Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by martyb on Friday May 06 2016, @05:51AM   Printer-friendly
from the approaching-fifteen-years-without-a-trial dept.

The Defense Department has farmed out to a private company much of the criminal investigation and trials of the men accused of plotting the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, according to federal records and sources affiliated with the trials who spoke to BuzzFeed News.

What's more, the government has hired the same firm, SRA International, to serve both the prosecution and defense teams, sparking concerns of a conflict of interest that could undermine the integrity of one of the most significant terrorism cases in modern history.

"Where did these people come from; how did they get selected?" asked David Nevin, a lawyer for alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. "I have no idea. And that's a problem, to say the least."

The role of contractors in the Gitmo investigations raises questions about accountability at the notoriously secretive war court.

"It does surprise me," Laura Dickinson, a professor of national security law at George Washington University, said of contracting out a major terrorism investigation. "It raises questions about who is running the investigation. The fact that there is so little transparency raises a red flag because we can't evaluate if there are adequate accountability measures in place."

The central role that SRA, a Virginia-based security logistics contracting firm, plays in staffing the prosecution and defense at GITMO has not been previously reported. BuzzFeed News obtained a contracting document dated November 2015, in which the Pentagon justifies using SRA and explains how much the government relies on the company.

Source: BuzzFeed


Original Submission

This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 06 2016, @06:39AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 06 2016, @06:39AM (#342453)

    Why not outsource election, too? And you wonder why people vote for clowns like Trump.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 06 2016, @07:17AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 06 2016, @07:17AM (#342459)

      Saudis? Just saying.

    • (Score: 2, Informative) by Dogeball on Friday May 06 2016, @01:49PM

      by Dogeball (814) on Friday May 06 2016, @01:49PM (#342559)

      This has happened [theguardian.com] in a London council. They outsourced Electoral Services, among everything else.

      At the London Mayoral Election yesterday, whole streets of people [theguardian.com], including the Chief Rabbi were unable to vote.

  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by MadTinfoilHatter on Friday May 06 2016, @08:48AM

    by MadTinfoilHatter (4635) on Friday May 06 2016, @08:48AM (#342472)

    What I'm wondering is, after all these years of blatant and obvious human rights vialoations, why the US is even bothering to maintain some kind of pretence that what they're doing is legal, ethical or just. Why not just shoot everyone in Gitmo, bulldoze the corpses into an unmarked mass grave and get the thing over with? It's not like they're fooling anyone. The BS is on the level of Putin's Russia not being involved in the Ukraine conflict or Kim-Jong Il hitting 11 hole-in-ones the first time he tried his hands at golf...

    • (Score: 4, Insightful) by devlux on Friday May 06 2016, @09:27AM

      by devlux (6151) on Friday May 06 2016, @09:27AM (#342481)

      Because there are those in the Military who remember that they took a solemn vow to uphold and defend the constitution of the United States of America from all enemies both foreign and domestic.

      These people are doing their damnedest to prevent these poor sods from being killed without real due process.
      There aren't a whole lot of them and I doubt any of them know eachother, but they are courageous as hell standing up like that.
      Where do you think these "leaks" are coming from?

      Instead of this defeatist bullshit, get out there and control the narrative. You and you alone have this power, but you are not alone.
      If you have a facebook or twitter account or email or anything else, use and share it.

      Build the outrage against this abuse of power into a crescendo that causes real accountability and forces heads to roll.
      You have friends, you have family. You have a circle of influence and everyone you know has a circle of influence. There are less than 6 degrees of separation between you and any human being on earth. Make some compelling arguments and start flipping people over to the right side instead of allowing people to think they have no power or say in the matter.

      Government is allowed to exist only with consent of the governed.
      The first win in the war towards oppression is to convince people that they have no power.
      The final win in the war against oppression is to remind people that they are the power.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 06 2016, @11:29AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 06 2016, @11:29AM (#342506)

        You have friends

        They're all nobodies without jobs. I also think I might be shadowbanned on Facebook. Too lazy to check.

        you have family

        I don't. Lyin' Ted and the feminists made sure of that. Well, it's not fair of me to blame decades of feminist-sponsored homophobia on Lyin' Ted. He was just saying what was on everybody's mind. Well, everybody who doesn't "hate women."

