Law Professor: Torture Justification 'An Ethical Train Wreck'

[babylonsister]

Senate Panel Probes Legality of Torture Memos

by William Fisher


NEW YORK - "An ethical train wreck" was the phrase used by one witness to describe the legal reasoning behind the Justice Department's recently released memos justifying the use of waterboarding and other forms of "enhanced interrogation techniques".

The phrase came during the testimony of David Luban, a law professor at Georgetown University, before a panel on administrative oversight and the courts subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Rhode Island Democrat, chaired the hearing. Whitehouse said the administration of former President George W. Bush inundated the U.S. public in a "near avalanche of falsehood" on the subject of detainee treatment.

"We were told that waterboarding was determined to be legal, but were not told how badly the law was ignored, bastardised and manipulated by the Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel, nor were we told how furiously government and military lawyers rejected the defective OLC opinions," Whitehouse said.

more...

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/05/13-9

[FiveGoodMen]

1. K&R

[underpants]

2. Yeah but that could mean anything

I am sure that Fox n Friends will explain it all tomorrow morning....or just ignore it so their viewers never hear about it

[OhioChick]

3. K&R

:kick:

[unblock]

4. imagine if they had gotten a legal opinion that said cheney could take ALL the gold in fort knox

would ANYONE think it would be proper not to prosecute cheney and anyone who helped him?

when the "legal opinion" is so obviously a fraudulent "opinion" concocted to give cover for something everyone KNOWS is NOT legal, everyone involved should be prosecuted, just as the nazis were prosecuted, even though everything THEY did had legal cover.

[Quantess]

5. Kick & R