Rewarding Bad Behavior

Invent bullshit legal theories, get published in the WSJ! Money quote:

The first thing any lawyer will do is tell his clients to shut up. The KSMs or Abu Zubaydahs of the future will respond to no verbal questioning or trickery -- which is precisely why the Bush administration felt compelled to use more coercive measures in the first place.

This from the guy who was one of the principal actors in authorizing torture. John Yoo should be locked up in jail for the harm he's caused (maybe waterboarded, which he wouldn't consider torture, for kicks). Instead, conservative institutions give him a louder megaphone from which he can spew his bile. Somebody please prosecute this assclown.

Was McCain Tortured?

This is brutal, but them's the rules according to Bush and McCain:

In all the discussion of John McCain's recently recovered memory of a religious epiphany in Vietnam, one thing has been missing. The torture that was deployed against McCain emerges in all the various accounts. It involved sleep deprivation, the withholding of medical treatment, stress positions, long-time standing, and beating. Sound familiar?

According to the Bush administration's definition of torture, McCain was therefore not tortured.

...

Now the kicker: in the Military Commissions Act, McCain acquiesced to the use of these techniques against terror suspects by the CIA. And so the tortured became the enabler of torture. Someone somewhere cried out in pain for the same reasons McCain once did. And McCain let it continue.

I linked to Sully!

War Crimes

Bush Co:

The first extensive medical examinations of former detainees in U.S. military jails offer corroboration for prisoners' claims of physical and psychological abuse at the hands of their American captors, a Boston-based human rights group said in a report released yesterday.

...

In a statement accompanying the report, retired Maj. Gen. Antonio M. Taguba, who led the Army's first official investigation on Abu Ghraib, said the new evidence suggested a "systematic regime of torture" inside U.S.-run detention camps.

The only remaining question is whether they'll be tried for it.

Quick! Back to the Bubble!

Bush gets interviewed by a foreign correspondent, loses no sleep.

Supreme Court Restores Habeas Corpus for Detainees

So long, torture loving, John McCain voted for Military Commissions Act:

Federal judges cannot block U.S. military officials from turning over two Americans held in Iraq to local authorities who want to prosecute them for involvement in the insurgency or criminal activity, the Supreme Court ruled on Thursday.

The high court's decision was a defeat for two Americans who say they are innocent and who are being held by U.S. soldiers at Camp Cropper near Baghdad International Airport.

The usual suspects (Roberts, Scalia, Alito, Thomas) dissented.

Slowly but surely.

Supporting Human Rights

Eat it, ivory tower, liberal hawks. Just because the invasion of Iraq had some trappings of your pony plan, you never should have deluded yourself for one second into thinking that it would become reality, which turned out like this:

He also said that his superiors saw no problem with using confessions obtained through torture, including waterboarding. Everything is "fair game," he says he was told, "let the judge sort it out."

End the war now.

All About Yoo

Lovin' the torture.

Bush's AG

Is Bush's AG, no matter how not-Abu Gonzales he may be.

Justice Dept to Investigate Torture Tapes Destruction

Good:

The Justice Department opened a criminal investigation into the destruction of CIA interrogation videotapes and Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey appointed an outside prosecutor to oversee the case.

The Central Intelligence Agency acknowledged last month that it destroyed videos of officers using tough interrogation methods while questioning two al Qaeda suspects. The acknowledgment sparked a congressional inquiry and a preliminary investigation by Justice.

"The Department's National Security Division has recommended, and I have concluded, that there is a basis for initiating a criminal investigation of this matter, and I have taken steps to begin that investigation," Mr.Mukasey said in a statement released Wednesday.

Mr. Mukasey named John Durham, a federal prosecutor in Connecticut, to oversee the case.

Et Tu, Scooter?

Remember how this turned out?

"If there's a leak out of my administration, I want to know who it is," Bush told reporters at an impromptu news conference during a fund-raising stop in Chicago, Illinois. "If the person has violated law, that person will be taken care of.

Here we go again:

President Bush said Thursday he will reserve judgment on his administration's destruction of CIA interrogation tapes until several inquiries are finished. "Let's wait and see what the facts are," Mr. Bush said.

I'm not holding my breath.

Abu Who?

Because this makes them worse:

Blood-splotches on walls, chains hanging from a ceiling and swords on the killing floor � the artifacts left a disturbing tale of brutalities inside a suspected al-Qaida in Iraq torture chamber. But there was yet another chilling fact outside the dirt-floor dungeon. Villagers say they knew about the torment but were too intimidated by extremists to tell authorities until now.

Stories such as these claims of insurgent abuses and the silence of frightened Iraqis have emerged with increasing frequency and clarity recently as U.S.-led forces push deeper into former extremist fiefdoms and forge alliances with tribes seeking to reclaim their regions.

The reports and tips now pouring in build a harrowing portrait of rule under al-Qaida and its backers: mass graves, ruthless punishments, self-styled Islamic courts ordering summary executions.

Abu Ghraib was a "correctional facility." We built schools!

It's Torture

No ifs ands or buts:

The Democratic-led House of Representatives voted on Thursday to outlaw harsh interrogation methods, such as simulated drowning, that the CIA has used against suspected terrorists.

On a 222-199 vote, the House approved a measure to require intelligence agents to comply with the Army Field Manual, which meets the Geneva Conventions on the treatment of war prisoners and prohibits torture.

That looks pretty party-line to me.

Republicans heart torture!

It saddens me that this even needs to be passed.

See No Evil, Hear No Evil

Speak no evil:

The Central Intelligence Agency in 2005 destroyed at least two videotapes documenting the interrogation of two Al Qaeda operatives in the agency’s custody, a step it took in the midst of Congressional and legal scrutiny about the C.I.A’s secret detention program, according to current and former government officials.

The videotapes showed agency operatives in 2002 subjecting terror suspects — including Abu Zubaydah, the first detainee in C.I.A. custody — to severe interrogation techniques. They were destroyed in part because officers were concerned that tapes documenting controversial interrogation methods could expose agency officials to greater risk of legal jeopardy, several officials said.

Everyone knows it's torture. Bush will insist it isn't, which will cause Joe Klein to have a fainting spell over his candor, David Broder to predict Bush's revival in the polls, Chris Matthews to get some Codpiece love going and the Washington Post to transcribe whatever Bush says without weighing in on its veracity, but we all know it's torture and wrong. The CIA destroyed the tapes because they were committing illegal and inhumane acts. It's that simple.

Hi Mr. Kettle!

Why, hello, Mr. Pot!

A Myanmar opposition leader who was arrested during last month's mass protests against the junta died due to torture during interrogation, an activist group said on Wednesday.

In Washington, the United States threatened new sanctions against Myanmar after media reports of the death of Win Shwe.

"The junta must stop the brutal treatment of its people and peacefully transition to democracy or face new sanctions from the United States," White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said in a statement.

We're now the laughing stock of Myanmar. Way-to-go Bush.

Can Thomas Friedman remind me why we're not bashing these guys' doors down and telling them to "suck on this" again? Because, we can, you know, do that.

He Hates Children and Hearts Torture

It wouldn't surprise me if he ate babies too:

"This government does not torture people. We stick to U.S. law and our international obligations," Bush told reporters.

"There are highly trained professionals questioning these extremists and terrorists," he added.

I'm going to miss being the laughingstock of the world when he leaves office - NOT!