        • (Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Friday May 06 2016, @04:12PM

          by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Friday May 06 2016, @04:12PM (#342592) Journal

          Cut it out, Kurenai. I'm getting really tired of you slagging an entire three-wave movement because a few insane Trigglypuffs with the same moral problems as the MRA movement but in the opposite direction did you dirty.

          How many times do I need to make this observation before you get it? People who spell it "womyn" are to feminism in general as Westboro is to Christianity. If you want any allies on the sane side of the spectrum, you would do well not to come out swinging with "you're ALL like this!" written on your fists.

          --
          I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
          • (Score: 2) by SanityCheck on Friday May 06 2016, @07:06PM

            by SanityCheck (5190) on Friday May 06 2016, @07:06PM (#342664)

            I suppose it is her right to bring endless attention and shine light on this dark corner of ideology so that people are aware of these idiots. I make it a point to know little about every stupid ideology out there, but even I only learned what the term TERF stood for recently, even thou I knew of existence of bozos with similar ideology for some time.

            Still I put people who have such a rabid ideology in the same bucket I store my disdain for vegans. I hope time will heal Kurenai's wounds. And I hope she knows most people do not give idiots the time of day, so their silence is not synonymous with approval.

            • (Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Friday May 06 2016, @07:58PM

              by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Friday May 06 2016, @07:58PM (#342691) Journal

              In a way I understand why she feels the way she does; when you've been shit on by someone who identifies as part of Group X, it is very reasonable to jump to the conclusion that all members of Group X are similarly shitty people. It's a hasty generalization fallacy, but one that arose out of millions of years of dodging members of Group Poisonous Snake and Group Saber-toothed Tiger, and in those cases, that generalization DOES serve well.

              --
              I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 06 2016, @09:41PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 06 2016, @09:41PM (#342713)

            I enjoy how womyn and trigglypuffs are the extremists and do not represent mainstream feminism, yet the entire MRA movement has corrupt morals.

            No, no false dichotomy here.

            Make up your mind.

            • (Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Saturday May 07 2016, @01:16AM

              by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Saturday May 07 2016, @01:16AM (#342767) Journal

              You do realize there is absolutely no equivalence, don't you?

              Look, I'm not happy about--and i FIGHT AGAINST--things like domestic violence against men and male circumcision. But at this point, you trying to equate the MRAs with feminists is...so far beyond wrong it's not even wrong. The kind of historical illiteracy it takes to do this is mind-boggling.

              Show me the major religion that says men are inferior to women by "design." I can name none. Not. One. Which say the opposite? I can name five, very large ones at that: Judaism, Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, and (most forms of) Buddhism.

              Which sex was traded around as bargaining chips for most of history? Not men. Which sex for the longest time was good for nothing but popping out babies, preferably sons? Not men. Which sex wasn't even allowed to fucking vote in the US for more than half a century even after goddamn CHATTEL SLAVEREY was ended? Not men. Which sex is forced to walk around in sweltering 100+-degree-heat in tents because the other one is apparently so fucking bestial that seeing even our eyes would drive them into a frenzy of lust? Not men.

              I could go on for fucking hours about this. Normally I hate it when people say "check your privilege," but I think it's appropriate in this case.

              --
              I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 06 2016, @01:31PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 06 2016, @01:31PM (#342547)

        If you have a facebook or twitter account or email or anything else, use and share it.

        Yes, publicly advertise this information on something linked directly to you, it will make the round-ups that much easier. At least we now know where to go and who to pick up!

        • (Score: 2) by devlux on Friday May 06 2016, @04:59PM

          by devlux (6151) on Friday May 06 2016, @04:59PM (#342619)

          If that's a legitimate fear for you, then you should just stay in your mom's basement and hide out.
          Otherwise grow a pair and stand up for what you believe in.

          "The triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing" -- Edward Burke

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 06 2016, @06:49PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 06 2016, @06:49PM (#342658)

            But then you attack the ones leading the people to freedom with lies and calumny in the hope that at least some of the lies will stick. The leader is repeatedly attacked from all directions by all parties. The people instead attack the leader himself in the hope that they will be spared the injustices they expect from the controlling faction as a result of their support of the leader.

