Tag: Senate Judiciary Committee

May 29 2009

On Torture And War Crimes, Part One, Or, I Interview Dr. Addicott

I can’t tell you the number of times I began a story with a plan for where it would go, only to discover that the plan isn’t going to work.

The stories sometimes seem to write themselves…but other times, the research seems to do the writing instead; this being one of those times.

When the production of this story began it was with the intention of trying to explain what should be the “controlling authority” in terms of defining torture, a precedent set by the European Court of Human Rights, or Title 18 of the United States Code.

Having reviewed both statute law and numerous judgments in law courts worldwide as well as the recent Senate Judiciary Committee testimony of Professor Jeffrey Addicott, and having conducted an interview with Dr. Addicott personally, I’ve come to two rather surprising conclusions:

It may not really matter whether waterboarding is torture…and although neither I nor Dr. Addicott might have seen it coming, it’s starting to appear that he and I might agree on one thing:

Waterboarding, whether it’s torture or not, is a war crime.  

Mar 05 2009

Tell Them Who We Are

You want the truth, Senator Leahy?

Here’s some truth for you:

abu ghraib statue of liberty Pictures, Images and Photos

Liberty itself has been assaulted, democracy itself has been ravaged, an entire nation has been brutalized by those treacherous BushCo criminals you want to spend some quality truth and reconciliation time with.  But there can be no reconciliation, there can be no forgiveness for what they’ve done, the damage they’ve inflicted is incalculable, the lives they’ve destroyed cannot be given back.  They are obscenities in suits, they are treasonous to the core, they hijacked the government of the greatest democracy on earth and turned it into a wasteland of lawlessness, betrayal, corruption, and deceit.  

Tell them what America stands for, Senator Leahy.  Tell them who we are, show them what justice looks like.  

Mar 05 2009

Birth of a Whitewash: Who Testified at Leahy Torture Commission Hearings?

There has been plenty of controversy on the issue of conducting a Congressional or independent investigation into the interrogations policy and torture activities of the Bush administration over the last seven or eight years.

One of the primary worries by those who oppose a “truth and reconciliation”-style investigation is that it would preempt possible prosecutions, or at worst, be a cover-up of some of the worst crimes involved. Those who favor such an investigation believe that is only with a broad investigation will all the information really be unearthed.

The hearing today by the Senate Judiciary Committee — “Getting to the Truth Through a Nonpartisan Commission of Inquiry” — chaired by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), was called to explore options for investigating past torture and counter-terrorism policy.  The committee called six witnesses, some for, some against such an investigation. But a close look at the backgrounds and affiliations of even most of the pro-investigation witnesses should give us deep pause, and ask what kind of commission are we being set up for?

Mar 04 2009

Live Blog: Senate Hearing re Torture Commission

Senate Judiciary Committee: Getting to the Truth Through a Nonpartisan Commission of Inquiry

Starting at 10 AM Eastern/ 7 AM Pacific

Watch it here:

Webcast on Committee Page

C-SPAN 3

Witness List:

Thomas Pickering

Vice Chairman

Hills & Company, International Consultants

Washington, D.C.

Retired Vice Admiral Lee Gunn

President

The American Security Project

Washington, D.C.

John Farmer

Partner

Arsenault, Whipple, Farmer, Fasset and Azzarello, L.L.P.

Chatham, NJ

Frederick A. O. Schwarz, Jr.

Senior Counsel

Brennan Center for Justice

New York University School of Law

New York, NY

David B. Rivkin, Jr.

Baker & Hostetler, L.L.P.

Washington, D.C.

Jeremy Rabkin

Professor of Law

George Mason University School of Law

Arlington, VA

There is no longer any doubt as to whether the Bush administration has committed war crimes. The only question that remains to be answered is whether those who ordered the use of torture will be held to account.

~Maj. Gen. Antonio M. Taguba

Nov 12 2007

Request for More Information and Verification: Pelosi, Conyers and Impeachment

OK, folks, I need some help here — a potentially major item requiring immediate investigation has come to light. From this comment in my recent diary over on DailyKos, dove12348 relates a particularly chilling tidbit:

Unfortunately there are things that…
…can’t be tracked.

http://slate.com/…

Pelosi has threatened the removal of Michigan Rep. John Conyers from his chairmanship of the House judiciary committee if an impeachment inquiry were even opened, according to reliable congressional chatter.

OK, folks — who can help pull together some additional detail around this?

Please post what you can find here, or — preferably, to keep it all in one place, post it here and over here on ePluribus Media, where I’ll be trying to coordinate more information on this.

Here’s the question I want to try and answer: The article from Slate is from August 21, so how does the current state of affairs affect any potential investigation by Conyers?

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