement as an opportunity […]
Category: quotes
2/5/2009
“…former vice president [Dick] Cheney–in the course of defending the Bush administration’s use of waterboarding and other such measures–claimed in February [5] 2009 that such an attack [with WMD] was ‘a high probability,’ adding that ‘whether or not they can pull it off depends on whether or not we keep in place policies that have […]
2/5/2009
Suspected USS Cole bomber Abd Al Rahim “Al-Nashiri has stated that any self-incriminating evidence he may have provided while in detention was entirely the result of torture during interrogations… In February [5] 2009, all charges against Al-Nashiri were dropped without prejudice when President [Barack] Obama suspended the military commissions for further review.” – M. Cherif […]
2/3/2009
“After he left office, former vice president Dick Cheney vehemently defended the practices of the Bush administration, saying in February [3] 2009, ‘If it hadn’t been for what we did–with respect to the terrorist surveillance program, or enhanced interrogation techniques for high-value detainees, the Patriot Act, and so forth–then we would have been attacked again.’ […]
1/27/2009
"President [Barack] Obama's third, fourth, and fifth Executive Orders, issued on January 27, 2009, were to ensure lawful interrogations, set a one-year deadline to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, and establish a Special Task Force on Detainee Disposition." – M. Cherif Bassiouni, The Institutionalization of Torture by the Bush Administration, xvi […]
1/27/2009
“In an Executive Order [No. 13491] issued January 27, 2009, President [Barack] Obama reinstated the Geneva Conventions’ Common Article 3 and revoked all Executive Directives, Orders, and Regulations issued from 9/11 to the end of the Bush Administration which are consistent with this new Order. Detainees are to be treated in accordance with the CAT […]
1/24/2009
“In early [January 24] 2009, [President Barack] Obama had ordered an intensification of the drone strikes in FATA [Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas]. Now it became apparent he had also secretly authorized the CIA to conduct large-scale recruitment of Pakistanis to establish a clandestine intelligence operation, with the help of fifty CIA officers and American […]
1/22/2009
“On January 22, 2009, two days after his inauguration, President [Barack] Obama gave a speech at the State Department declaring that Afghanistan and Pakistan were the ‘central front in our enduring struggle against terrorism and extremism.’ “ – Peter Bergen, The Longest War, Page 309 […]
1/22/2009
“On his second full day in office [January 22, 2009], President Obama vowed to close the facility [Guantanamo] ‘promptly.’ Years later, however, Guantanamo remains open, undoubtedly because the Obama administration, despite its promises, has not found a practical alternative.” – Donald Rumsfeld, Known and Unknown, Page 573 […]
1/22/2009
President Barack Obama “issued an executive order during his first days in office [on January 22, 2009] that limited all interrogations to the techniques used by the American military and detailed in the U.S. Army Field Manual.” – John Kiriakou with Michael Ruby, The Reluctant Spy, Page 190 […]