Category: Crimes Against Humanity

An Interesting Point on the Gitmo Show Trials

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Over at Will Bunch’s Attytood, an interesting point is made:

But the timing of this strikes me as just a little bit too much of a coincidence here. The likely unraveling of Guantanamo is Bush’s worst nightmare. A legitimate criminal trial under American laws of jurisprudence would expose the worst of the Bush-Cheney torture regime, including waterboarding techniques, and have a result that nobody in this debate wants: Making it impossible to gain real justice against the 9/11 planners, because of inadmissable evidence.

A quick trial under military rules, and a speedy execution, is the only long-shot hope for Bush and Cheney for making the worst of the torture nightmare that they’ve created go away. That said, this new push for an execution is likely to rally more opinion around the world — the death penalty has been abolished or is not used in most civilized nations — against the United States; at the risk of appearing cynical, I doubt this decision would be announced if Mitt Romney and his famed “double Guantanamo” move or if Rudy Giuliani were still viable candidates.

But as today’s articles note, it is unlikely, with appeals and the like, that any conviction and death penalty could be carried out as quickly as January. That lays the problem on the lap of the next president — regardless of whether it’s McCain, Clinton or Obama — who would have to either affirm the military tribunals, or else declare on the first day of their presidency that one of their first officials acts will be to overturn a death sentence for a 9/11 mastermind.

These are sick evil bastards, and I’m not referring to the 911 terrorists.

Bush and His Evil Minions™ To Use Phony Gitmo Courts to Try 911 Suspects

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The trials will be under the Any trials would be held by military tribunal under the terms of the Military Commissions Act, which is a mistake.

As representatives of the military say in the case, “Relatively little amounts of evidence will be classified,” and to use unfair and widely ridiculed courts at Guantanamo is a further stain on the reputation of the US.

I believe that Bush’s goals of this is two fold, to help the Republican presidential nominee in the general election, and to attempt to ensnare his successor in the military commissions quagmire, so as to avoid war crimes charges against himself.

These cases are, or should be, a …dare I say it… a “slam dunk, and they can, and should, be conducted in US courts under US rules, not phony courts under Gulag rules.

The Whitehouse is Now Claiming that Waterboarding is Legal, and Mukasey Says Whatever a Political Hack in the DoJ Declares is Legal Too

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Well, we now have the White House assurting that waterboarding is legal, simply because they say so, and you have our So-Called Attorney General, Michael Mukasey, saying that if the political hacks appointed by Bush and His Evil Minions™ in the Justice department said that it was OK, then there is no crime, so he will not investigate warrantless wiretapping or torture.

Seriously, these folks really hate most basic founding principal of the Republic, a nation of laws, and not men.

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Bush Authorized Torture, and the AG Signed off On It

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Well, we now know that the CIA tortured at least three suspects with waterboarding.

I looked around at some other articles, and found this on CNN:

Director of National Intelligence Michael McConnell, who also testified at the hearing, said waterboarding remains a technique in the CIA’s arsenal, according to The Associated Press. He said it would require the president’s consent and legal approval from the attorney general, the AP reported.

I think that he just pretty much admitted that George W. Bush personally authorized torture, and that the AG signed off on it.

The Hague, bitches.

Canadian Conservatives Have No Balls

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Well, it appears that the Canadian Foreign Ministry will rewrite its training manual so that the United States will no longer be listed as a nation that tortures.

“We find it to be offensive for us to be on the same list with countries such as Iran and China. Quite frankly it’s absurd,” U.S. Ambassador David Wilkins told The Associated Press on Friday.

More absurd is that the United States does routinely torture people in its custody, and routinely sends people to other nations to be tortured.

I want my country back.

New CIA Tape Coverup

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The Washington Post has a farily good rundown on the CIA tape destruction.

I think that it’s increasingly evident that this was intended to avoid congressional and criminal scrutiny.

I think that it’s also very likely that some tapes were missed, and they will find their way into investigators hands, where there may be criminal issues.

I understand that the torturers were being “good Germans”, but that is no defense.

I further understand that there will be no small number of people who will demagogue this issue for political gain, making any prosecution near-impossible.

This is why I support the US signing onto the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague.

Our politics, and judiciary, have been so poisoned that we are unable to pursue justice in such cases.

FWIW, prosecuting torture is not about our victims, though doubtless some were innocents tortured by mistake, but about who we are.

Torture for Thee but Not For Me

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This is just so Orwellian. U.S. intelligence chief Mike McConnell is saying that if waterboarding were used against him, it would be torture, but refuses to say if this applies to other people.

The level of corruption, immorality, and cowardice of Bush and His Evil Minions™ simply buggers the mind.

“If I had water draining into my nose, oh God, I just can’t imagine how painful!” McConnell said in the article. “Whether it’s torture by anybody else’s definition, for me it would be torture.”

