Author Topic: Obama Open to Prosecution of Officials Who Cleared Interrogation Tactics  (Read 989 times)

Dos Equis

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Coming on the heels of him bad mouthing the U.S. on foreign soil, his photo ops with Chavez, and releasing our interrogation tactics to our enemies, this only makes sense.  This is the kind of nonsense that will guarantee a one-term presidency.  I just hope he doesn't do too much damage in his four-year stint.   :-\

Obama Open to Prosecution of Officials Who Cleared Interrogation Tactics
President Obama says it is up to the attorney general whether to prosecute Bush administration lawyers who wrote the memos approving harsh interrogation tactics.

FOXNews.com

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

resident Obama left open the door Tuesday for charges to be brought against Bush administration lawyers who justified harsh interrogation techniques, though he continued to argue that CIA agents who used those tactics should not be prosecuted.

The president showed wiggle room on the issue as he faces calls from Democratic lawmakers and organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union to support such charges. Asked about the possibility of prosecution related to the interrogation program, the president deferred to Attorney General Eric Holder.

"With respect to those who formulate those legal decisions, I would say that that is going to be more of a decision for the attorney general within the parameters of various laws," Obama said, as he finished an Oval Office meeting with visiting King Abdullah of Jordan. "And I don't want to prejudge that. ... There are a host of very complicated issues involved there."

It was the first time Obama took a question on the matter since his administration released a string of previously classified memos detailing harsh interrogation tactics used against terror suspects. At the time, Obama said agents who followed Department of Justice advice would not be prosecuted.

He reiterated that point Tuesday. "For those who carried out some of these operations within the four corners of legal opinions or guidance that had been provided from the White House, I do not think it's appropriate for them to be prosecuted," he said.

But while he also repeated his view that investigations into Bush officials could get politicized, he indicated for the first time an openness to such a course provided it is carried out in a "bipartisan fashion."

Pressure was building before Obama addressed the issue Tuesday for his administration to leave the possibility of prosecution on the table -- both for the lawyers who established the legal ground for such interrogations and those agents who acted outside those legal guidelines.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, wrote a letter to Obama Monday asking him to reserve comment on the issue while her panel completes its review of detainee interrogations. She estimated the study would be completed in six to eight months.

MoveOn is also seeking 200,000 signatures for a petition to Holder urging him to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the interrogations.

A Newsweek article over the weekend reported that Holder had already discussed naming a special prosecutor to review whether interrogators operated outside the legal guidelines or Bush officials broke the law by drafting those guidelines.

One source familiar with the matter told FOX News that, if appointed, a prosecutor would most likely be limited to pursuing "aiding and abetting" charges against the lawyers who wrote the memos.

"If (Justice attorneys) go after them, that's all they can get them on because they didn't torture but they facilitated the torture," the source said, adding that prosecutors first have to prove a criminal act of torture was committed.

"But if I were these people, I would still get a very good lawyer," the source said.

The Department of Justice statement on the memos last week first seemed to leave room for certain prosecutions. The statement said Holder stressed that agents who acted within the legal guidelines from the Justice Department would not face prosecutions -- it did not mention the lawyers or those who acted outside the guidelines.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/04/21/obama-open-prosecution-officials-cleared-interrogation-tactics/

Deicide

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Coming on the heels of him bad mouthing the U.S. on foreign soil, his photo ops with Chavez, and releasing our interrogation tactics to our enemies, this only makes sense.  This is the kind of nonsense that will guarantee a one-term presidency.  I just hope he doesn't do too much damage in his four-year stint.   :-\

Obama Open to Prosecution of Officials Who Cleared Interrogation Tactics
President Obama says it is up to the attorney general whether to prosecute Bush administration lawyers who wrote the memos approving harsh interrogation tactics.

FOXNews.com

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

resident Obama left open the door Tuesday for charges to be brought against Bush administration lawyers who justified harsh interrogation techniques, though he continued to argue that CIA agents who used those tactics should not be prosecuted.

The president showed wiggle room on the issue as he faces calls from Democratic lawmakers and organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union to support such charges. Asked about the possibility of prosecution related to the interrogation program, the president deferred to Attorney General Eric Holder.

