Bush did the crime, he must do the time

[steveox]

George W. Bush has publicly admitted that he authorized torture. He must be held accountable. We are part of a worldwide movement to make sure this happens.

With open torture investigations in Spain, Italy, Australia, Canada, Lithuania, Poland and the United Kingdom, Bush and his cronies have fewer places to hide.

For our movement, this is just the beginning. The American people have a special obligation to make sure Bush is prosecuted for his crimes right here in the United States. Can this happen? You bet. The people and laws of the world are on our side.

Click here to send a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder demanding the prosecution of Bush for torture. After sending your letter, help us spread the word using the Email, Facebook and Twitter buttons at the top of this email.

Bush violated U.S. and international laws when he authorized torture, including the water boarding of detainees. Torture is a crime that can never be justified. It is illegal under the U.S. Torture Statue, the War Crimes Act and the United Nations Convention Against Torture. The U.S. Torture Statute provides for life in prison for anyone who commits, attempts, or conspires to commit torture outside the United States.

A U.S. appeals court said in 1980 that a torturer could and should be brought to justice wherever they are found. There is a global commitment to prevent torture and punish those responsible. The judges said, “The torturer has become like the pirate and slave trader before him … an enemy of all mankind.”

These laws against torture aren’t just words. They exist to prevent the kinds of brutal, inhumane acts authorized by Bush and company during the phony “war on terror.”

The Department of Justice must send a message: no one is above the law, including former President George W. Bush. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has the power to make this happen. Add your voice to the growing chorus of millions demanding “Indict Bush now!”

IndictBushNow.org

This came to my e-mail and yes he did the crime now he must do the time.

 

[pocketfullofshells]

Like Libby did?

 

[steveox]

Like Libby did?

Yeah Bush Pardon him.

 

[nobull]

My opinion on this might surprise some of you...I don’t want a CIA that routinely waterboards, but I do think that there might arise a situation where torture might actually save some American lives and would have to be considered as an option. That is why you have an intelligence service and why the intelligence service gives the government “plausible denial” over actions that are nearly always illegal and often immoral. But the actions of a spy service should be proportionate to the threat, not a process of going around bumping off lots of people who might be thinking of something naughty. We appear to have lost that sense of proportion in our misguided GWOT.

So the rare use of waterboarding turns out to be 183 times on KSM alone. That our government authorized procedures that most of the world thinks to be war crimes is undeniable. The question becomes what kind of accountability should there be, if any. Should the guy who attached the electrodes be tried or the guy who ordered the electrodes to be attached? There is no simple answer to that, but much of the information now coming out goes beyond disturbing. The NYT article detailing how the torturers went about their work complete with visitors from CIA headquarters watching the procedure was chilling. And the torture went on in spite of the judgment of the local station chief in Thailand that the victim had no more information to give. Somehow the videotaping and record keeping is reminiscent of the meticulous records that the Soviets and Nazis kept on what they did to their victims. And the article also describes how the torture did not produce any usable information. So the whole thing was really idiotic. That we engaged in war crimes for nothing would seem to be the only possible conclusion and the senior officers and White House people who drove the process should be held accountable for being stupid if for nothing else, yes this from a coservative..

I for one would like to know how this happened. We need to know more about the torturers, the doctors who assisted, and the senior officers who approved the procedures. What could possibly have been going through their heads to justify what they were doing and what did they think they would achieve? I don’t think people should be lined up against a wall and shot (with the possible exception of George Tenet), but there must be some accountability in all of this so that everyone will understand what was gained and what was lost by walking down that road.

Alternatively, the appointment of an independent investigator would enable both the government and CIA to have an opportunity to demonstrate that torturing people did save thousands of American lives, as has often been asserted without any evidence whatsoever. If they can make that case, then we as a country can possibly start a genuine debate on what we should be doing or not doing in the name of national security.

 

[BigRob]

George W. Bush has publicly admitted that he authorized torture. He must be held accountable. We are part of a worldwide movement to make sure this happens.

With open torture investigations in Spain, Italy, Australia, Canada, Lithuania, Poland and the United Kingdom, Bush and his cronies have fewer places to hide.

For our movement, this is just the beginning. The American people have a special obligation to make sure Bush is prosecuted for his crimes right here in the United States. Can this happen? You bet. The people and laws of the world are on our side.

Click here to send a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder demanding the prosecution of Bush for torture. After sending your letter, help us spread the word using the Email, Facebook and Twitter buttons at the top of this email.

Bush violated U.S. and international laws when he authorized torture, including the water boarding of detainees. Torture is a crime that can never be justified. It is illegal under the U.S. Torture Statue, the War Crimes Act and the United Nations Convention Against Torture. The U.S. Torture Statute provides for life in prison for anyone who commits, attempts, or conspires to commit torture outside the United States.

A U.S. appeals court said in 1980 that a torturer could and should be brought to justice wherever they are found. There is a global commitment to prevent torture and punish those responsible. The judges said, “The torturer has become like the pirate and slave trader before him … an enemy of all mankind.”

These laws against torture aren’t just words. They exist to prevent the kinds of brutal, inhumane acts authorized by Bush and company during the phony “war on terror.”

The Department of Justice must send a message: no one is above the law, including former President George W. Bush. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has the power to make this happen. Add your voice to the growing chorus of millions demanding “Indict Bush now!”

IndictBushNow.org

This came to my e-mail and yes he did the crime now he must do the time.

Steve...simply declaring something is "torture" does not make it so. You might view waterboarding as torture, but according to Congress and the law at the time, it was not.

 

[steveox]

According to Genva code the only thing you can do to a P.O.W is ask for Your Name,,Rank and
Serial Number and nothing else.

 

[BigRob]

According to Genva code the only thing you can do to a P.O.W is ask for Your Name,,Rank and
Serial Number and nothing else.

The Geneva Conventions also spell out how one must act to be granted POW status...the detainees did not meet that criteria...hence the term "detainee" as opposed to "POW"...they are not POWs.

 

[steveox]

Well Gitmo Bay is compared to Vietnam P.O.W camp. Even the man who tortured John McCain admitted it

 

[BigRob]

Well Gitmo Bay is compared to Vietnam P.O.W camp. Even the man who tortured John McCain admitted it

Nor does a man in Vietman giving his opinion mean that waterboarding equates to torture in a legal sense.