            • (Score: 3, Insightful) by devlux on Friday May 06 2016, @10:45PM

              by devlux (6151) on Friday May 06 2016, @10:45PM (#342733)

              Unfortunately there are many people who want to act like sheep because thinking on their own is too hard. Happily sitting at home, content with whatever horrors are going on around them as long as it doesn't interrupt sportsball, or the latest episode of whatever "reality" show is popular at the moment.

              This is bread and circuses and some people will just lap it up no matter what. They are blameless though. So many slaves fall passionately in love with their chains. It's just so much easier to pretend the heavy collar around your neck is made of gold, never looking closely enough to notice that it's actually made of your own ignorance.

              However you don't really know those people do you?
              When you think of those people, they're outside your circle of influence, because if they were in your circle of influence then they wouldn't be that way anymore.
              Did you fail to get your message across or did they succeed in keeping their beloved chains?

              The truth is neither. Your circle of influence is limited to the people who respect your opinion, despite knowing you.
              This group may not be very large. It might only be one or two people, but if you're reading this, then you can count me in your circle, so hey it's at least two!

              All you need to do is convince them to believe as you do, as passionately as you do, then they will convince the people they know, who will convince the people they know, etc. Eventually the narrative begins to spread like wildfire, a virus, a religion or philosophy, whatever you prefer to call it.

              If you're the one being attacked, then you've lost control of the narrative and need to reassert it, simple as that. Just turn the conversation back to where it belongs.
              You can only do this if you believe in it yourself, otherwise just sit back and enjoy the opium it's a nice way to dull the pain.

              If you do believe it, though, then you can assert control over the narrative and you can help to make it so wide spread that it's "just common sense", a thing people know and identify with, but to do this, you have to make it personal and intimate.

              The Nazis were horrific, but they were also brilliant propagandists. Consider Mein Kampf and the other propaganda that led to up to Kristallnacht and even beyond. Propaganda that even in a reduced form, and a century later, is still inciting people to hate eachother and do violence against others. Basically doing the will of the authors well past the author's death. A sick form of immortality of the will. The US government also has propagandists, just think about the narrative on Marijuana and other drugs and mental illness over the last 75 years or so. We're still fighting these damned battles.

              Propaganda is actually shallow, it can only work by controlling the second most powerful emotion there is, Fear.

              When you let people manipulate you like that, then you give them power over you. So you have to ask yourself, why give your power over to someone like that?

              But I said second most powerful for a reason.

              The most powerful emotion is compassion. Compassion requires understanding and critical thinking skills.
              This makes the emotion much harder to spread, which is one reason why fear is the de facto emotion of all those lacking in their ability or desire to think for themselves.
              Again you don't really know people like that. You might be acquainted with some, but you don't know them if that's your POV on them and perhaps it's time to look closer at what's around your own neck and see if you can't lighten it a little.

              The most interesting thing about compassion is that once it's there, nothing can break it and nothing can ever turn it back into fear.
              Hence it is the strongest emotion.

              If your circle of influence can be turned against you by the words of someone else, then they are not really in your circle of influence, so stop worrying about them.
              Focus on those that you believe can be reached.

              The best way to prevent a narrative being turned on it's head is to ensure that it has no "leader".

              War can only won by reminding the people that they ARE the power.
              When you give up, or give your will to someone else, you amplify their power by adding your voice to theirs.
              Even just being sedentary while the world is burning around you is feeding the flames.

              Not everyone will concur with you, but there is a tipping point.
              A critical mass where what once was seen as the outlier opinion becomes the belief that binds and unifies us all.
              The foundations of the USA were based on that very principle, once upon a time.

              E Pluribus Unum, Out of many, one.
              United we stand, divided we fall.

              Your freedoms are supported by 4 boxes. The soap box, the ballot box, the ammo box and the jury box. Only free people have those boxes and once you allow any of them to be taken from another person for whatever cause, you take it away from your children as well. You bind your own children to an authoritarian police state in exchange for a cold beer and finding out what color Kim's latest sweater is.

