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The US House of Representatives just voted to outlaw waterboarding and other "enhanced interrogation techniques". (Was that Orwell I heard turning over in his grave?). Here's a short blurb from the ap:
( http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/200... )
It's sad this even has to be mentioned, but at least the legislature is trying to reign in the CIA. Should've been done long ago.
Today, on the floor of the Senate, Barack Obama called for "further congressional oversight and inquiry" into the destruction of CIA interrogation tapes:
Yesterday, we learned that in November 2005, the CIA destroyed videotapes of its interrogations of two prominent al Qaeda suspects, including a close Osama bin Laden associate - Abu Zubayadah. Media reports suggest that these videotapes depict brutal interrogation techniques, and could certainly be relevant to ongoing investigations and inquiries. Furthermore, these videotapes were not provided to the 9/11 Commission, which made a broad set of requests for classified documents - including interrogation tapes and transcripts - that would have included information about the 9/11 attacks.
The CIA has argued that these tapes needed to be destroyed to protect the identities of the interrogators. Our government must go to any length necessary to protect the identities of those who serve in a covert capacity. But the CIA keeps scores of classified material - including videotapes - while protecting the identities of its agents. This raises serious questions about whether the tapes were destroyed to protect the nature of the interrogation, rather than the identity of the interrogator.
Mr. President, this incident deserves further congressional oversight and inquiry - neither the CIA nor this interrogation program is immune to our laws. This is yet another chapter in a dark period in our constitutional history. Now, it is time to turn the page.
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The Senator's commitment and sincerity, on this cornerstone issue, has garnered the endorsement of Dean John Hutson, who left the GOP, has pledged to vote for Barack Obama in the NH primary. Dean Hutson is widely recognized as one of a few prominent legal scholars that stood up to the Bush/Cheney abuses of "unlawful combatants" which included torture:
Senator Obama, today on the Senate floor, also stated: We should not have to find ways of ignoring or averting our own laws to defend our country. Torture does not work. Torture violates our laws. And torture sets back the standing and moral leadership that America needs to triumph in this global struggle. Our values and laws are not inconvenient obstacles to the defense of our national security - they can and must be a guiding force in our response to terrorism.
I have to get on the road in a few minutes, but I want to get this release out there.
Lebanon, NH --Jay Buckey, Democratic candidate to represent New Hampshire in the U.S. Senate, said that Michael Mukasey's appointment today as Attorney General is a disappointment for anyone who values the Constitution and common sense.
"I couldn't believe that he refused to condemn water boarding," said Buckey, a former flight surgeon in the Air Force Reserve. "Most commonsense folks would look at that and say, 'Gee, if it were done to me, I'd consider it torture.' It doesn't take a constitutional scholar to figure that out."
Buckey said that he doesn't question Mukasey's intelligence or qualifications, but he's concerned about the Attorney General's backbone, and he would have voted against Mukasey's confirmation. New Hampshire's current Senators, Republicans John Sununu and Judd Gregg, voted to confirm Mukasey.
Bill Richardson is goal-oriented, assertive and confident. He has served as a Congressman, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Secretary of Energy and is in his second term as Governor of New Mexico after a landslide re-election victory in November 2006.
Here are five of many reasons why I believe Richardson possesses the experience, vision and leadership skills to be a great President:
1. A Bright Vision for America
2. An Ironclad Promise to Promptly End the U.S. Occupation of Iraq
3. A Bold Agenda To Address The Pressing Challenges Facing Our Nation and Planet
4. The White House and A Landslide Victory for Democrats Nationwide in 2008
5. Comprehensive Immigration Reform In Accordance With the Values Upon Which Our Country Was Founded
After trying to strip our state of much needed infrastructure, John E. capped off an incredible day of Granite State representation by voting to confirm a guy for Attorney General who is confused about this practice:
(He was joined in that vote by Judd Gregg and leading Democrat Chuck Schumer.)
Civil Liberty John E. is being entirely consistent. When he voted to confirm the worst Attorney General in US history a couple of years ago, he made explicit mention that the rule of law was no longer necessary for some humans:
Judge Gonzales advised the President that all detainees should be treated humanely, but as a legal matter, al Qaeda and Taliban fighters are not considered "legal combatants" and are not covered by the Geneva Convention.
Jeanne Shaheen, Jay Buckey, what say you about this? Voters like choices.
Saturday Update: Jay Buckey firmly against confirmation.
Water-boarding is term that describes strapping an individual to a board, with a towel pulled tightly across his face, and pouring water on him or her to cut off air and simulate drowning.
When asked directly last week whether he thought waterboarding is constitutional, Attorney General nominee Michael Mukasey was evasive. As noted by NPR, Mukasey "danced around the issue of whether waterboarding actually is torture and stopped short of saying that it is." "If it amounts to torture," Mukasey said carefully, "then it is not constitutional."
As stated by Bill Richardson,
Waterboarding is torture, and anyone who is unwilling to identify it as such is not qualified to be the chief legal officer of the United States of America. If I were in the U.S. Senate, I would vote against Mukasey unless he denounces such specific forms of torture.
What about the Democrats in the U.S. Senate and other Democratic Presidential candidates? Will they oppose Mukasey unless he denounces the use of torture by our government?
When I was growing up, reasonable people agreed on the facts and disagreed on the solutions.
Yet now, and especially over the last six years, our political discourse has grown ever more shrill, especially on the Republican side, with name-calling, demonizing and attacking the messenger, personal insults - anything to draw attention from the truth.
What are the Bush/Cheney administration and their Republican apologists afraid of? What is the dirty and terrible secret they are apparently frantic to protect?
