NATIONAL SECURITY Pushing For Accountability On Torture Last week, the Justice Department declassified a 2004 Inspector General's report on the CIA's interrogation program. According to the Washington Post, the report "describes the early implementation of the agency's interrogation program in 2002 and 2003 as ad hoc and poorly supervised, leading to the use of 'unauthorized, improvised, inhumane and undocumented' techniques." These techniques included threats of execution against detainees and their families, threats to rape a detainee's female relatives, and instances of waterboarding that went far beyond anything previously authorized. Attorney General Eric Holder also announced that he would conduct a "preliminary review" into those interrogations to determine "whether federal laws were violated in connection with the interrogation of specific detainees at overseas locations." Holder assigned prosecutor John Durham to look into 10 cases in which CIA interrogators went beyond the already permissive guidelines laid down by the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) in 2002 (documents that have become known as "the torture memos"), resulting in at least one case of homicide (a detainee beaten to death with a flashlight.) At present, only the CIA interrogators are being investigated -- not the Bush administration officials most closely associated with the creation of the interrogation program: former OLC lawyers Jay Bybee and John Yoo, Vice President Cheney, and Cheney's legal counsel and chief of staff, David Addington.
CONSERVATIVES CRY "POLITICIZATION": Conservatives have responded angrily to the new investigation. In an interview on Fox News, Cheney insisted that the declassified report vindicated the use of "enhanced interrogation techniques" (journalist Spencer Ackerman and others have challenged this claim) and accused the Obama administration of launching a politically motivated investigation, calling it "an outrageous political act." Noting that the Bush Justice Department had previously declined to prosecute the cases in question, former House speaker Newt Gingrich wrote that "Obama should do the right thing and fire" Holder. The Washington Post editorial board disagreed, however, stating "the politicization of the Justice Department during the Bush years is to blame for the need for further investigation to ensure that the decision not to prosecute was justified." The Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility has also recommended reexamining "previous decisions to decline prosecution in several cases related to the interrogation of certain detainees." Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who was himself deeply involved in developing the torture program, is one of the few conservatives who have come out in support of Durham's investigation.
INVESTIGATION TOO NARROW? Some progressives think that the parameters of Holder's investigation are too narrow, and any investigation into torture should examine the high Bush administration officials who authorized the techniques. Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) said that Holder "should not limit the investigation to people in the field who may have committed the torture, but to people who may have ordered it, such as the Vice President." Calling for a wide-ranging investigation, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) wrote in the National Law Journal that "in America, high office does not put one outside the law. Indeed, it borders on unethical for a prosecutor to refuse to investigate the corpus delicti of a crime because of concern as to where the evidence may lead." Some have called for a truth commission modeled on South Africa's, to uncover wrongdoing but not bring criminal charges. The Center for American Progress' Ken Gude advocates "a non-adversarial, non-partisan commission to investigate thoroughly the actions of the last administration related to interrogation and detention." CAP's Jonathan Moreno suggested that such an investigation could be scheduled to be held after the next presidential election, to remove it "from the acute political context." Navy veteran Rob Diamond recently wrote that a wider investigation is necessary "find out what really happened, and decide, as a collective republic, once and for all, where our values stand."
RESTORING AMERICA'S MORAL STANDING: Many leading voices in the American national security debate believe the use of abusive techniques is both unnecessary and counterproductive. Recognizing adherence to the rule of law under international agreements outlawing torture as a major American asset in the fight against extremism, CENTCOM head Gen. David Petraeus has said "it is important to again live our values to live the agreements that we have made in the international justice arena and to practice those." Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said that he thinks "the interrogations were in violation of the Geneva Conventions and the convention against torture," and the "interrogations, once publicized, helped al Qaeda recruit." In a recent critique of strategic communications, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael Mullen noted that deeds matter more than words, saying that "we need to worry a lot less about how to communicate our actions and much more about what our actions communicate." Given the prominent role torture (and U.S. support for regimes that employ it) has played in the radicalization of extremists from Ayman al-Zawahiri on down, America's willingness to investigate and hold accountable those who tortured would send a strong positive signal about how a free and democratic country deals with official abuse. 
