ISRAELI LINK IN US TORTURE TECHNIQUES

Looks like the Israeli association to the intelligence/torture is completely
being white washed for Israel (read former Republican Congressman Paul
Findley's 'They Dare to Speak Out' book to see why):

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article....=2&article_id=
3446


Israeli link possible in US torture techniques
By Ali Abunimah
Special to The Daily Star
Tuesday, May 11, 2004

In exchange for interrogation training, did Washington award security
contracts?

CHICAGO, Illinois: The head of the American defense contracting firm
implicated in the torture of Iraqis at Abu Ghraib prison has close ties to
Israel and visited an Israeli "anti-terror" training camp in the occupied
West Bank earlier this year.
Jack London, chairman, president and CEO of CACI International Incorporated,
traveled to Israel in January this year as part of a high-level delegation
of US Congressmen, defense contractors and pro-Israel lobbyists, sponsored
and paid for in part by the Jerusalem Fund of Aish HaTorah, a pro-Israel
lobbying and fundraising group, and Greenberg Traurig, LLP, a prominent
Washington law and lobby firm.

The purpose of the visit, according to a CACI press release, was "to promote
opportunities for strategic partnerships and joint ventures between US and
Israeli defense and homeland security companies."

As one of the highlights of the visit, London was presented with the Albert
Einstein Technology Award by Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz at a gala
dinner at Jerusalem city hall, for "achievements in the field of defense and
national security."

Delegates also spent several hours in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights with
Housing and Construction Minister Effie Eitam, a former Israeli general, who
is notorious for his view that Israel should "transfer" - that is, expel -
all the Palestinians.

According to the official itinerary for the Jan. 11-17 Defense Aerospace
Homeland Security Mission, obtained from the Jerusalem Fund of Aish HaTorah,
London's trip included a visit to Beit Horon, "the central training camp for
the anti-terrorist forces of the Israeli police and the border police," in
the occupied West Bank. The visitors were also "briefed by top experts," and
were able to "witness exercises related to anti-terror warfare."

Two CACI employees, Steven Stephanowicz and John Israel, were named in the
leaked report by US Major General Antonio M. Taguba on the abuses at Abu
Ghraib prison. Taguba wrote that Stephanowicz, a "contract US civilian
interrogator," "allowed and/or instructed MPs (military police), who were
not trained in interrogation techniques, to facilitate interrogations by
'setting conditions' which were neither authorized or in accordance with
applicable regulations/policy. He clearly knew his instructions equated to
physical abuse."

John Israel, an interpreter, did not have the appropriate security
clearance, according to Taguba.

Although Taguba recommended that Stephanowicz be terminated and his security
clearance revoked, a May 5 statement from CACI confirmed, "at present, all
CACI employees continue to work on site providing the contracted for
services to our clients in that location." It added: "We have not received
any information to stop any of our work, to terminate or suspend any of our
employees."

Although no evidence has emerged directly linking CACI's involvement in the
Abu Ghraib atrocities to Israel, it has long been known that the US military
has been interested in "learning" from Israel's experience attempting to
suppress the Palestinian uprising. In March 2003, for example, the AP
reported that the "the (US) military has been listening closely to Israeli
experts and picking up tips from years of Israeli Army operations in
Palestinian areas and Lebanese towns."

This cooperation has included briefings of US personnel by Israeli officers,
and, according to AP, "In January and February (2003), Israeli and American
troops trained together in southern Israel's Negev Desert ... Israel has
also hosted senior law enforcement officials from the United States for a
seminar on counterterrorism."

Meanwhile, more evidence has emerged undermining the US thesis that the
abuses at Abu Ghraib was the work of a "few bad apples." The Guardian
reported that the "sexual humiliation of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib
prison was not an invention of maverick guards, but part of a system of
ill-treatment and degradation used by special forces soldiers that is now
being disseminated among ordinary troops and contractors."

This system, known to insiders as "R2I," short for resistance to
interrogation, also includes such methods as "hooding, sleep deprivation,
time disorientation and depriving prisoners not only of dignity, but of
fundamental human needs, such as warmth, water and food." These are all
techniques long employed by Israel.