"With respect to those who formulate those legal decisions, I would say that that is going to be more of a decision for the attorney general within the parameters of various laws," Obama said, as he finished an Oval Office meeting with visiting King Abdullah of Jordan. "And I don't want to prejudge that. ... There are a host of very complicated issues involved there."

It was the first time Obama took a question on the matter since his administration released a string of previously classified memos detailing harsh interrogation tactics used against terror suspects. At the time, Obama said agents who followed Department of Justice advice would not be prosecuted.

He reiterated that point Tuesday. "For those who carried out some of these operations within the four corners of legal opinions or guidance that had been provided from the White House, I do not think it's appropriate for them to be prosecuted," he said.

But while he also repeated his view that investigations into Bush officials could get politicized, he indicated for the first time an openness to such a course provided it is carried out in a "bipartisan fashion."

Pressure was building before Obama addressed the issue Tuesday for his administration to leave the possibility of prosecution on the table -- both for the lawyers who established the legal ground for such interrogations and those agents who acted outside those legal guidelines.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, wrote a letter to Obama Monday asking him to reserve comment on the issue while her panel completes its review of detainee interrogations. She estimated the study would be completed in six to eight months.

MoveOn is also seeking 200,000 signatures for a petition to Holder urging him to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the interrogations.

A Newsweek article over the weekend reported that Holder had already discussed naming a special prosecutor to review whether interrogators operated outside the legal guidelines or Bush officials broke the law by drafting those guidelines.

One source familiar with the matter told FOX News that, if appointed, a prosecutor would most likely be limited to pursuing "aiding and abetting" charges against the lawyers who wrote the memos.

"If (Justice attorneys) go after them, that's all they can get them on because they didn't torture but they facilitated the torture," the source said, adding that prosecutors first have to prove a criminal act of torture was committed.

"But if I were these people, I would still get a very good lawyer," the source said.

The Department of Justice statement on the memos last week first seemed to leave room for certain prosecutions. The statement said Holder stressed that agents who acted within the legal guidelines from the Justice Department would not face prosecutions -- it did not mention the lawyers or those who acted outside the guidelines.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/04/21/obama-open-prosecution-officials-cleared-interrogation-tactics/

I agree and then we can vote Ron Paul in for real change.
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Soul Crusher

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Read my thread.  They thwarted a 9/11 on LA by waterboarding KSM.

How many do you want to be kiiled so we donrt have to subject these murders to less than our marine recruits in boot camp?

BM OUT

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Will he prosecute Dianne Feinstein for insider trading or using her position of power to benefit herself and her husbands finances?

Busted

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Read my thread.  They thwarted a 9/11 on LA by waterboarding KSM.

How many do you want to be kiiled so we donrt have to subject these murders to less than our marine recruits in boot camp?

Hey Dip Shit, thats what FOX NEWS said, its not fact.

Your family is going to die from eating McDOnalds or Medicine approved by the FDA, or your drunk neighbor hitting them with a bat before you are going to get killed in a terror attack...

4000 People were killed by terrorism in the USA in 10 years and we have spent trillions fighting it...

Fat fuckers dieing from Heart Attacks... MILLIONS..

Alcoholics... 10s of millions

Cigarette smokers 10s of millions...

People shooting each other with legal guns... hundreds of thousands..

Get over these dumb scare tactics... if you are scared of terrorism you are a pussy and should be medicated... you should also fear a asteroid is going to crash your house, so you might not want to fall asleep anymore..

George Whorewell

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Ok. Just for the record- offering a legal opinion, even in bad faith is not a crime that can be prosecuted under United States law. Nothing will come of this and Obama knows it. Besides being laughed out of court, and pissing off two thirds of the country, nothing will come of this-- absolutely nothing.

I kind of want this idiotic waste of tax payer money to move forward.- It will all but guarantee Obama doesn't get a second term.

Busted BTW- your analogies are beyond moronic. Are you suggesting that because heart disease kills more Americans every year than domestic terrorism, terrorism is not a big deal?  ::)  - I hope if we are attacked your the first one to get blown into 100 pieces. You can tell the medic scraping you up off the floor with a spatula not to worry about it-- He should really get in his ambulence and drive across town to rescue that fat slob who is about to have a heart attack.lolol

Busted

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Ok. Just for the record- offering a legal opinion, even in bad faith is not a crime that can be prosecuted under United States law. Nothing will come of this and Obama knows it. Besides being laughed out of court, and pissing off two thirds of the country, nothing will come of this-- absolutely nothing.

