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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsU.S. First Shields Its Torturers and War Criminals From Prosecution, Now Officially Honors Them
(The Intercept) As vice president, Dick Cheney was a prime architect of the worldwide torture regime implemented by the U.S. government (which extended far beyond waterboarding), as well as the invasion and destruction of Iraq, which caused the deaths of at least 500,000 people and more likely over a million. As such, he is one of the planets most notorious war criminals.
President Obama made the decision in early 2009 to block the Justice Department from criminally investigating and prosecuting Cheney and his fellow torturers, as well as to protect them from foreign investigations and even civil liability sought by torture victims. Obama did that notwithstanding a campaign decree that even top Bush officials are subject to the rule of law and, more importantly, notwithstanding a treaty signed in 1984 by Ronald Reagan requiring that all signatory states criminally prosecute their own torturers. Obamas immunizing Bush-era torturers converted torture from a global taboo and decades-old crime into a reasonable, debatable policy question, which is why so many GOP candidates are now openly suggesting its use.
But now, the Obama administration has moved from legally protecting Bush-era war criminals to honoring and gushing over them in public. Yesterday, the House of Representatives unveiled a marble bust of former Vice President Cheney, which until a person of conscience vandalizes or destroys it will reside in Emancipation Hall of the U.S. Capitol. ..................(more)
https://theintercept.com/2015/12/04/u-s-first-shields-its-torturers-and-war-criminals-from-prosecution-now-officially-honors-them/
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U.S. First Shields Its Torturers and War Criminals From Prosecution, Now Officially Honors Them (Original Post)
marmar
Dec 2015
OP
Scuba
(53,475 posts)1. The failure to prosecute our war criminals is a permanent stain on Obama's legacy.
Doctor_J
(36,392 posts)9. And accelerated the death spiral of the republic
Some prison cells and/or public walks to the gallows might have provided a deterrent to the continuation.
librechik
(30,674 posts)2. countdown to vandalization: ten…nine…n/t
redgreenandblue
(2,088 posts)4. Like Imperial Japan kind of.nt
CJCRANE
(18,184 posts)5. Thesis. Antithesis. Synthesis. nt
Solly Mack
(90,765 posts)6. a bust of a war criminal "will reside in Emancipation Hall"
My government is sick.
2naSalit
(86,604 posts)7. It's about time
for another earthquake in DC... one that is strong enough to knock that waste of good marble to the floor and smash it to pieces.
Doctor_J
(36,392 posts)8. It's important that we not be too sanctimonious
- President Obama, agent of change
Rex
(65,616 posts)10. Proof that perceptions rule over America, not reality and that is why we are a sick society.
And why so many live in some bizarro world that does not reflect real life in any way, shape or form.