The visit of the US delegation that included the CACI head exposes a
rarefied web of influence sharing in which US government officials and
congressmen, defense contractors and lobbyists parcel out huge contracts,
and siphon significant portions off to Israel.

As Batya Feldman of Israel's Globes financial news service put it, the visit
provided Israeli companies with "an excellent opportunity to encounter big
bucks in homeland security."

To help Israeli companies pry some of these "big bucks" loose, the visit
included seminars for Israeli companies given by US pro-Israel lobbyists
called "How to Approach the Homeland Security Department," and "How to Sell
to the US Defense Department."

Israeli participants would have had a chance to test the helpful tips, since
present on the trip were Assistant Secretary for Homeland SecurityRobert
Liscouski and many leading US legislators, including top members of the US
House and Senate Armed Services Committees, which jointly oversee tens of
billions of dollars in military spending.

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Israeli lessons for the US in Iraq

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exer...5D6509B0EC.htm


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May 10, 2004

The Israeli Torture Template
Rape, Feces and Urine-Dipped Cloth Sacks
By WAYNE MADSEN

With mounting evidence that a shadowy group of former Israeli Defense Force and
General Security Service (Shin Bet) Arabic-speaking interrogators were hired by
the Pentagon under a classified "carve out" sub-contract to brutally
interrogate Iraqi prisoners at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison, one only needs to
examine the record of abuse of Palestinian and Lebanese prisoners in Israel to
understand what Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld meant, when referring to
new, yet to be released photos and videos, he said, "if these images are
released to the public, obviously its going to make matters worse."

According to a political appointee within the Bush administration and U.S.
intelligence sources, the interrogators at Abu Ghraib included a number of
Arabic-speaking Israelis who also helped U.S. interrogators develop the "R2I"
(Resistance to Interrogation) techniques. Many of the torture methods were
developed by the Israelis over many years of interrogating Arab prisoners on
the occupied West Bank and in Israel itself.

Clues about worse photos and videos of abuse may be found in Israeli files
about similar abuse of Palestinian and other Arab prisoners. In March 2000, a
lawyer for a Lebanese prisoner kidnapped in 1994 by the Israelis in Lebanon
claimed that his client had been subjected to torture, including rape. The type
of compensation offered by Rumsfeld in his testimony has its roots in cases of
Israeli torture of Arabs. In the case of the Lebanese man, said to have been
raped by his Israeli captors, his lawyer demanded compensation of $1.47
million. The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel documented the types of
torture meted out on Arab prisoners. Many of the tactics coincide with those
contained in the Taguba report: beatings and prolonged periods handcuffed to
furniture. In an article in the December 1998 issue of The Progressive, Rabbi
Lynn Gottlieb reported on the treatment given to a 23-year old Palestinian held
on "administrative detention." The prisoner was "cuffed behind a chair 17 hours
a day for 120 days . . . [he] had his head covered with a sack, which was often
dipped in urine or feces. Guards played loud music right next to his ears and
frequently taunted him with threats of physical and sexual violence." If
additional photos and videos document such practices, the Bush administration
and the American people have, indeed, "seen nothing yet."

Although it is still largely undocumented if any of the contractor named in the
report of General Antonio Taguba were associated with the Israeli military or
intelligence services, it is noteworthy that one, John Israel, who was
identified in the report as being employed by both CACI International of
Arlington, Virginia, and Titan, Inc., of San Diego, may not have even been a
U.S. citizen. The Taguba report states that Israel did not have a security
clearance, a requirement for employment as an interrogator for CACI. According
to CACI's web site, "a Top Secret Clearance (TS) that is current and US
citizenship" are required for CACI interrogators working in Iraq. In addition,
CACI requires that its interrogators "have at least two years experience as a
military policeman or similar type of law enforcement/intelligence agency
whereby the individual utilized interviewing techniques."

