Now six years after Iraq started, nearly one hundred days into the new presidency, more and more information is coming out about the involvement of the Bush people in Iraq-related criminal acts. The legal memos and the statements of tortured detainees are only the beginning of what will soon be a flood of information.
The legal machinery is starting to build, case by case, a rejection of Bush's legal theories.
Today's decision from Federal Judge John Bates of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia that those detained in Afghanistan will have access to American courts builds on the recent cases that allow Guantanamo detainees access to the federal court. Judge Bates rejected both the Bush administration's view and the recently articulated view of President Barack Obama that habeas corpus is not available to imprisoned non-Afghans who are arrested beyond Afghanistan.
We are seeing a pattern in the Washington federal courts. The judges are not shying away from tacking tough issues. The concept that a man sitting in Baghram has a right he can enforce in an American court seemed impossible a few years ago. The constant rat-a-tat of the media, with pictures of the tortured prisoners clearly influences judges along with the rest of the population. Judges respond also when the president too set a higher standard.
Attorney General Eric Holder is the one who must start the criminal process against Cheney, Gonzales, Yoo and the others. He does not shy away from difficult choices, given backing that lets him know he is not alone. He can, and has, taken positions that are ahead of Obama.
He has taken on the hardest public and legal fights, "a nation of cowards" racism, the recent admission in the Stevens case that many members of the Justice Department acted wrongfully obtaining a wrongful conviction. An attorney general's admission of wrongdoing by prosecutors is rare. Prosecution of high and low level government officials for these kinds of criminal acts is unprecedented.
Holder's decision today is easier than it was yesterday, and as more and more stories of brutalized prisoners come out, it will get even easier. Judge Bates, and the judges before him, including the Supreme Court, have rejected the rationale of Bush's Attorney General and supporting lawyers that gave the President "unitary powers."
The public should let Eric Holder and the president know they support criminal prosecution of the Bush people.
What happened to the bar leadership while the Bush Administration was approving torture, promoting the unitary-executive theory, and issuing hundreds of signing statements contrary to the legislation that he was otherwise signing?
No one is above the law in the United States, no matter how painful or distasteful the process may be.
The law must win out, at all costs, otherwise we are not a nation of laws.
As of now, the entrenched Washington elite are convinced of the need to avoid investigation (let alone prosecution) at all costs. The Justice Department under Obama have already demonstrated their support for several of Bush's "Unitary Executive" excesses. They are, quite simply, not interested in investigations as a matter of principle.
Ultimately, AG Holder is beholden to the President--NOT the people--and he will act accordingly. Investigation and discovery will only begin if and when sufficient evidence COMPELS the administration to act in response to OVERWHELMING public outrage. It's plausible, given that a majority of Americans already support opening investigations, that even WITH immense public pressure the Congress and the administration may choose to continue their apparent strategy of weathering the storm.
Washington will resist demands for accountability, literally, until they can't--and even then the response will be as it is now: blustery in public, tepid in private, and far from universally accepted among the political elite.
A troubling legacy of the Cheney-Bush cabal is the use of the law-enforcement and judicial branch
of government to silence political opposition, dissent or anything which inconveniences power. In this respect, the Valerie Palme case was typical.
The law enforcement agencies police and all secret services ought to protect society from
crime, but
should not be used to INTIMIDATE or PERSECUTE media and citizens who exercise their right to
FREE SPEECH.
Pervasive electronic surveillance, watching over the Internet and private communications is a quickly-growing societal and international trend. This leads to insidious and pernicious SELF-CENSORSHIP.
For America to maintain its defining freedom, the deviant Bush-Cheney legacy must be rolled back legally and judicially by the Obama administration. It should be done fast.
If we are to believe the torture charges then we are supposed to believe that all of those who serve(d) at Guantanamo Bay are dishonorable men and women who themselves took part in or sanction the torture. That none of the thousands would have the courage to say, "Stop! Enough." That none, even after free of further responsibility at that location, would bow to conscience to come forward to confess and thereby sooth their guilt.........oh yeah, a couple have. Except their story is askew and not enough to be sensationized in the print or broadcast media.
No, I'm not a supporter of the former administration. So I do agree.......c'mon Attorner General Holder and do investigate with all the power your office holds the purported crimes of Cheny et al. But he won't, 'cause there's too much political gain in mere accusations.
We should also note that the world is beginning to come forth with indictments for crimes against humanity and violations of the Geneva conventions. We now have a whole generation of former public officials who fear to travel to large portions of the world, because they might be arrested and shipped to the World Court. This reminds me of Henry Kissenger and other Nixon terrorist who created Pinochet in Chile.
If Obama lets criminals escape the rule of law, it will be an unforgivabe legacy and further deterioration of the moral character of America.
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