              The fact that we have allowed these horrors to go on unchecked for nearly 2 decades is a personal failure each of us will have to own up to one day, one way or another.

              These freedoms had a cost, the blood of thousands of people. Unfortunately by letting it slip, by giving someone else your freedom and your power like that; once any freedom is taken away from any person for any reason, it has always required bloodshed to regain it.

              We aren't at that point though. All that really needs to happen at this point is for those who understand these fundamental principles to spread the word.
              Help people remember that they are the power.

              The correct message isn't "power to the people", or "the people have the power", the correct message is "The People ARE THE Power".

                 

              • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 07 2016, @03:22AM

                by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 07 2016, @03:22AM (#342793)

                The Nazis were horrific

                The National Socialists were great. They had a great ideology. They did great things. They were great people.

                National Socialism is a great system that produces wonderful things for both the individual and the state. Its the system that has a future.

                --
                The rest of your post sounds good (on the surface at least).

      • (Score: 2) by Bobs on Friday May 06 2016, @06:16PM

        by Bobs (1462) on Friday May 06 2016, @06:16PM (#342648)

        Thanks devlux, well-said.

        "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."* Margaret Mead

        * Excluding guns, germs, steel and the occasional natural disaster or exceptional individual.

    • (Score: 4, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 06 2016, @10:11AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 06 2016, @10:11AM (#342489)

      If someone in the administration or a military breaks laws obeying orders and backed by political power, there may be trials, jail, political backslash etc.

      If a company breaks laws, a company can't go to jail. CEOs really, really seldom go to jail, no matter whatever the company has done. In the worst case the company will have to pay a fine after 10 years of wandering by courts and a backstage agreement.

      We, government want do something ignoring legal limits, the solution is easy: Let's hire a company to do it. In the worst case we don't know anything and money solves the problem. Moreover, there is a lot of money out of control.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 06 2016, @10:47AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 06 2016, @10:47AM (#342497)

        The correct answer.

      • (Score: 1) by khallow on Friday May 06 2016, @01:28PM

        by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Friday May 06 2016, @01:28PM (#342546) Journal

        CEOs really, really seldom go to jail, no matter whatever the company has done.

        That's because most of the time, the members of the company have not committed a criminal act and hence, there is no legal reason to send anyone to jail. But I guess that means it really does matter what was done.

        We, government want do something ignoring legal limits, the solution is easy: Let's hire a company to do it. In the worst case we don't know anything and money solves the problem. Moreover, there is a lot of money out of control.

        I wouldn't be surprised if this company is an extension of some US intelligence agency.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 06 2016, @01:34PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 06 2016, @01:34PM (#342550)

        Don Blankenship [wikipedia.org] of Massey Energy [wikipedia.org] disagrees.

        • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 06 2016, @02:13PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 06 2016, @02:13PM (#342566)

          Two anecdotal cases. That's the exception.

          How many case else do you know?

          Let's begin with tobacco companies faking the danger to smoking, when they positively they knew the real data. Let's end with the world economical crisis with brokers lying its customers about the best products and rating companies publish fake ratings. Let's pass by Blackwater abuses in Iraq.

  • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 06 2016, @09:51AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 06 2016, @09:51AM (#342486)

    The real news here (for me at least) is that I might have to start taking BuzzFeed seriously.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 06 2016, @11:46AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 06 2016, @11:46AM (#342510)

      Buzzfeed can afford to pay reporters, SN and /. can't.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 06 2016, @01:40PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 06 2016, @01:40PM (#342553)

      No, the real news is that these guys are finally getting trials.

      • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 06 2016, @02:49PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 06 2016, @02:49PM (#342573)

        Didn't you mean "trials" ...

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 06 2016, @09:58PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 06 2016, @09:58PM (#342716)

          I think they also meant "real news".

  • (Score: 1) by nitehawk214 on Friday May 06 2016, @09:36PM

    by nitehawk214 (1304) on Friday May 06 2016, @09:36PM (#342711)

    Government is learning from companies, I see.

    --
    "Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh