This NY Times article has driven folks in the Left-o-sphere into apoplexy, er, Â a higher level of apoplexy then usual. They want prosecutions now, because they just can’t MoveOn. Torture Memos: Inquiry Suggests No Prosecutions
An internal Justice Department inquiry has concluded that Bush administration lawyers committed serious lapses of judgment in writing secret memorandums authorizing brutal interrogations but that they should not be prosecuted, according to government officials briefed on its findings.
The report by the Office of Professional Responsibility, an internal ethics unit within the Justice Department, is also likely to ask state bar associations to consider possible disciplinary action, which could include reprimands or even disbarment, for some of the lawyers involved in writing the legal opinions, the officials said.
So, for simply writing opinions, the lawyers could be in trouble. Very….fascist. And interesting in that the same Lefties did not want Clinton impeached, and were mad as all heck of his disbarments, for actually breaking the law.
At issue is the question of whether the lawyers acted ethically and competently in writing a series of Justice Department legal opinions from 2002 to 2007.
Criminalizing opinions. We already have CIA employees afraid to be aggressive in their jobs, thanks to the Obama admin. Now we will get lawyers for the government afraid to offer opinions. Anyone else feeling that flavor of 1930’s Germany?
You know, if the Obama admin had any cajones, they would stop fooling around on the periphery, and go after the big dogs. Which would force the release of the necessary documents. And then we’ll see what leadership and making tough decisions is really about, rather then sticking ones finger in the air and seeing which way the wind is blowing.
The reason this is vital is that it gets to the core of the question of good faith in authorizing the elaborate torture program that Bush and Cheney constructed as their central weapon in the war against Jihadist terrorism. If we can see that the memos were transparent attempts not to explicate the law in good faith to guide the executive branch – but were emanations of the executive branch to provide phony and flawed legal cover for already-decided illegal acts, then we have a conspiracy to commit war crimes.
This is the problem with the Left: they are more concerned with going after Americans who made tough decisions then going after Islamic terrorists. And al Qaeda appreciates them for it.
More links to Surrender Monkey lefties at Memeorandum.
Crossed at Right Wing News and Stop The ACLU
Death by a thousand cuts. First the Ethics Investigation which has a high probability of getting the impeachment/resignation of Bybee and the possible loss of law license for Yoo. Then later the start of a criminal investigation, which is done by a different section of the DOJ
And yes this is much like Nazi Germany. Remember German lawyers were able to provide a legal justification for what Hitler wanted to do. It was all so very legal, But of course AFTER Hitler was gone those same lawyers were prosecuted for their assistance that they had given to Hitler.
Teach remember who passed the treaty against torture to the Senate for Ratification. It was Ronald Reagan and he said that the USA would NEVER torture people.
Ronald Reagan, May 20, 1988, transmitting the Convention Against Torture to the Senate for ratification:
The United States participated actively and effectively in the negotiation of the Convention. It marks a significant step in the development during this century of international measures against torture and other inhuman treatment or punishment. Ratification of the Convention by the United States will clearly express United States opposition to torture, an abhorrent practice unfortunately still prevalent in the world today.
The core provisions of the Convention establish a regime for international cooperation in the criminal prosecution of torturers relying on so-called “universal jurisdiction.” Each State Party is required either to prosecute torturers who are found in its territory or to extradite them to other countries for prosecution.
Convention Against Torture, signed and championed by Ronald Reagan, Article II/IV:
No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat or war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture. . . Each State Party shall ensure that all acts of torture are
Please take note of the last paragraph. NO EXCEPTIONAL CIRCUMSTANCES WHATSOEVER, whether a state of war, internal political instability or ANY OTHER PUBLIV EMERGENCY, may be invoked as a justification of torture…….