Obama absolves CIA officers from prosecution for interrogations

[biopowertoday]

With that headline, he really must be the Messiah??



But when I clicked on the Yahoo front page headline, the headline below popped up.




http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090417/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/torture_memos



Obama: No charges for harsh CIA interrogation

By JENNIFER LOVEN and DEVLIN BARRETT, Associated Press Writers 1 hr 58 mins ago

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama absolved CIA officers from prosecution for harsh, painful interrogation of terror suspects Thursday, even as his administration released Bush-era memos graphically detailing — and authorizing — such grim tactics as slamming detainees against walls, waterboarding them and keeping them naked and cold for long periods.

Human rights groups and many Obama officials have condemned such methods as torture. Bush officials have vigorously disagreed.

In releasing the documents, the most comprehensive accounting yet of interrogation methods that were among the Bush administrations most closely guarded secrets, Obama said he wanted to move beyond "a dark and painful chapter in our history."

Past and present CIA officials had unsuccessfully pressed for more parts of the four legal memos to be kept secret, and some critics argued the release would make the United States less safe.

Michael Hayden, who led the CIA under George W. Bush, said CIA officers will now be more timid and allies will be more reluctant to share sensitive intelligence.........................

[mmonk]

1. Someone needs to tell Hayden countries were already

reluctant and also were suspending any requests for extradictions before the release of this information.

[PBS Poll-435]

2. I have no issue with low-to-middle operatives following directions

If this really was a top-down policy, then we should probably prosecute those at the helm.

[vaberella]

3. Exactly and President O seems to agree with you or he wouldn't have released those papers. n/t

[PBS Poll-435]

4. That is why he is still a solid 94% in my book

A!

[Optical.Catalyst]

5. Giving the operators immunity from prosecution in exchange for testimony would be a good thing

Prosecution of the front line interrogators (who were told what they were doing was legal) would not be productive and would fail to get to the real culprits here. By giving immunity from prosecutions to the people involved at low levels, it opens the path to bring to trial the people in the former Bush Administration who authorized these actions. It could go all the way to the top with Cheney and Bush being put on trial.

[HamdenRice]

6. I don't think he has a choice. The torture memos absolve the lower level officers

The analysis is here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x8347886