Commentary on the need to prosecute war crimes

Spain has already started proceedings on charging several Americans in the Bush Administration for war crimes for their part on the torture of persons abroad. The Red Cross has had a classified document about the treatment and torture procedures leaked:

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It is high time the Obama Administration does something to start the wheels of justice churning before the other countries start treating the United States like a third world dictatorship and doing the prosecutions for us. Former VP Dick Cheney seems to take a real glee in giving interviews and admitting the torture policy of the United States.

Why has the Obama Administration and Congress dragged their feet about this very important and disturbing issue? Is the President truly above the law? I know this is a distasteful subject, but it needs to be taken care of, before The Hague starts a war crimes tribunal. Then the politicians would be crying for them to stay out of our business. It is time to clean house before others do it for us.

It is especially bothersome when North Korea responds about allegations of mistreatment toward the two Americans held by them when they state they are not Guantanamo.

It is also bothersome when many bloggers and others start stating this is the beginning of totalitarianism and authoritarianism. They state their rights are in jeopardy, and that the current administration is the worst in a long time. Have they been asleep for the past eight years while the Bush/Cheney Administration has allowed torture and rendition to black ops sites run by the CIA for torture? Have they been asleep while the former Administration has had memos drawn to OK torture of persons and POWs? It is time for everyone to show their anger and shame for these terrible policies and demand the Obama Administration appoint a special prosecutor to hold those who did this responsible.

On Thursday, April 16, President Obama will decide whether to release the memos written by the intelligence agencies on the use of torture. The Justice Department has given it the green light, but the alphabet agencies are against the idea. It is my hope that President Obama does the right thing and releases the memos. So far, he has had a mixed bag with this issue, as he has yet to call on a special prosecutor to deal with the war crimes issue. He has also appealed a federal court ruling that allows detainees at the prison in Bagram to use our courts for due process. Those prisoners were captured by US forces around the world. The argument is since they have not stepped on US soil, they should not be afforded the same rights as the Gitmo detainees. That is simply wrong, as the US was involved in their capture. It is time to step up and take responsibility for these atrocities, before The Hague does it for us.

President Obama has basically stated that intelligence workers who tortured people will not be charged. The old excuse of "I was only following orders" seems to work in this case. Spain and possibly other countries will have to clean house for us.

I do give President Obama some credit for releasing the memos on torture. Maybe the other countries will use them as evidence, and the ones who were tortured can get justice through civil litigation.

It does appear that President Obama will allow AG Holder to probe the torture policies and actions of the intelligence community.

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The comments on this article seem to be opposed to President Obama and any kind of action against the war criminals. Even former VP Cheney admitted to allowing torture, and the memos are very detailed in what happened.

I have a better solution to the people against such probes: allow The Hague to convene a war crimes tribunal and air out the United States' dirty. This will also show that we cannot clean our own house, like so many third world countries we claim to be better than.

While I am still angry over the use of torture, I have calmed down a bit on the call for immediate prosecutions. I am now thinking the use of granting immunity for those who tell the truth, so we can see how deep this issue goes.

It is quite sad that we sent some enlisted people to prison for this same issue. As some have stated in these cases, where were VP Cheney and President Bush when these prosecutions happened? Why did they not lift a finger and state the enlisted people did what was Okayed by the Justice Department Lawyers? Many good officers were forced to retire or take demotions, and now some state everyone was following a good legal rational?

Let's get all the memos out there and assure this does not happen again. Make sure those who do not tell the truth are punished if found out.

Everyone should also get their due process in court, and that includes those involved with the torture issue. It is time to move forward, not backward.

President Obama gave a speech yesterday (Thursday, May 21) about the detainees and is proposing the same basic system President Bush had with holding people indefinitely. The only differences is they won't use torture, will have a panel decide who fits the criteria, and will also review the cases every few years. That still amounts to holding people without benefit of any sort of trial or due process. Will they get any legal council where they do not get monitored? Will they be able to appeal the decisions in the federal court system?

I am also mighty skeptical of the newer system that is being proposed. I know there are dangerous people being held at Gitmo who would otherwise attack the US. I also know most people seem to want them held in prison. I am for a system where all the prisoners held get representation, and a chance to have their cases heard. The civil liberties groups are watching this closely, and they do not like what they are seeing. Unfortunately, public opinion is different on the matter dealing with the worst of the worst in today's world.

The mayor of Harden Montana has also made pleas to have the prisoners transferred to the supermax prison that was built in his home town but now lies empty. It could create over one hundred well paying jobs in the small town and revitalize it. The people would rather have terrorists than convicted sex offenders, who were going to be placed in the prison originally. This is one solution that seems to be overlooked by a fearful group at Congress, especially the spineless Democrats.

It does seem now that Attorney General Holder will appoint a Special Prosecutor to look into the claims of people going beyond the guidelines given them. It is unclear if immunity will be granted to everyone, but at least this is a start to find out what happened.

The last week has been rife with some unsettling discoveries about a secret CIA program that Congress was unaware of. Even Leon Panetta was unaware of it until recently. (Rumor is it was death or assassination squads, but since the whole thing is classified, no one will talk about it.)

This is getting more interesting and scary as it develops. The strange thing is most of the people calling for Tea Parties are ignoring the past shredding of our Constitution.

Attorney General Eric Holder has now named a special prosecutor to look into abuses by interrogators. This is a long time coming, but it is exactly what is needed to find out what happened and also be independent of the White House. A plus for the cause of human rights and our civil liberties.