Speculation that "John Israel" may be an intelligence cover name has fueled
speculation whether this individual could have been one of a number of Israeli
interrogators hired under a classified contract. Because U.S. citizenship and
documentation thereof are requirements for a U.S. security clearance, Israeli
citizens would not be permitted to hold a Top Secret clearance. However, dual
U.S.-Israeli citizens could have satisfied Pentagon requirements that
interrogators hold U.S. citizenship and a Top Secret clearance. Although the
Taguba report refers twice to Israel as an employee of Titan, the company
claims he is one of their sub-contractors. CACI stated that one of the men
listed in the report "is not and never has been a CACI employee" without
providing more detail. A U.S. intelligence source revealed that in the world of
intelligence "carve out" subcontracts such confusion is often the case with
"plausible deniability" being a foremost concern.

In fact, the Taguba report does reference the presence of non-U.S. and
non-Iraqi interrogators at Abu Ghraib. The report states, "In general, US
civilian contract personnel (Titan Corporation, CACI, etc), third country
nationals, and local contractors do not appear to be properly supervised within
the detention facility at Abu Ghraib."

The Pentagon is clearly concerned about the outing of the Taguba report and its
references to CACI, Titan, and third country nationals, which could permanently
damage U.S. relations with Arab and Islamic nations. The Pentagon's angst may
explain why the Taguba report is classified Secret No Foreign Dissemination.

The leak of the Taguba report was so radioactive, Daniel R. Dunn, the
Information Assurance Officer for Douglas Feith's Office of the Under Secretary
of Defense, Policy (Policy Automation Services Security Team), sent a May 6,
2004, For Official Use Only Urgent E-mail to Pentagon staffers stating, "THE
INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS REPORT IS CLASSIFIED; DO NOT GO TO FOX NEWS TO
READ OR OBTAIN A COPY." Considering Feith's close ties to the Israelis, such a
reaction by his top computer security officer, a Certified Information System
Security Professional (CISSP), is understandable, although considering the fact
that CISSPs are to act on behalf of the public good, it is also regrettable..

The reference to "third country nationals" in a report that restricts its
dissemination to U.S. coalition partners (Great Britain, Poland, Italy, etc.)
is another indication of the possible involvement of Israelis in the
interrogation of Iraqi prisoners. Knowledge that the U.S. may have been using
Israeli interrogators could have severely fractured the Bush administration's
tenuous "coalition of the willing' in Iraq. General Taguba's findings were
transmitted to the Coalition Forces Land Component Command on March 9, 2004,
just six days before the Spanish general election, one that the opposition
anti-Iraq war Socialists won. The Spanish ultimately withdrew their forces from
Iraq.

During his testimony before the Senate Armed Service Committee, Rumsfeld was
pressed upon by Senator John McCain about the role of the private contractors
in the interrogations and abuse. McCain asked Rumsfeld four pertinent
questions, ". . . who was in charge? What agency or private contractor was in
charge of the interrogations? Did they have authority over the guards? And what
were the instructions that they gave to the guards?"

When Rumsfeld had problems answering McCain's question, Lt. Gen. Lance Smith,
the Deputy Commander of the U.S. Central Command, said there were 37 contract
interrogators used in Abu Ghraib. The two named contractors, CACI and Titan,
have close ties to the Israeli military and technology communities. Last
January 14, after Provost Marshal General of the Army, Major General Donald
Ryder, had already uncovered abuse at Abu Ghraib, CACI's President and CEO, Dr.
J.P. (Jack) London was receiving the Jerusalem Fund of Aish HaTorah's Albert
Einstein Technology award at the Jerusalem City Hall, with right-wing Likud
politician Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz and ultra-Orthodox United Torah
Judaism party Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski in attendance. Oddly, CACI waited
until February 2 to publicly announce the award in a press release. CACI has
also received grants from U.S.-Israeli bi-national foundations.

