Washington Post: Holder Probe will not examine the actions of higher-level Bush policymakers

[Karmadillo]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/11/AR2009071102787_2.html

Probe of Alleged Torture Weighed
White House Has Resisted Inquiry

By Carrie Johnson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, July 12, 2009

<edit>

Any criminal inquiry could face challenges, including potent legal defenses by CIA employees who could argue that attorneys in the Bush Justice Department authorized a wide range of harsh conduct. But the sources said an inquiry would apply only to activities by interrogators, working in bad faith, that fell outside the "four corners" of the legal memos. Some incidents that might go beyond interrogation techniques that were permitted involve detainees in Iraq and Afghanistan, and are described in the secret 2004 CIA inspector general report, set for release Aug. 31.

Among the unauthorized techniques allegedly used, as described in the report and Red Cross accounts, were shackling, punching and beating of suspects, as well as the waterboarding of at least two detainees using more liquid and for longer periods than the Justice Department had approved. That conduct could violate ordinary criminal laws, as well as the U.N. Convention Against Torture, which the United States signed more than a decade ago.

<edit>

Other challenges an inquiry into alleged torture might face could include the difficulty of gathering evidence of improper conduct in war zones and questions about the reliability of witnesses who may have been held by the U.S. government for years, legal analysts said yesterday. The actions of higher-level Bush policymakers are not under consideration for possible investigation.

"As the attorney general has stated on numerous occasions, the Department of Justice will follow the facts and the law with respect to any matter," spokesman Matthew Miller said. "We have made no decisions on investigations or prosecutions, including whether to appoint a prosecutor to conduct further inquiry. As the attorney general has made clear, it would be unfair to prosecute any official who acted in good faith based on legal guidance from the Justice Department."

more...

[jimshoes]

1. "I was just following orders" didn't fly

at Neuremburg. It certainly shouldn't fly here.

[Jane Austin]

2. Or, so hopes the Washington Post? ......... n/t

[aquart]

3. Oh, what bloody crap is this?

Nausea. Just nausea.

[Advocatus_Diaboli]

4. Yet another sad day for doing what is right

Holder has an obligation to investigate fully, but that won't happen, apparently.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

5. "more liquids for a longer period" than approved by the Justice Department

in their "I Can't Believe It's Not Torture Memos".

I am not aware of any criminal statutes or Geneva Conventions that say just a little torture is ok.

"The actions of higher-level Bush policymakers are not under consideration for possible investigation." Except that they will be as they will inevitably be implicated by the people on the lower rungs of the ladder being investigated/prosecuted.

[Warren Stupidity]

6. Who will be the new Lynndie England?

What foul crap. By this legal theory we ought to go make amends to the nazi fucks we executed at Nuremberg.

[Metta]

7. and what about acting in good faith based on illegal guidance? Will he avoid that, too?

So far, white wash is beating history isn't destiny.

[BlooInBloo]

8. (shrug) Universal Acid.

[GeorgeGist]

9. Whitewash is not effective at removing low-lifes from high places.

[villager]

10. "we were too busy 'changing' to go after them!"

n/t

[Karmadillo]

11. Kick

nt