I kind of want this idiotic waste of tax payer money to move forward.- It will all but guarantee Obama doesn't get a second term.

Busted BTW- your analogies are beyond moronic. Are you suggesting that because heart disease kills more Americans every year than domestic terrorism, terrorism is not a big deal?  ::)  - I hope if we are attacked your the first one to get blown into 100 pieces. You can tell the medic scraping you up off the floor with a spatula not to worry about it-- He should really get in his ambulence and drive across town to rescue that fat slob who is about to have a heart attack.lolol

My point is... we spend trillions and trillions scaring our public about terrorism... when the things that DO kill our society are ignored...

Answer me, are you scared of terrorism? Honestly?  Do you look over your shoulder when you get out of your car looking for a terrorist?

OzmO

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My point is... we spend trillions and trillions scaring our public about terrorism... when the things that DO kill our society are ignored...

Answer me, are you scared of terrorism? Honestly?  Do you look over your shoulder when you get out of your car looking for a terrorist?
Alcoholism, Obesity, cigarettes are all individual choices.

Terrorists attacks aren't and they affect business.







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Hey Dip Shit, thats what FOX NEWS said, its not fact.

..

STFU......





CIA Confirms: Waterboarding 9/11 Mastermind Led to Info that Aborted 9/11-Style Attack on Los Angeles
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
By Terence P. Jeffrey, Editor-in-Chief




Khalid Sheik Mohammad, a top al Qaeda leader who divulged information -- after being waterboarded -- that allowed the U.S. government to stop a planned terrorist attack on Los Angeles. (CNSNews.com) - The Central Intelligence Agency told CNSNews.com today that it stands by the assertion made in a May 30, 2005 Justice Department memo that the use of “enhanced techniques” of interrogation on al Qaeda leader Khalid Sheik Mohammed (KSM) -- including the use of waterboarding -- caused KSM to reveal information that allowed the U.S. government to thwart a planned attack on Los Angeles.
 
Before he was waterboarded, when KSM was asked about planned attacks on the United States, he ominously told his CIA interrogators, “Soon, you will know.”
 
According to the previously classified May 30, 2005 Justice Department memo that was released by President Barack Obama last week, the thwarted attack -- which KSM called the “Second Wave”-- planned “ ‘to use East Asian operatives to crash a hijacked airliner into’ a building in Los Angeles.”
 
KSM was the mastermind of the first “hijacked-airliner” attacks on the United States, which struck the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Northern Virginia on Sept. 11, 2001.
 
After KSM was captured by the United States, he was not initially cooperative with CIA interrogators.  Nor was another top al Qaeda leader named Zubaydah.  KSM, Zubaydah, and a third terrorist named Nashiri were the only three persons ever subjected to waterboarding by the CIA. (Additional terrorist detainees were subjected to other “enhanced techniques” that included slapping, sleep deprivation, dietary limitations, and temporary confinement to small spaces -- but not to water-boarding.)

This was because the CIA imposed very tight restrictions on the use of waterboarding. “The ‘waterboard,’ which is the most intense of the CIA interrogation techniques, is subject to additional limits,” explained the May 30, 2005 Justice Department memo. “It may be used on a High Value Detainee only if the CIA has ‘credible intelligence that a terrorist attack is imminent’; ‘substantial and credible indicators that the subject has actionable intelligence that can prevent, disrupt or deny this attack’; and ‘
  • ther interrogation methods have failed to elicit this information within the perceived time limit for preventing the attack.’”

 
The quotations in this part of the Justice memo were taken from an Aug. 2, 2004 letter that CIA Acting General Counsel John A. Rizzo sent to the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel.
 
Before they were subjected to “enhanced techniques” of interrogation that included waterboarding, KSM and Zubaydah were not only uncooperative but also appeared contemptuous of the will of the American people to defend themselves.
 