ENVIRONMENT -- VERIZON SPONSORING ANTI-CLIMATE RALLY BACKED BY COAL INDUSTRY: This Labor Day, tens of thousands of people are expected to gather at the "Friends of America Rally" in Holden, WV to protest the Waxman-Markey clean energy legislation. Right-wing celebrities such as Sean Hannity and Ted Nugent will join the demonstrators, and coal giant Massey Energy is the driving force behind the event. Massey's CEO Don Blankenship has even recorded a video inviting people to attend the rally, saying they would learn about how "environmental extremists and corporate America are both trying to destroy your jobs." While a variety of regional oil, gas, and coal companies are sponsoring the rally, Verizon Wireless has also signed on. Verizon Wireless spokeswoman Laura Merritt told the Charleston Gazette that Verizon's decision to sponsor the rally was made "at the local level to support the community." "It wasn't an effort to take a position on any particular issue," she added. However, the pro-coal policies Verizon is now sponsoring actually hurt communities in West Virginia. As the Wonk Room's Brad Johnson has written, "Despite $118 million in coal-mining annual income, West Virginia has the nation’s lowest median household income, worst educational services, worst social assistance, the highest population with disabilities, and nearly a quarter of West Virginia children in poverty." Verizon openly brags about "environmental stewardship" being "ingrained in Verizon's heritage," and the company has an entire page on its website dedicated to its "green initiatives." Take action here and tell Verizon that if it really wants to be green, it needs to stop sponsoring global warming denial rallies.
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President Obama will address a joint session of Congress on Wednesday, where he will "add more specifics to his vision for overhauling the nation’s health system." According to a senior administration official, "the president's goal is to be 'much more prescriptive' than he has been, mapping out ways to merge proposals and ‘move Congress toward one single solution.'" The White House is "holding intensive talks" with Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) about her "proposal to use the public plan as a fallback option." In Snowe's vision, "if prices don't fall by a certain percentage and coverage doesn't expand beyond 95% in a given state" after reforms have been implemented for a time, "the plan would call for adding a government insurance option to that state's choices." Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) said yesterday "that he would not vote for a health care bill that included a government-run option." "There will be no shot at 60 votes, because I'm not the only one," said Lieberman, adding that "if we start this out and three years from now a case can be made that the private market is not working effectively, I would support the public option." President Obama has decided to use the one-year anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers to begin pushing Congress for overhauls of the nation's financial regulatory system. In a press briefing yesterday, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told reporters that it's crucial Congress move to pass reforms that will create "a much more stable, resilient, less vulnerable financial system." Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens has hired fewer law clerks than usual this year, fueling speculation that he may be preparing to retire. If the 89-year-old judge were to step down, it would "give President Barack Obama his second high court opening in two years." The Tea Party Express wants former Alaska governor Sarah Palin to join them at its final rally on Sept. 12 in Washington, DC. "We've been in touch with her people, letting her know the response that we've gotten. She's very supportive of the movement," says Joe Wierzbicki, one of the Tea Party Express organizers. Because the Senate has such a "very heavy, busy agenda," the chances of repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" look "bleak." "So it may not be now, but that doesn't mean it won't be soon," said Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL). LGBT advocates note that the late Ted Kennedy was the chief sponsor of DADT-repeal legislation in the Senate, and with his passing, LGBT advocates are now looking for a new leader on the issue. A new Pew research survey released today finds that nearly four in 10 workers over the age of 62 have delayed their retirement due to the recession. The New York Times reports that the "recent retirement losses have prompted policy makers to discuss whether Americans need a stronger social safety net, not just in health care and unemployment benefits, but in retirement as well." And finally: Alberto Gonzales, the concert opera. At the Philadelphia Fringe Festival this weekend, attendees can check out The Gonzales Cantata, "a 40-minute choral work based on the hearings that punctuated the U.S. attorney-dismissal scandal back in 2007." The show's creator, Melissa Dunphy, says it's about "a man who made some mistakes and is facing the music." |
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"Environmental stewardship is ingrained in Verizon's heritage."
-- Statement on Verizon's "Green Press Kit" website, 9/3/2009
VERSUS
"Verizon Wireless [is] co-sponsoring a pro-coal, anti-environment rally on Labor Day."
-- CREDO Action, 9/3/2009 | |
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Keep a civil tongue.