I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
Talking Points Memo (TPM) looked into former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias’ new job of prosecuting detainees at Guantanamo Bay, aka Gitmo.
TPM noted that Iglesias isn’t on the job because of anyone from President Barack Obama’s staff or Obama himself. His appointment is actually a couple of weeks old.
Of course, it is moot — at least at the moment — because Obama ordered all Guantanamo Bay prosecutions to come to a halt earlier today.
As NMI’s own Marjorie Childress wrote earlier today:
He’s already been looking through files and has been to Gitmo once, he said. Whether he goes again depends on the direction the new administration gives.
TPM wrote, “the person who approved him for the position was Susan Crawford, who runs the Office of Military Commissions.”
And who is Crawford?
Crawford, you’ll remember, is also the one who just unambiguously used the word ‘torture’ to describe at least some treatment of detainees in US custody.
The fact that Crawford only used that term (or allowed the words to be published) as Bush and Cheney were days from leaving office showed pretty clearly that people in the military bureaucracy were already starting to shift in expectation of the changing of the guard. And Iglesias’ appointment would seem to fall into the same category.
So it wasn’t something specifically from the new administration, but TPM believes it was still influenced by the anticipated shift.