“In particular, the CIA believes that it would have been unable to obtain critical information from numerous detainees, including KSM and Abu Zubaydah, without these enhanced techniques,” says the Justice Department memo. “Both KSM and Zubaydah had ‘expressed their belief that the general US population was ‘weak,’ lacked resilience, and would be unable to ‘do what was necessary’ to prevent the terrorists from succeeding in their goals.’  Indeed, before the CIA used enhanced techniques in its interrogation of KSM, KSM resisted giving any answers to questions about future attacks, simply noting, ‘Soon you will know.’”
 
After he was subjected to the “waterboard” technique, KSM became cooperative, providing intelligence that led to the capture of key al Qaeda allies and, eventually, the closing down of an East Asian terrorist cell that had been tasked with carrying out the 9/11-style attack on Los Angeles.
 
The May 30, 2005 Justice Department memo that details what happened in this regard was written by then-Principal Deputy Attorney General Steven G. Bradbury to John A. Rizzo, the senior deputy general counsel for the CIA.
 
“You have informed us that the interrogation of KSM—once enhanced techniques were employed—led to the discovery of a KSM plot, the ‘Second Wave,’ ‘to use East Asian operatives to crash a hijacked airliner into’ a building in Los Angeles,” says the memo.
 
“You have informed us that information obtained from KSM also led to the capture of Riduan bin Isomuddin, better known as Hambali, and the discover of the Guraba Cell, a 17-member Jemaah Islamiyah cell tasked with executing the ‘Second Wave,’” reads the memo. “More specifically, we understand that KSM admitted that he had [redaction] large sum of money to an al Qaeda associate [redaction] … Khan subsequently identified the associate (Zubair), who was then captured. Zubair, in turn, provided information that led to the arrest of Hambali. The information acquired from these captures allowed CIA interrogators to pose more specific questions to KSM, which led the CIA to Hambali’s brother, al Hadi. Using information obtained from multiple sources, al-Hadi was captured, and he subsequently identified the Garuba cell. With the aid of this additional information, interrogations of Hambali confirmed much of what was learned from KSM.”
 
A CIA spokesman confirmed to CNSNews.com today that the CIA stands by the factual assertions made here.
 
In the memo itself, the Justice Department’s Bradbury told the CIA’s Rossi: “Your office has informed us that the CIA believes that ‘the intelligence acquired from these interrogations has been a key reason why al Qa’ida has failed to launch a spectacular attack in the West since 11 September 2001.”



tonymctones

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Alcoholism, Obesity, cigarettes are all individual choices.

Terrorists attacks aren't and they affect business.
EXACTLY

Busted

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Alcoholism, Obesity, cigarettes are all individual choices.

Terrorists attacks aren't and they affect business.


10s of thousands dieing from Drunk Drivers are individual choices? 2nd hand smoke is a individual choice? Taking medicine the FDA approves that ends up killing people is a individual choice? Shit you have a better chance of catching a deadly disease than dieing from a terrorist attack...  They keep people in fear so they can keep pumping money into the defense budget so their buddies can keep going to the bank... Defense lobby firms want us in FEAR so they can keep taking trillions in our tax dollars...

Thousands of people die in this country every week due no act of their own...








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Glad to see the Obama administration remembered that this is the territory of the Justice Department and not the White House


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If they didn't break the law, then they have nothing to worry about.

if they did break the law, well...

(IMO cheney wants the results released to justify the breaking of the law)

MM2K

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If they didn't break the law, then they have nothing to worry about.

if they did break the law, well...

(IMO cheney wants the results released to justify the breaking of the law)

Yeah right......tell that to Scooter Libby.

This is a moronic thing that Obama has done. This is bad not only for our national security but for our democracy and the peaceful transition of power. We may have to have a military coup to get this dangerous amatuer out of his seat before the four years are up. Every Democrat that supports this administration needs to be voted right out of office.
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Soul Crusher

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10s of thousands dieing from Drunk Drivers are individual choices? 2nd hand smoke is a individual choice? Taking medicine the FDA approves that ends up killing people is a individual choice? Shit you have a better chance of catching a deadly disease than dieing from a terrorist attack...  They keep people in fear so they can keep pumping money into the defense budget so their buddies can keep going to the bank... Defense lobby firms want us in FEAR so they can keep taking trillions in our tax dollars...

