George Bush gave CIA Director Michael Hayden permission to tell the 'truth' to Congress. The Bush administration only used waterboarding on three people whom they believed had high-value information.Do you believe Hayden? Only three people? Suppose there were an international tribunal to investigate aggressive, lawless acts by the United States. Would it be OK for this tribunal to snatch Hayden from US soil if he refused to submit to interviews? Would it be OK to snatch him from foreign soil if he were traveling abroad?
Hayden had to ask permission from President Bush to tell Congress about the CIA's waterboarding. Suppose the President did not give Hayden permission to talk to the international tribunal. Would it be OK for the tribunal to waterboard Hayden to get that information? Would it be OK for the tribunal to do so to send a message to future US officials that aggressive, lawless acts will not be tolerated by the international community?
The answers to these questions are "no." Just as it is not acceptable for the US to use torture and kidnap people. The world is on the brink of descending into a dark chaos. If we slip into that horror, the US government, including the weak Congress under the so-called leadership of Nancy Pelosi, will share the blame.
PS Why do we have a guy in a military uniform heading the CIA. Shouldn't the CIA be led by a civilian?
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3 comments:
Why is General Janis Karpinski on the list? My understanding is that she's a scapegoat.
If you've kept your eye on Karpinski lately, in her enthusiasm to blame others, she has disclosed events surrounding the arrival of General Miller upon the specific instructions of Rumsfeld (Miller is the one who set up the torture procedures at GITMO). Her disclosures establish that she knew full well what was going on. More to the point, there is command liability under the applicable treaties and laws (remember that the Nazi Admiral Doenitz was executed for the actions of those under his command).
Anonymous,
I suppose as a prosecution tactic they could go after Karpinski.
Also, I'm not sure Jack Goldsmith should be on the list. Heck, I'd replace Karpinski and Goldsmith with John Negroponte and Elliot Abrams.
Then I'd add the following:
James Steele (Dr. Deathsquad)
Harriet Meyers (US Attorney Plants)
Paul Wolfowitz (War of Aggression)
Scooter Libby (go thru him to get Cheney)
David Wurmser(Pentagon Lie Factory)
Douglas J. Feith (Pentagon Lies)
The list gets pretty long. Would keep Attorney General John Edwards busy.
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