Another fine mess in Afghanistan

We thought that we had seen the last of this but it appears that US troops can still not be trusted to police the world in the name of freedom.

A video depicting what appears to be four Marines urinating on the corpses of Taliban fighters has appeared.

Now we have to be careful to jump to conclusions,just ask Piers Morgan and the Marine Corps said it has not verified the origin or authenticity of the YouTube video.

However on the tenth anniversary of the opening of Guantanamo bay and amid continuing calls for its final closure,this is probably the last thing that the American military needed

Four reasons why Guantanamo bay should have been shut a lot earlier

Writing at the Washington note,Lawrence Wilkerson looks at some of the things that have gone wrong over Guantanamo bay.

1.the utter incompetence of the battlefield vetting in Afghanistan during the early stages of the U.S. operations there. Simply stated, no meaningful attempt at discrimination was made in-country by competent officials, civilian or military, as to who we were transporting to Cuba for detention and interrogation.

2.several in the U.S. leadership became aware of this lack of proper vetting very early on and, thus, of the reality that many of the detainees were innocent of any substantial wrongdoing, had little intelligence value, and should be immediately released.

3.and maybe the most worrying-how hard Secretary of State Colin Powell and his deputy Richard Armitage labored to ameliorate the GITMO situation from almost day one.

4. that the philosophy held that it did not matter if a detainee were innocent. Indeed, because he lived in Afghanistan and was captured on or near the battle area, he must know something of importance

ht-mother jones

Binyan revelations Britain is surely implicated

The interview that Binyam Mohameed gave to the BBC this morning is attracting a fair amount of coverage,not least for if true it more or less confirms British compliance in torture.

Michael White is quickly off the mark writing that

It all sounds ridiculous, but to my mind ridiculous enough to be plausible. As noted here before, crucial to the politics of Mohamed's campaign now is that M15 provided data to the Americans about him that led to him being sent to Morocco. Thus to the BBC today: "If it wasn't for the British involvement right at the beginning of the interrogations in Pakistan, and suggestions that were made by MI5 to the Americans of how to get me to respond, I don't think I would have gone to Morocco," he said.

This will once again bring to the fore questions to be raised about British entanglement with the war on terror as fought from Guantanamo bay.

The Economist sums it up nicely

Britain was the only western European country to be named as one that “facilitated” renditions. There are “consistent, credible reports” that British personnel have “provided intelligence or have conducted the initial seizure of an individual” for extraordinary rendition,

Who will turn the tide of American foreign policy

According to ex President Jimmy Carter interviewed by Jonathan Freedland in the Guardian's Saturday magazine,the next President should take no longer than 10 minutes to change America's image in the world.

the time it would take to deliver an inaugural address that would promise that America "will never again torture a prisoner... never again attack another country unless our security is directly threatened", will honour its international agreements and do the right thing on climate change.

How do the two candidates compare and will they change America's image.

In some respects John McCain is more of a hawk in foriegn than George Bush ever was.The war in Iraq is going to be a major feature of the campaign and McCain has famously said that troops will stay in the country for as long as it takes.He voted in favour of the war,and has supported all of Bush's terror bills.In a recent speach he lookd forward to 4 years time where American troops are welcomed home as heroes,with Al Qaeda defeated in Iraq,the war won and Iraqi security forces maintaining control of the country.

By contrast Obama voted against the war,has had a consistent policy about the situation out there and has vowed to bring the troops back in a reasonable timeframe.Only last week he said that the war in Iraq has made Iran stronger and both Israel and the Uniited States more insecure.

However his willingness to talk to talk with leaders of hostile countries has unnerved an American public and his commitment to Israel has been questioned.This may well have a knock on effect in November when it comes to capturing the Jewish vote.Recently he has clarified his position

"We must isolate Hamas unless and until they renounce terrorism, recognize Israel's right to exist, and abide by past agreements," There is no room at the negotiating table for terrorist organizations."

He has pledged to close Guantanamo bay and to restore the rule of Habeas corpus.He has also shown committment to the issues of the 21st century such as global warming and fighting poverty genocide and disease.

In many respects McCain is close to these issues when the spotlight is on him.said Stephen Hess, a scholar at the Washington-based Brookings Institution said that

McCain is a ``maverick'' who often bucks Republican principles,.His emphasis on issues may change as he tries to appeal more to his party's conservative base and separate himself from Obama,

So whilst the fight for the Independent vote continues,McCain will stress his commitment to closing the detention camp and new policies to combat global warming.