But he rejected a suggestion that he personally condemned the practice.

I want my country back.

Tenet and Other CIA Officials Lawyer Up

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It’s been known for some time that Jose Rodriguez has retained Bob Bennet, and now George Tenet has retained Howard Shapiro, a former FBI general coundil.

Additionally, Roy Krieger, who has represented a large number of CIA employees is getting inquiries.

These folks are experiencing the prisoner’s dilemma, and assumign that this investigation runs past January 21 of next year, the one who rolls to the prosecutor first wins.

It’s clear that these tapes were destroyed to prevent an investigation.

CIA Coverup: Jane Harman Warned Them Not to Destroy Tapes in 2003

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This is significant, because her warning letter (reproduced from TPM below) specifically mentions issues of oversight.

Harman has been trying to get her letter declassified for some time.

February 10, 2003

Mr. Scott Muller
General Counsel
Central Intelligence Agency
Washington, DC 20505

Dear Mr. Muller:

Last week’s briefing brought home to me the difficult challenges faced by the Central Intelligence Agency in the current threat environment. I realize we are at a time when the balance between security and liberty must be constantly evaluated and recalibrated in order to protect our nation and its people from catastrophic terrorist attack and I thus appreciate the obvious effort that you and your Office have made to address the tough questions. At the briefing you assured us that the [redacted] approved by the Attorney General have been subject to an extensive review by lawyers at the Central Intelligence Agency, the Department of Justice and the National Security Council and found to be within the law.

It is also the case, however, that what was described raises profound policy questions and I am concerned about whether these have been as rigorously examined as the legal questions. I would like to know what kind of policy review took place and what questions were examined. In particular, I would like to know whether the most senior levels of the White House have determined that these practices are consistent with the principles and policies of the United States. Have enhanced techniques been authorized and approved by the President?

You discussed the fact that there is videotape of Abu Zubaydah following his capture that will be destroyed after the Inspector General finishes his inquiry. I would urge the Agency to reconsider that plan. Even if the videotape does not constitute an official record that must be preserved under the law, the videotape would be the best proof that the written record is accurate, if such record is called into question in the future. The fact of destruction would reflect badly on the Agency.

I look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

JANE HARMAN

(emphasis mine)

This letter bolsters the case for obstruction, either of justice or of a federal investigation.

Padilla Sues John Yoo

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I don’t quite get how this would work legally, Yoo is probably indemnified by the fact that he worked for the DoJ, but the fact that he’s being sued by a man whose tortured into near insanity is poetic justice, at least.

My damages would be to have him imprisoned for a few years under the conditions that Padilla was.

Or, we could just render him to Saudi Arabia.

Then, or course, my delusions of civilized behavior kick in, and I say, “Send him to The Hague, where he can cool his heels with other war criminals”.

Criminal Probe of CIA Coverup Started

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This is a significant step, though it is my understanding that by assigning someone from Connecticut, it means that they are not technically a special prosecutor.

Obviously the fact that a criminal probe has been opened is significant, and the man assigned, John H. Durham, was the one who successfully investigated and prosecuted the FBI agents who protected James “Whitey” Bulger and Stephen “The Rifleman” Flemmi because they used them as informants.

However, I do not expect him to be given much in the way of freedom over his investigation.

More on CIA Tapes Coverup

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This article shows that it was pretty clear that the goal was to prevent future prosecutions. It appears that the CIA was less concerned about what would happen in congress or a future administration than being hung out to dry by Bush and His Evil Minions™.

One half of the definitive word, however, comes from former C.I.A. deputy director, John C. Gannon, “To a spectator it would look like torture and torture is wrong.”

The other half is that it was torture, and these men did the wrong thing.

Your TortureGate Update

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It all comes down to the tapes. It always does.

First, we have reports that the White House discussed whether or not to destroy the torture tapes. Harriet Miers, John Bellinger, Alberto “Abu” Gonzales and David Addington engaged in extensive discussions over a long period as to whether or not to destroy the tapes.

Furthermore, some White House officials were lobbying hard for these tapes destruction.

No big surprise, but there is a surprise, and a good one, the C.I.A. has agreed to share relevant documents with congressional investigators, which means that at least part of the Bush Admin coverup is now over.

Judge Tells DoJ Not To Tell Him What to Do, Holds CIA Tapes Hearing

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U.S. District Judge Henry H. Kennedy rejected calls from the Justice Department to stay out of the matter, and told lawyers to appear before him this Friday.

Kennedy as you recall was the judge who ordered the government to preserve, “all evidence and information regarding the torture, mistreatment, and abuse of detainees now at the United States Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay.”

The tapes were destroyed a couple of months later.

Even if the destruction technically complied with the letter of his order, they could still be on the hook for obstruction or spoliation, a legal term for the destruction of evidence in “pending or reasonably foreseeable litigation.”