US AG Eric Holder appears to be bored with the direction of Washington political discourse these days, and wants to move the discussion to more favorable topics:
Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. has decided to appoint a prosecutor to examine nearly a dozen cases in which CIA interrogators and contractors may have violated anti-torture laws and other statutes when they allegedly threatened terrorism suspects, according to two sources familiar with the move…
With Monday’s looming public announcement, however, the attorney general and his national security team appear to be staking out a middle ground — rejecting a broad inquiry that could result in possible prosecutions of Justice Department lawyers in the Bush years as well as cabinet officers who developed counterterrorism policy; but giving civil liberties advocates at least part of what they wanted without supporting a full, independent truth commission to examine a host of Bush national security practices.
I’m one of those who believe that war crimes occur and ought to be punished. I would ordinarily favor a tightly focused investigation of those who knowingly exceeded the limits of their authority in interrogating GWOT prisoners, after such guidance had been provided.
The very reason the Bush White House went to such difficult lengths to define exactly what did and did not constitute torture was to 1) provide guidance to those who would otherwise have been left to hang when the political winds changed, and 2) prevent good faith interrogators from accidentally going over the edge.
But those who crossed the line despite explicit guidance ought to be investigated, and – if appropriate – punished according to their desserts. (CIA director Leon Panetta is rumored to disagree.) But the best way to do so would be an internal CIA IG investigation rather than yet another special prosecutor with a limitless budget, the power to subpoena and a compelling need to demonstrate some results to go with his cash burn.
Because in this environment, there’s practically zero chance that partisan passions will be held in check, and once the genie is out of the bottle there’s no telling what the consequences may be. Certainly investigators out in the field will once again ease sheets to avoid sailing too close to the wind, and when the investigation spills its boundaries and goes into policy decisions – as it inevitably will – the administration may end up looking spiteful and petty. Nor will even a tightly crafted investigation satisfy the spittle-flecked set. This may be one of those cases where no loaf at all is better than half – especially when one’s own hands are not entirely clean.
It’s Mr. Holder exclusive choice to decide whether or not to investigate those who crossed the line while attempting to keep the homeland safe. He may find, as so many have before him, that it’s easier to ride that tiger than to get back off again.
This is a political move pure and simple, a shot across the bow of the the opposition in the process of consolidating power.
I agree with Krauthammer in that Holder is not alone in this, he has marching orders. Obama is the good cop, Holder is the bad cop.
This is head hunting ala Scooter Libby
Bad things will come from this.
I disagree. Horrific things shall come from this, not just here, but abroad. Aren’t we witnessing an uptick in terrosim in the ME as a result of backing out? Yes, this is but a sign that we can be beaten by being convinced a threat, never carried out is or more moral significance than actual physical assaults ending in death and destruction.
Our “leaders” have evolved into such a spineless bunch, except when facing American citizens, then they are quite the macho players. Maybe because they know we have moral governors” in place, unlike those who will kill for their god, and ignore such meaningless things as a letter from Jefferson to a Baptist Church in Connecticut..
At the end, there will be judgment.
xformed/
Totally agree. We are truly suicidally naive–or at least unfortunately those making the key policy decisions seem to be. A very sad spectacle to behold indeed. I’ve said here and elsewhere more than once, but bears repeating: We have finally collectively achieved that which was heretofore thought to be physically impossible, namely the ability to bury our head in the sand and whistle past the graveyard at the same time.
I’m stunned by the Unity President dividing this nation , not down the middle, but splitting the left from the middle left, the middle from everyone and the right from the middle right. Fracture comes to mind, but on the scale of tectonics, not as in a large pane of plate glass. m Actually, I have hunted down and downloaded two speeches: One from Grant Park on Election Night and the other from a speech in NOVA recently. I will use y minimal video editing skills to have “one” man tells us he wants to hear our voices, while another man tells us to shut up, because we caused this in the first place. Not even funny anymore. Will post on the blog sometime this week…probably even back up on UTube for all to compare and contrast.
Bill Bennett commented eloquently today that we have lost the ability to determine levels of things. Said we should not use the word “evil” in regards to health care plans/bills, but reserve it for men like the Flt 103 bomber who served 8 years and was traded for oil deals. That’s evil.
Funny, we seem to be able to keep people like Charles Manson, Jeff Dahmer and John Hinkley locked away for decades upon decades (or would have been in the case of one), while all the while judging the, rightly, as evil, yet, a Muslim walks, and get’s a heroes welcome.
Also noted by Bill Bennett: “We” can pick up a phone and get a few men over for a beer when “offensive” language is used, but when They turn loose a terrorists who killed amny, he can’t find the phone to voice his displeasure at the act of offense to many families, specifically those of America.
Sad. I am saddened to say we have a leader who does not like this nation. I’d use stronger words, but history will take care of that for me.
Your title says it all as far as I’m concerned – was thinking exactly the same thing when I first read of their plans. They want the subject changed and they don’t care who they hurt with it (all the better if they can make it reflect badly on the previous administration). Certainly, they have no concerns about the security of the country – their politics come first – always.
I’m thinking this is a straight diversionary tactic. The Dems are in deep doo-doo, in Bush Senior’s immortal phrase, with their efforts to force healthcare rationing down our reluctant throats, so it’s time for a distraction. Maybe they can make us forget how much we hate Obamacare.
They can’t.
Marianne
Marianne: with respect, please start using the new vernacular. It’s not “doo-doo” it’s “getting wee wee’d up”.
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Things aren’t going BO’s way – time for a distraction. This is pure politics in a department that should be above politics. Investigate the CIA, drop the investigation on the New Black Panthers. Is it possible for someone to have a credibility rating below zero?
I’d say we are looking at something nearing absolute “0″ (you could…make that an “o”….in politics, but someone already made that poster.
John Hinderaker over at Poweline Blog has a pretty good write up on the content of the recent released report. This really is smoke and mirrors, as he notes most of the press promoted incidents were done by a single debriefer vice an interrogator. The interesting cover up bit:
So really the Special Prosecutor will need to be investigating the DOJ?
I found this bit to be interesting:
Not exactly what comes to mind when the public think “waterboarding 83 times”.
They get all warm and fuzzy towards the monster, of course. Which is precisely what this administration wants us to do when they release that kind of inflammatory information without providing the necessary texture of the incident.
Witness the reaction of Obama to the release of the Lockerbie slug. “Highly objectionable”…
I find this entire administration and their antics, tactics and methods to be highly objectionable.
Good point JKB … What the public refuses to know is that a grand total of three [count 'em three] imprisoned terrorists were waterboarded during interrogation — for a period of seven seconds at a time. Their lives were not endangered in any way by this. Just as a matter of curiosity, I wonder how long each waterboarding of our American military [which took place as part of their SERE training] took. And I wonder why our government is being so quiet about the fact that waterboarding resistance training is part of SERE training. Doesn’t fit the liberal meme, I guess. You know the one — depraved Americans are responsible for every evil in the world and we must continually apologize for all of them.
Marianne
Kris … Thank you, dear heart, for correcting me on current acceptable slang. “Doo-doo” was bad enough, as you point out. “Wee-weed up” is beyond acceptable, especially when it is uttered by the “greatest orator of modern times.”
What on earth was he thinking? Ohh, right. He wasn’t.
Marianne
Not good at all. At all. our “allies” are gonna stop giving us gouge, our guys are gonna be too cautious in a business where it’s not necessarily a good thing. All for some political points.
Lex, sometimes in the future, while imbibing in close proximity, just mention Zubaydah to me. Tell you a funny story.