Katrina vanden Heuvel Reminds Us That CIA & Other Torturers Were Seeking Legal Counsel Over A Yr Ago

[kpete]

WATERBOARDING JUSTICE
Katrina vanden Heuvel

The Nation -- Maybe it's to be expected that a Bush Administration nominee for Attorney General refuses to say whether waterboarding--an interrogation tactic that simulates drowning and that has been prosecuted as torture in US courts since the Spanish-American war--is torture.

Michael Mukasey's elaborate tap dance of oral and written testimony, orchestrated by the White House, was clearly designed to avoid putting the CIA, other US interrogators and those at the very highest line of command in this Administration (Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Addington & others) in legal jeopardy. Just remember that the Washington Post reported-- over a year ago-- that CIA and others involved in interrogations were seeking legal counsel. In deciding to vote for Mukasey's nomination,

Instead of following the lead of all the Democratic Senators running for President, and four on the Judiciary Committee, Schumer broke ranks and stated that "The best we can hope for is someone who will rebuild the Justice Department and remain independent, even when pressured by this Administration."

It seems pretty clear from his refusal to state that waterboarding constitutes torture -- in order to protect those who have acted criminally-- if confirmed, Judge Mukasey would continue to act as a team player, helping to cover up issues of torture, rather than as an independent enforcer of the nation's laws.

more at:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/thenation/20071103/cm_thenation/7248437

[aquart]

1. And yet we still haven't put them in jail.

[opihimoimoi]

2. Yup, they do the crime and then seek ways to make it LEGAL??? WTF is that???

[soothsayer]

3. schumer, I wish you would remain independent even when pressured by aipac