Our Man in Samarra
March 8, 2013 3:29 PM Subscribe
James Steele: America’s Mystery Man in Iraq -- A 15-month investigation by the Guardian and BBC Arabic reveals how retired US colonel James Steele, a veteran of American proxy wars in El Salvador and Nicaragua, played a key role in training and overseeing US-funded special police commandos who ran a network of torture centres in Iraq.
Story link, for anti-video Luddites such as me.
posted by mwhybark at 4:35 PM on March 8, 2013 [6 favorites]
posted by mwhybark at 4:35 PM on March 8, 2013 [6 favorites]
This is why I reject the incompetence canard that everyone likes to throw around. Deliberate evil exists.
posted by srboisvert at 4:46 PM on March 8, 2013 [4 favorites]
posted by srboisvert at 4:46 PM on March 8, 2013 [4 favorites]
Direct .mp4 link, for pro-video Luddites such as me.
posted by XMLicious at 4:47 PM on March 8, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by XMLicious at 4:47 PM on March 8, 2013 [1 favorite]
Why Latin America Didn't Join Washington's Counterterrorism Posse
posted by homunculus at 4:58 PM on March 8, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by homunculus at 4:58 PM on March 8, 2013 [3 favorites]
Well that was pretty chilling. The bit where Rumsfeld interrupts that general at a press conference to ask him, "Well, if a soldier witnesses torture, he's not obligated to physically stop it, right? He just has to report it." reminded me of what an irredeemable shitbag that guy was.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 5:20 PM on March 8, 2013 [5 favorites]
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 5:20 PM on March 8, 2013 [5 favorites]
what an irredeemable shitbag that guy was.
In times of war you have to go with the SecDef you have...not the SecDef you might want or wish to have at a later time.
posted by AElfwine Evenstar at 6:20 PM on March 8, 2013 [2 favorites]
In times of war you have to go with the SecDef you have...not the SecDef you might want or wish to have at a later time.
posted by AElfwine Evenstar at 6:20 PM on March 8, 2013 [2 favorites]
But that was a war we did not have to have in the first place.
posted by lampshade at 6:53 PM on March 8, 2013
posted by lampshade at 6:53 PM on March 8, 2013
I think it was a joke. A sad, bitter, bitter joke.
posted by benito.strauss at 6:55 PM on March 8, 2013
posted by benito.strauss at 6:55 PM on March 8, 2013
A sad, bitter, bitter joke.
Ahh....I see. I forgot about that. I've lost track of all the stupidity that came out of his mouth. Its a friggin blur.
posted by lampshade at 6:59 PM on March 8, 2013 [1 favorite]
Ahh....I see. I forgot about that. I've lost track of all the stupidity that came out of his mouth. Its a friggin blur.
posted by lampshade at 6:59 PM on March 8, 2013 [1 favorite]
Stuff like this also always gets me too.
Flashback: Bin Laden's Mountain Fortress
posted by lampshade at 7:02 PM on March 8, 2013 [1 favorite]
Flashback: Bin Laden's Mountain Fortress
posted by lampshade at 7:02 PM on March 8, 2013 [1 favorite]
Flashback: Bin Laden's Mountain Fortress
Holy shit! I don't remember that!
That was basically just a diagram of Cheyenne Mountain with a Mujahideen sticker slapped on it, wasn't it?.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 8:04 PM on March 8, 2013
Holy shit! I don't remember that!
That was basically just a diagram of Cheyenne Mountain with a Mujahideen sticker slapped on it, wasn't it?.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 8:04 PM on March 8, 2013
This is why I reject the incompetence canard that everyone likes to throw around. Deliberate evil exists.
Certainly, it is hardly incompetence that permits these people to get away with their crimes after the fact. That these people are not behind bars speaks largely to the competence, in fact, of a loose network of complicit politicians, lawyers, media and voters that keeps them from suffering any consequences.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 10:49 PM on March 8, 2013
Certainly, it is hardly incompetence that permits these people to get away with their crimes after the fact. That these people are not behind bars speaks largely to the competence, in fact, of a loose network of complicit politicians, lawyers, media and voters that keeps them from suffering any consequences.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 10:49 PM on March 8, 2013
Could someone please "render" this guy to a war crime court outside the U.S.?
Also, James Steele (US Colonel) at wikipedia says : Col. James Steele is currently registered with Premiere Motivational Speakers, through which he charges $15,000 to give speeches on "Security and Counterterrorism Policy".[15] He is also listed as the CEO of Buchanan Renewables,[16] an energy company that produces biomass in Liberia. Steele's company has been accused of corporate malfeasance by the Liberian legislature[17] and was the subject of an investigative report in 2011 by the Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations.
posted by jeffburdges at 2:37 AM on March 9, 2013 [1 favorite]
Also, James Steele (US Colonel) at wikipedia says : Col. James Steele is currently registered with Premiere Motivational Speakers, through which he charges $15,000 to give speeches on "Security and Counterterrorism Policy".[15] He is also listed as the CEO of Buchanan Renewables,[16] an energy company that produces biomass in Liberia. Steele's company has been accused of corporate malfeasance by the Liberian legislature[17] and was the subject of an investigative report in 2011 by the Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations.
posted by jeffburdges at 2:37 AM on March 9, 2013 [1 favorite]
Flashback: Bin Laden's Mountain Fortress
Well, he was there, but someone refused to let Delta Force go get him.
posted by timsteil at 5:21 AM on March 9, 2013
Well, he was there, but someone refused to let Delta Force go get him.
posted by timsteil at 5:21 AM on March 9, 2013
That was basically just a diagram of Cheyenne Mountain with a Mujahideen sticker slapped on it, wasn't it?.
OFF-WORLD ACTIVATION!
posted by clavdivs at 1:45 PM on March 10, 2013
OFF-WORLD ACTIVATION!
posted by clavdivs at 1:45 PM on March 10, 2013
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posted by moorooka at 4:24 PM on March 8, 2013 [2 favorites]