From the beeb, we learn that, “The United States has been listed as a country where prisoners are at risk of torture in a training document produced by the Canadian foreign ministry.”
We are now officially on Canada’s list of countries that torture.
Category: Torture
Tapes destroyed over CIA’s objections my ass!
It appears that Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI)is trying to hang Jose Rodriguez out to dry.
I guess you gotta have a scapegoat, and true to form, just as in the military prosecutions regarding Abu Ghraib, the goal is to find the lowest possible level person possible to assign blame.
The pertinent quote is from an anonymous Senate staffer
“If you look at the documents, you get very close to a direct order (not to destroy the tapes) without it being, ‘Jose, you’re not going to do this,'” the official said.
Sounds to me like everyone knew what was going on. Higher ups wanted plausible deniability, so they gave “strong advice” without giving an “order”, so they could have it both ways.
Hoekstra said Rodriguez must testify to the committee to determine on whose authority the tapes were destroyed, and he said the panel will consult with the Justice Department on whether granting Rodriguez immunity would undermine its own investigation.
“If there appears to be any criminal activity taking place, the last thing we would want to do is get in the way of a successful prosecution,” Hoekstra said.
Translation: let’s bury this until after the election.
New CIA Tape Coverup
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.
JCS Chairman: Close Gitmo
Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has said that Guantanamo is, “More than anything else it’s been the image _ how Gitmo has become around the world, in terms of representing the United States“.
He realizes that it does more harm than good, even if Bush and His Evil Minions&trade don’t.
Torture for Thee but Not For Me
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.
CIA Coverup Official Takes 5th
This should surprise no one.
I think that Jose Rodriguez is legitimately worried about being the fall guy in all of this.
Tenet and Other CIA Officials Lawyer Up
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
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 20505Dear 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
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
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
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.
The Weakest of Denials
Dan Froomkin just made a very interesting point about Bush’s press conference:
At a year-end press conference this morning, President Bush staved off questions about White House complicity in the destruction of CIA interrogation videotapes, refusing even to flatly deny that he was personally involved.
Hmmmm…
Your TortureGate Update
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
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.”
Majid Khahn’s Lawyers Ask Court to Preserve Evidence
They also want a declaration that he was tortured.
Seeing as how he was in CIA custody for over 3 years, this Ballmur man (he was largely raised in Baltimore) is almost certainly telling the truth on this.
Former Gitmo Prosecutor Blasts Military Commissions, Bush and His Evil Minions™ Order Him Not to Testify Before Congress
Interesting, Colonel Morris Davis, former prosecutor writes an OP/ED for the LA Times about why he stepped down from his position as prosecutor as the Pentagon’s Chief War Crimes Prosecutor blasts the military commissions process because he, “”elt that the system had become deeply politicized and that I could no longer do my job effectively or responsibly.”
He goes on to state that the commissions lacked the, “atmosphere of honesty and impartiality”, essential to legitimacy. He accuses the convening authority (basically the people who will act as judge and jury)), of, “Intermingling convening authority and prosecutor roles perpetuates the perception of a rigged process stacked against the accused.”
Further he believes that the trials can be conducted largely in open court, and that closed door proceedings further degraded the legitimacy of the proceedings.
The Senate Judiciary Committee called him, but did not subpoena him, to testify before them on these and related issues, but he was ordered not to appear.
Orwell is spinning so rapidly in his grave that you could power all of Bristol with him.
CIA Got Legal Approval for Torture Tape Destruction
The interesting part is that they did not get permission from John A. Rizzo, the CIA’s chief lawyer, but instead got it from some unnamed lawyers within the operations directorate.
Sounds to me like Jose A. Rodriguez Jr., the former chief of the clandestine branch, sounded out a lot of lawyers until he found one who would sign off on it.
Well, It Looks Like Pelosi and Rockefeller Will Be Needing Cells at The Hague Too
They were briefed on the CIA’s torture program in 2002, and they did nothing.
Harman at least submitted a letter protesting.
If the Bush administration is guilty of crimes against humanity, and I believe that it is, then Pelosi and Rockefeller, along with Republican Roberts, who did nothing, and by so doing enabled it, are guilty of crimes against humanity themselves.
C.I.A. Was Urged to Keep Interrogation Videotapes – New York Times
It now appears that The C.I.A. was told to preserve the torture video tapes.
White House and Justice Department officials, along with senior members of Congress, advised the Central Intelligence Agency in 2003 against a plan to destroy hundreds of hours of videotapes showing the interrogations of two operatives of Al Qaeda, government officials said Friday.
So, they were wold not to by a number of lawyers, and decided to do so anyway, when things started getting hot, with legal and Congressional investigations ramping up.
Sounds like obstruction of justice to me, in fact, I’d call it a slam dunk.
CIA Destroyed Torture Tapes
According to reports, “They were destroyed in part because officers were concerned that tapes documenting controversial interrogation methods could expose agency officials to greater risk of legal jeopardy, several officials said.”
So in addition to crimes against humanity, we have conspiracy to obstruct justice. Considering that this information was extant when the 911 commission and the Judge in the Moussaoui trial specifically asked for this sort of information.