Mukasey Undecided on CIA Tapes Questions(& still undecided if waterboarding is torture)

[maddezmom]

Source: AP

By LARA JAKES JORDAN
The Associated Press
Tuesday, December 11, 2007; 3:49 PM

WASHINGTON -- Attorney General Michael Mukasey refused Tuesday to be rushed into deciding whether he considers waterboarding a form of torture, saying simply he understands the "intense interest" in the issue now at the heart of an inquiry into videotaped interrogations of terror suspects that were destroyed by the CIA.

~snip~

Mukasey said he has not yet concluded a review of Justice Department memos to determine whether waterboarding amounts to torture _ which would deem it illegal.

~snip~

In a calm, even tone, Mukasey deflected repeated questioning about the CIA videotapes, including whether he would ask for a special prosecutor to look into the issue as suggested by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and the Democratic and Republican leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The Justice Department and the CIA's inspector general has opened a preliminary inquiry of the destroyed tapes, including looking to see if it amounts to an obstruction of justice.




Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/11/AR2007121100873.html

[aquart]

1. Wonder what he's waiting for? 1/20/08?

[shain from kane]

3. Do you mean 01/20/2009?

[aquart]

8. Yes. Thank you.

I thought today was Friday, too.

[shain from kane]

2. After watching tapes from Bush*s' private collection, he's still undecided.

[saigon68]

18. LOL K & R

[balantz]

4. Well

we all knew he would turn out to be a noble character.

[pleah]

5. What a God Damned weeny.

[0007]

14. junior and his weenies

Marc Mukasey, son of Michael Mukasey is sheltering Giuliani from Bernard Kerik and his crime family . . . Check this out;
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Marc_L._Mukasey


Find the big time players and guess what they're doing

[Acadia Blue]

17. He owes our mafia president.

[Lerkfish]

6. and aren't we glad the democrats caved in and allowed him in?

what a wonderfully intelligent move that was.

[librechik]

7. can he stall till January 09?

probably...

[boricua79]

9. can we get this guy help?

he seems to have problems deciding elementary things.

Someone get him the Golden Rule, stat. See if he can understand the logic in it.

And while they are at it, bring him a bed, a towel, and a bucket of water, and let's implement the golden rule for him. See if he gets its message loud and clear. Maybe then he'll be able to make a decision.

[Supersedeas]

10. obviously intense interest in this -- as if Justice is no more important than a postcard

I can't believe that he is trivializing this matter.

[seafan]

11. Isn't Diane and Chuck's choice for *new leadership* just swell?? n/t

[Supersedeas]

13. there were plenty of warning signs

[Caretha]

12. Enough of this indecision

Somebody grab a board, 750 gals of water and some bungie cords and lets give this guy a clue.

[Javaman]

15. so we go from control freak abu gonzales to

spineless indecision man. yes, a vast improvement :eyes:

[Acadia Blue]

16. Biden had something intelligent to say about this. Seems he is

the only one who realizes that past behavior means future behavior.

[donkeyotay]

19. This isn't that hard. The only thing making torture "legal"

is the Gonzales-Federalist Society claim that the Unitary Executive can do anything in times of war. This is bullshit.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A48446-2005Jan4?language=printer

Gonzales Helped Set the Course for Detainees
Justice Nominee's Hearings Likely to Focus on Interrogation Policies
By R. Jeffrey Smith and Dan Eggen
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, January 5, 2005; Page A01


Gonzales's involvement in the crafting of the torture memo, and his work on two presidential orders on detainee policy that provoked controversy or judicial censure during Bush's first term, is expected to take center stage at Senate Judiciary Committee hearings tomorrow on Gonzales's nomination to become attorney general.
...

Gonzales, after reviewing a legal brief from the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel, advised Bush verbally on Jan. 18, 2002, that he had authority to exempt the detainees from such protections. Bush agreed, reversing a decades-old policy aimed in part at ensuring equal treatment for U.S. military detainees around the world. Rumsfeld issued an order the next day to commanders that detainees would receive such protections only "to the extent appropriate and consistent with military necessity."
...

Drafted at the request of the CIA, which sought legal blessing for aggressive interrogation methods for Abu Zubaida and other al Qaeda detainees, the memo contended that only physically punishing acts "of an extreme nature" would be prosecutable. It also said that those committing torture with express presidential authority or without the intent to commit harm were probably immune from prosecution.
...

The memo defined torture in extreme terms, said the president had inherent powers to allow it and gave the CIA permission to do what it wished. Seven months later, its conclusions were cited approvingly in a Defense Department memo that spelled out the Pentagon's policy for "exceptional interrogations" of detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Before 9-11 "changed everything" and unleashed the Unitary Executive on an unsuspecting nation, the law of the land was:

http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2004/05/24/usint8614.htm

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
Summary of International and U.S. Law Prohibiting Torture and Other Ill-treatment of Persons in Custody
Last Updated May 24, 2004

International and U.S. law prohibits torture and other ill-treatment of any person in custody in all circumstances. The prohibition applies to the United States during times of peace, armed conflict, or a state of emergency. Any person, whether a U.S. national or a non-citizen, is protected. It is irrelevant whether the detainee is determined to be a prisoner-of-war, a protected person, or a so-called “security detainee” or “unlawful combatant.” And the prohibition is in effect within the territory of the United States or any place anywhere U.S. authorities have control over a person. In short, the prohibition against torture and ill-treatment is absolute. ...

Article 3 prohibits “violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture; …outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment.”