5 Lawyers-Followed Orders Of BUSH/CHENEY-Who Ordered Torture & Cover-Up Of Crimes (McClatchy)

[kpete]

Posted on Wednesday, June 18, 2008
By Tom Lasseter | McClatchy Newspapers

Addington, Gonzales, Haynes, Yoo, Flanigan

It was largely the work of five White House, Pentagon and Justice Department lawyers who, following the orders of President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, reinterpreted or tossed out the U.S. and international laws that govern the treatment of prisoners in wartime, according to former U.S. defense and Bush administration officials.

The quintet of lawyers, who called themselves the “War Council," drafted legal opinions that circumvented the military's code of justice, the federal court system and America's international treaties in order to prevent anyone— from soldiers on the ground to the president — from being held accountable for activities that at other times have been considered war crimes.

.................

The quintet did more than condone harsh treatment, however. It created an environment in which it was nearly impossible to prosecute soldiers or officials for alleged crimes committed in U.S. detention facilities.

..................

Guter said “it became apparent pretty quickly” that Haynes wanted a place “outside of the courts,” where no judge could consider whether detainees were being held lawfully or under appropriate conditions.

informative article here:
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/detainees/story/38886.html

[wildbilln864]

1. k&r! nt

[Mind_your_head]

2. Do these five lawyers have names?

K & R

:kick:

[pleah]

6. They are listed in the article,

David Addington-still in office, Timothy E. Flanigan, Wm.Haynes, John Yoo, and Alberto Gonzales. Read it for yourself.

[bluesmail]

3. Addington Yoo Haynes Flanigan Gonzales

The Torture Quintet

[Gabi Hayes]

4. who's that British guy who came out with a Torture book? he names

names of lawyers in his book.

I wonder if they're the same ones

he testified before congress, and had some official capacity there.

[Gabi Hayes]

8. Torture Team....here....Philippe Sands

http://www.tortureteam.com/

last bullet point:

"How the senior lawyers who crafted the policy of abuse exposed themselves to the risk of war crimes charges "

[bluesmail]

12. Phillipe Sands..?

author of The Torture Team.

[seemslikeadream]

22. Got to love me some Philippe Sands!

Senate Armed Service Cmte. Hearing on Aggressive Interrogation Techniques: Panels Two & Three (June 17, 2008)
How did waterboarding come to be used on detainees in U.S. custody? The Senate Armed Service Cmte. asks military advisors and officials, including former DOD General Counsel William Haynes, to detail the debate over aggressive interrogation techniques.
Washington, DC : 4 hr. 10 min.


M$M is going to have to report this someday, I wonder how the masses will react.



Bush Administration Torture Trail

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080617/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/detainees_treatment


Military lawyers objected to harsher interrogation


Military lawyers warned against the harsh detainee interrogation techniques approved by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in 2002, contending in separate memos weeks before Rumsfeld's endorsement that they could be illegal, a Senate panel has found.

The investigation by the Senate Armed Services Committee also has confirmed that senior administration officials, including the Pentagon's then-general counsel William "Jim" Haynes, sought information on a program involving military psychologists early on to devise the more aggressive methods — which included the use of dogs, making a detainee stand for long periods of time and forced nudity, according to officials familiar with the findings.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the information has not been formally released. Details, including the names of the service lawyers who objected to the interrogation techniques, were to be discussed at an open committee hearing Tuesday.

Rumsfeld's December 2002 approval of the aggressive interrogation techniques and later objections by military lawyers have been widely reported. But the November protests by service lawyers had not, and the interest by Pentagon civilians in military psychologists has surfaced only piecemeal.









This is what Philippe Sands was talking about at the hearing

There seems to be a direct connection between torture at Guantanamo and the beginning of 24

Individuals were watching and influenced by the TV program 24

TV show had many friends at Guantanamo.

Three weeks after the beginning of 2nd season of 24 the torture began.


Philippe Sands

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUICm1VH-rQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j38GxxE2CBY


The Green Light: Attorney Philippe Sands Follows the Bush Administration Torture Trail

A new exposé in Vanity Fair by British attorney Philippe Sands reveals new details about how attorney John Yoo and other high-ranking administration lawyers helped design and implement the interrogation policies seen at Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib and secret CIA prisons. According to Vanity Fair, then-White House counsel Alberto Gonzales and other top officials personally visited Guantanamo in 2002, discussed interrogation techniques and witnessed interrogations. Sands joins us in our firehouse studio.



Philippe Sands: Guantanamo Bay and Interrogation Rules
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPAGNNsrwUw



Jimmy Carter: Talks George Bush & war crimes at Hay Festival
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrWBY2hO6vA

When pressed by Philippe Sands...on Bush's recent admission that he had authorized interrogation procedures widely seen as amounting to torture, Carter replied that he was sure Bush would be able to live a peaceful, 'productive life - in our country'" after he leaves the White House. Sands later said that he had "understood that to be 'clear confirmation' that, while Bush would face no challenge in his own country, 'what happened outside the country was another matter entirely.'


Phillipe Sands Discusses Torture and U.S. Policy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0S6IU755uFM

On Bill Moyers Journal, human rights lawyer Phillipe Sands discusses his new book on how the U.S. came to abandon the Geneva Convention and accept torture. Sands says Bush administration officials are unwilling to accept responsibility for their actions.



Rep. Mike Pence: Guantanamo Bay and Interrogation Rules
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTla3-JZhnM

Philippe Sands attempts to enlighten Rep. Pence as to why torture is wrong during his appearance before the House Judiciary Constitution, Civil Rights & Civil Liberties Subcmte. hearing on Guantanamo Bay and Interrogation Rules


Rep.John Conyers: Guantanamo Bay and Interrogation Rules
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFLCNypjK6k

Philippe Sands responds to Rep. Conyers question as to what avenues of inquiry the committee should undertake and expounds upon his testimony before the House Judiciary Constitution, Civil Rights & Civil Liberties Subcmte. hearing on Guantanamo Bay and Interrogation Rules.



