Monday, March 30, 2009

Democrats Duck Bush Torture Probe

By Jason Leopold
March 30, 2009

Despite now overwhelming evidence that ex-President George W. Bush and many top aides engaged in a systematic policy of illegal torture, national Democrats appear to be shying away from their recommendation last year for a special prosecutor to investigate these apparent war crimes.

Read on.

Posted by at

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Is Obama showing his political savvy with this? Holder keeps releasing stuff that shows the Bush maladministration committed torture. And, of course, there's the ICRC stuff and Sy Hersh and whatever else comes out.

Right now, if Obama gave the go-ahead for a prosecution then the Republicans would go apeshit and would probably win the propaganda war. A few more memos from now, most of the US will be screaming for prosecutions.

As FDR once said of proposals he agreed with but which were political third rails: "You've convinced me, now make me do it." Is Obama setting things up so that he is forced by public opinion to instruct Holder to prosecute? I sure as hell hope so. If not, I pin my hopes on Spain.

Mon Mar 30, 06:05:00 PM 2009
Anonymous said...

The irony is that the New Spain, land of the inquisition and more recently, of Franco, is going to prosecute them, which won't be difficult, considering the startling revelations of the International Committee of the Red Cross. This is certainly outrageous for America. Is it possible that the Spanish have learned from history. Physical abuse, as in butting heads into walls, sado-masochism, starvation, asphyxiation, simulated drowning, sleep depravation for regulated periods of for days, and on and on. What good christians David Addington and Haynes and Ashcroft and Yoo and the rest, all lawyers, good and true. Where did they learn these perversions; surely not at Harvard and Yale and Duke and Cal Berkley? And how could they have misled such good evangelicals as George Bush, who prays in public ( to some god) , and Dick Chaney, who prays in public, (albeit to Satan). Walwyn Trezise, Chicago, il. and Dubois, Wy.

Tue Mar 31, 11:39:00 AM 2009
journalisk said...

I think Obama is showing his political saavy with this. To answer the question, going after the Bush administration would be, not "the pursuit of justice," as Mr. Leopold suggests, but a quest for revenge. Where do you halt the witch hunt? What about the people who elected Bush president? Where do you draw the line?

I don’t think evading justice is their motivation, as clearly demonstrated today, when the US joined the UN Rights council -- reversing a decision by the Bush administration -- and joined forces with Iran to rebuild Afghanistan. I just don't think they like the idea of the precedent it sets by going after members of the outgoing administration. It makes them vulnerable to the same tactics. If the international forum, on the other hand, wishes to protect the integrity of its laws by prosecuting Bush for his illegal war in Iraq, that’s well within their right...

Wed Apr 01, 12:54:00 AM 2009

Post a Comment