Titan also has had close connections to Israeli interests. After his stint as
CIA Director, James Woolsey served as a Titan director. Woolsey is an architect
of America's Iraq policy and the chief proponent of and lobbyist for Ahmad
Chalabi of the Iraqi National Congress. An adviser to the neo-conservative
Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, Jewish Institute of National
Security Affairs, Project for the New American Century, Center for Security
Policy, Freedom House, and Committee for the Liberation of Iraq, Woolsey is
close to Stephen Cambone, the Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence, a key
person in the chain of command who would have not only known about the torture
tactics used by U.S. and Israeli interrogators in Iraq but who would have also
approved them. Cambone was associated with the Project for the New American
Century and is viewed as a member of Rumsfeld's neo-conservative "cabal" within
the Pentagon.

Another person considered by Pentagon insiders to have been knowledgeable about
the treatment of Iraqi prisoners is U.S. Army Col. Steven Bucci, a Green Beret
and Rumsfeld's military assistant and chief traffic cop for the information
flow to the Defense Secretary. According to Pentagon insiders, Bucci was
involved in the direction of a special covert operations unit composed of
former U.S. special operations personnel who answered to the Pentagon rather
than the CIA's Special Activities Division, the agency's own paramilitary
group. The Pentagon group included Arabic linguists and former members of the
Green Berets and Delta Force who operated covertly in Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran,
Pakistan, and Uzbekistan. Titan also uses linguists trained in the languages
(Arabic, Dari, Farsi, Pashto, Urdu, and Tajik) of those same countries. It is
not known if a link exists between Rumsfeld's covert operations unit and
Titan's covert operations linguists.

Another Titan employee named in the Taguba report is Adel L. Nakhla. Nakhla is
a name common among Egypt's Coptic Christian community, however, it is not
known if Adel Nakhla is either an Egyptian-American or a national of Egypt. A
CACI employee identified in the report, Steven Stephanowicz, is referred to as
"Stefanowicz" in a number of articles on the prison abuse. Stefanowicz is the
spelling used by Joe Ryan, another CACI employee assigned with Stefanowicz to
Abu Ghraib. Ryan is a radio personality on KSTP, a conservative radio station
in Minneapolis, who maintained a daily log of his activities in Iraq on the
radio's web site before it was taken down. Ryan indicated that Stefanowicz (or
Stephanowicz) continued to hold his interrogation job in Iraq even though
General Taguba recommended he lose his security clearance and be terminated for
the abuses at Abu Ghraib.

In an even more bizarre twist, the Philadelphia Daily News identified a former
expatriate public relations specialist for the government of South Australia in
Adelaide named Steve Stefanowicz as possibly being the same person identified
in the Taguba report. In 2000, Stefanowicz, who grew up in the Philadelphia and
Allentown areas, left for Australia. On September 16, 2001, he was quoted by
the Sunday Mail of Adelaide on the 911 attacks. He said of the attacks, "It was
one of the most incredible and most devastating things I have ever seen. I have
been in constant contact with my family and friends in the US and the mood was
very solemn and quiet. But this is progressing into anger." Stefanowicz
returned to the United States and volunteered for the Navy in a reserve status.
His mother told the Allentown Morning Call in April 2002 that Stefanowicz was
stationed somewhere in the Middle East but did not know where because of what
Stefanowicz said was "security concerns." His mother told the Philadelphia
Daily News that her son was in Iraq but she knew nothing about his current
status.

Wayne Madsen is a Washington, DC-based investigative journalist and columnist.
He served in the National Security Agency (NSA) during the Reagan
administration and wrote the introduction to Forbidden Truth. He is the
co-author, with John Stanton, of "America's Nightma The Presidency of George
Bush II." His forthcoming book is titled: "Jaded Tasks: Big Oil, Black Ops, and
Brass Plates."

Madsen can be reached at:
http://www.counterpunch.org/madsen05102004.html

Is Israel behind the orders for the tortures in Iraq?:


http://www.itszone.co.uk/zone0/viewtopic.php?t=15215

See the 'War Conceived in Israel' article which is linked under the map of
'greater Israel' after scrolling down to it on the left at the following URL:

http://www.nowarforisrael.com

http://www.nogw.com/warforisrael.html