Addington was the leader of the pack, went to Guantanamo himself




Rep.Artur Davis: Guantanamo Bay and Interrogation Rules
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sst5vMpOFx4

David Rivkin tries to claim that the IRA was a different threat but Rep.Davis throws his flawed logic back in his face. Philippe Sands also pointedly rebukes Rivkin assertions. Discussion of Presidental pardons to exonerate torture policies employed is hypothetically touched on. From hearing by House Judiciary Constitution, Civil Rights & Civil Liberties Subcmte. on Guantanamo Bay and Interrogation Rules.



Rep.Issa & Rep.Ellison: Guantanamo Bay Interrogation Rules
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQKZ5WaTWdA

Philippe Sands responds to the slick and sly Rep.Issa and details his thoughts further upon question by Rep. Ellison during hearing by House Judiciary Constitution, Civil Rights & Civil Liberties Subcmte. on Guantanamo Bay and Interrogation Rules.

[Supersedeas]

18. Harriett Myers (almost SCt Justice) and Diane Beaver also involved??

[Canuckistanian]

5. Ah yes, the "War Council"

I just heard about these assholes on Jeff Farias' show.

Yoo to the Hague!

:grr:

[Gabi Hayes]

9. yep...check this site, wth those names highlighted in the cache version

1. According to Jack Goldsmith's THE TERROR PRESIDENCY, p. 22, five lawyers (Gonzales, Addington, Haynes, Flanigan, and Yoo) constituted "the War Council," which Goldsmith describes as "a secretive five-person group with enormous influence over the administration's antiterrorism policies....It would plot legal strategy in the war on terrorism...." Goldsmith does not say that the War Council actually executed its own strategy, as did the Nuremberg lawyers; but he does make it sound as if they did much more than simply provide legal advice. Does this alter your view of how applicable the Alstoetter precedent is?

http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:oWpSDcAwhu0J:balkin.blogspot.com/2008/05/john-yoo-and-justice-case.html+phillippe+sands+Addington+Yoo+Haynes+Flanigan+Gonzales&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us

[Canuckistanian]

11. Your link doesn't work

Can you provide the root URL?

[Trillo]

7. Sounds like the WH rewrote the laws under executive privilege.

Nevermind that perpetual war was never supposed to happen. No standing armys in peacetime. Remember?

One of the "check and balances" was the difficulty an executive would have in raising a standing army to fight such a war, for they would need to convince those who would go fight. Once the standing army became the rule, I'm guessing around WWI or thereabouts, Executive Privilege vastly expanded, for those soldiers have a duty to follow orders. Not so with militia or citizen soldiers, as the phenomenon was created by those who fought our revolution. Militia might just tell the pres to go fight his own damn war, all by his lonesome middle-finger self, while they went to the tavern to have some cheer.

The only just solution left is impeachment.

[libnnc]

25. What will it take?

:kick:

[jberryhill]

10. Does anyone have list...

...of the states in which each is admitted to practice?

[Mind_your_head]

13. Good question

:kick: for an answer

[Disturbed]

14. The Busholini Regime has committed War Crimes!!!

Will anyone be held accountable?

[Mind_your_head]

15. Yes

And what are the 'specifics' on the particular lawyers, et al that enabled it all?!

Simple information to ask/get......and if there is NOTHING TO HIDE.....

[libnnc]

16. kick

[Supersedeas]

17. the price of loyalty -- following order when the law should have been guide enough

[libnnc]

19. I will NOT let this sink

[nadinbrzezinski]

20. but torture is STILL off the table

Nancy you are now guilty as well, either by Commission or Omission.. and you belong in the Docket with them

[DemoTex]

21. Another lawyer thick into the torture thing: Lindsey Graham.

USAF JAG lawyer and US Senator.

[EFerrari]

23. Bookmarking.

:kick:

[countryjake]

24. KICK!

[libnnc]

26. kicking your kick

T O R T U R E





Gen. Taguba: Bush Administration Committed War Crimes

The Army general who first investigated the abuse at Abu Ghraib has accused the Bush administration of committing war crimes. Retired Major General Antonio Taguba made the comment in a new report about US torture practices. Taguba wrote, “The commander in chief and those under him authorized a systematic regime of torture.” Taguba went on to say, “The only question that remains to be answered is whether those who ordered the use of torture will be held to account.” <snip>

http://www.democracynow.org/2008/6/19/headlines#1





Thursday, June 19, 2008
The Great Torture Scandal

McClatchy and other reporters are abruptly pulling the curtain away from the Bush team's illegal practices in arresting people arbitrarily, declining to offer proof that they were guilty of anything, detaining them indefinitely without trial or charges, and deliberately torturing them to the extent of leaving long-term scars and disabilities. The torture practices originated not with lower-level officers but with Donald Rumsfeld and others in Bush's inner circle, who then later blamed lower-level officials for developing the ideas that Rumsfeld ordered them to develop. Nothing they have done has survived a court challenge where one has been permitted.<snip>

http://www.juancole.com/2008/06/great-torture-scandal.html





A Senate investigation has concluded that top Pentagon officials began assembling lists of harsh interrogation techniques in the summer of 2002 for use on detainees at Guantanamo Bay and that those officials later cited memos from field commanders to suggest that the proposals originated far down the chain of command, according to congressional sources briefed on the findings.<snip>

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/16/AR2008061602779.html