Thousands of people die in this country every week due no act of their own...


And after 9/11, remember how much the stock market went down?????

The market does not tank when some fattie dies from a heart attack. 

Deicide

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And after 9/11, remember how much the stock market went down?????

The market does not tank when some fattie dies from a heart attack. 

If we were less involved with meddling in the affairs of the world and minded our own business we could significantly reduce the risk of terrorist activities.
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Soul Crusher

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Whatever, I like Ron Paul a lot, but not on everything.  I think he grossly underestimates the threat of radical islam. 


Deicide

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Whatever, I like Ron Paul a lot, but not on everything.  I think he grossly underestimates the threat of radical islam. 



To some extent he does but if you make the analogy and say Islam is fire and American foreign policy is oil it is much closer to the truth of what is happening. Islam is no doubt a violent, primitive religion but American foreign policy exacerbates things by inflamming a fire that is already burning. Michael Scheuer, the former head of the Bin Ladin unit supports RP's statements. Why do you think Muslims are angry at the US?
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Soul Crusher

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To some extent he does but if you make the analogy and say Islam is fire and American foreign policy is oil it is much closer to the truth of what is happening. Islam is no doubt a violent, primitive religion but American foreign policy exacerbates things by inflamming a fire that is already burning. Michael Scheuer, the former head of the Bin Ladin unit supports RP's statements. Why do you think Muslims are angry at the US?

Hey buddy, Muslims are angry at everyone. 

Deicide

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Hey buddy, Muslims are angry at everyone. 

Good point. Why make them more angry? If we left them to their own devices, they would be fighting it out amongst themselves, Sunni vs. Shia, stuck in the 13th century and we could move on and attempt to better the West.
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Soul Crusher

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Good point. Why make them more angry? If we left them to their own devices, they would be fighting it out amongst themselves, Sunni vs. Shia, stuck in the 13th century and we could move on and attempt to better the West.

Here is the problem, because of their backward ways, everyone around them always is perceived to have more than them and they think it is unfair and due to some type of conspiracy or whatever. 

As the world advances in technology, science, etc, islam stays the same and hence the hatred. 

They hate everybody. 

Think, London bombing, spain bombing, etc etc. 

Even China has issues with radicals now.

George Whorewell

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The problem with leaving them to their own devices is that they dont just kill each other, they kill non- muslims and threaten the modern world. If their barbaric nature was limited to the desert and the barren mountains between Pakistan and Afghanistan, no one would care, nor should they. Unfortunetly, it is the fastest growing religion in the world its radical adherents and their apologists are all over the globe.

If you let a disease fester and ignore it rather than treat it and take preemptive measures, before long your dead. You cant just close your eyes and hope for the best.   

Soul Crusher

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The problem with leaving them to their own devices is that they dont just kill each other, they kill non- muslims and threaten the modern world. If their barbaric nature was limited to the desert and the barren mountains between Pakistan and Afghanistan, no one would care, nor should they. Unfortunetly, it is the fastest growing religion in the world its radical adherents and their apologists are all over the globe.

If you let a disease fester and ignore it rather than treat it and take preemptive measures, before long your dead. You cant just close your eyes and hope for the best.   

Its like a cancer that spreads.

Grape Ape

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If we left them to their own devices, they would be fighting it out amongst themselves, Sunni vs. Shia, stuck in the 13th century and we could move on and attempt to better the West.

This is wrong.  Their ideology states that an Islamic nation has to be the worlds superpower.  Since it's not, they're supposed to do what they have to to make it happen.

Whether we're nice or not simply doesn't matter.
Y

OzmO

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10s of thousands dieing from Drunk Drivers are individual choices? 2nd hand smoke is a individual choice? Taking medicine the FDA approves that ends up killing people is a individual choice? Shit you have a better chance of catching a deadly disease than dieing from a terrorist attack...  They keep people in fear so they can keep pumping money into the defense budget so their buddies can keep going to the bank... Defense lobby firms want us in FEAR so they can keep taking trillions in our tax dollars...

Thousands of people die in this country every week due no act of their own...


I dont disagree that those things are problems and need to be taken care of better.  But when 3000 die in a terrorist attack it affects business.  People need to feel safe.