Check out Glenn Greenwald's: "Obama did the Right Thing Releasing Memo's...It's Up to Citizens..

[KoKo]

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/radio/2009/04/16/aclu/index.html

Obama did the right thing by releasing these memos, providing all the information and impetus the citizenry should need to demand investigations and prosecutions. But it is up to citizens to demand that the rule of law be applied.

----------------
UPDATE II: The ACLU has all four memos here. This 46-page May 10, 2005 memo (.pdf) from OLC Chief Steven Bradbury authorizes (under Constitutional and international law) all of these tactics for any "high-value detainees": nudity, "dietary manipulation" involving "minimum caloric intake at commerical weight-loss programs," "corrective techniques" (facial and abdominal slapping), water dousing, "walling," stress positions and "wall standing" (to "induce muscle fatigue and the attendent discomfort"), cramped confinement, and sleep deprivation. It also authorized "no more than two sessions" of waterboarding in "any 24-hour period."

Bradbury here discusses (and, of course, approves) of the specific methods used to have a detainee undergoing sleep deprivation wear a diaper:

Bradbury legalized all of these methods despite this amazing ackonwledgment; if you read just one memo excerpt, read this one:

They explicitly recognized that the techniques they were authorizing were ones that we condemned other countries for using -- including as "torture" -- but nonetheless approved them, explicitly saying that the standards we impose on others do not bind us in any way:

Finally, given all the talk about how it would be so unfair to prosecute Bush officials given that they believed what they were doing was legal, Bradbury made clear in the last paragraph of the memo just how dubious was his conclusion that all of these techniques were legal:

The more one reads of this, the harder it is to credit Obama's statement today that "this is a time for reflection, not retribution." At least when it comes to the orders of our highest government leaders and the DOJ lawyers who authorized them, these are pure war crimes, justified in the most disgustingly clinical language and with clear intent of wrongdoing. FDL has a petition urging Eric Holder to immediately appoint a Special Prosecutor to determine if criminal proceedings should commence.

http://action.firedoglake.com/page/s/Prosecutor

Obama did the right thing by releasing these memos, providing all the information and impetus the citizenry should need to demand investigations and prosecutions. But it is up to citizens to demand that the rule of law be applied.

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/radio/2009/04/16/aclu/index.html

[LakeSamish706]

1. I don't see it as being up to the citizens... Eric Holder should do his job...

and proceed with investigations of probable crimes as he stated he would do during his confirmation when asked if he thought Water Boarding was torture.

[leftstreet]

2. Since when do we have to pressure law enforcement to arrest criminals?

:shrug:

It goes without saying that Obama did the right thing, but it's not up to us from here on out.

[KoKo]

4. We hopefully now have a Democrat (s) that will listen....

that's why.

[xchrom]

3. that worked so well when we tried to stop an illegal war.

SOMEBODY has to do their job.

[KoKo]

5. Aparently we have to keep working...just when we thought we'd get a breather

we find it's more necessary than ever because if we coast we could get Bush III in 2012. I know...it sucks...but if we don't do it...who will? Rahm Emmanuel?

[xchrom]

7. rahm is who you will be trying to convince now. nt

[KoKo]

6. and...More Reporting from ProPublica on this: "No Promise on Bush Lawyers who signed off on It"

http://www.propublica.org/article/obama-promises-to-defend-interrogators-but-no-promise-on-bush-0416

Obama Promises to Defend Interrogators, But No Promise on the Bush Lawyers Who Signed Off
by Chisun Lee, ProPublica - April 16, 2009 4:54 pm EDT


Early press reports <2> are focusing on the administration’s promise not to prosecute any CIA employee who reasonably relied on the memos to carry out interrogations. The government has also said it will defend <3> employees in U.S. or foreign courts and before Congress.

But the administration was silent on its allegiance – or lack thereof – to the former administration lawyers, from the Office of Legal Counsel, who authored or signed off on the memos. It’s the lawyers who may face prosecution before a Spanish court <4> and who’ve long been the subject of calls from U.S. civil liberties advocates for further investigation.

In two parting memos, outgoing Bush OLC supervisor Steven Bradbury repudiated <5> a slew of counterterrorism-related legal opinions while defending the professional conduct of their authors.

We asked about the administration’s stance on the conduct of those who wrote today’s released memos. Justice Department spokesperson Tracy Schmaler said that, because an internal Office of Professional Responsibility investigation is ongoing, "We can’t comment."

Today’s memos help flesh out the remarkable legal story behind the previous administration’s so-called war on terror – a story you can follow by exploring our chart of more than 50 related memos <6>, listed by date, author and topic. Our continuing coverage of the battle to win release <7> of some 30 still-secret memos can be found here <8>.

more at...
http://www.propublica.org/article/obama-promises-to-defend-interrogators-but-no-promise-on-bush-0416