Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Obama Won't Probe Bush War Crimes

Why would they?

The new administration is going to be carrying out the same
policies and tactics.

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Leading GOP senators demanded that Holder commit to not launching criminal probes of intelligence operatives, lawyers, and high-level Bush advisers who took part in debates over warrantless wiretapping and detainee interrogations.... it remains unclear whether Obama and Holder will have the appetite to devote scarce prosecutorial resources to exploring the politically sensitive allegations. At his Senate confirmation hearing Jan. 15, Holder said that "no one is above the law," but he hastened to add that he was not interested in "criminalizing policy differences"

So DON'T GET YOUR HOPES up for any war crimes trials, folks.

Of course, we have plenty of resources for tyranny based on lies.

The STAIN REMAINS, 'bamer!

For more on the abominable atrocity of U.S. torture, go HERE and scroll down.

"CIA tape case a vignette of debate stalling Holder confirmation; GOP leaders seek pledge ex-officials will avoid charges" by Carrie Johnson and Julie Tate, Washington Post | January 26, 2009

WASHINGTON - Even as Senate Republicans seek assurances that new leaders at the Justice Department will not prosecute former government officials over national security abuses, one of the highest-profile investigations of the Bush era is grinding to a close.

A little more than a year ago, Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey handpicked a prosecutor to investigate the destruction of CIA videotapes depicting harsh interrogation tactics used against two Al Qaeda suspects. The disclosure that the tapes, believed to portray the simulated drowning technique known as waterboarding, were destroyed in 2005 touched off an outcry from defense lawyers and civil liberties advocates who said the government should have produced the materials in lawsuits pending at the time.

Bloggers have speculated the tape must have been of conduct much, much worse since we all know about waterboarding. The only thing I can think of is child rape -- the kind Sy Hersh reported on but of which we have never seen evidence.

Since then, the federal inquiry has proceeded mostly in the shadows. But prosecutor John H. Durham recently told a federal judge that he would wrap up interviews by the end of February - a timetable complicated by the highly sensitive subject, the reluctance of current and former agency employees to cooperate, and Durham's painstaking approach, according to court documents and three lawyers following the case.

The CIA tapes investigation illustrates a broader debate that is holding up the confirmation of Eric H. Holder Jr. to serve as President Obama's attorney general. Last week, leading GOP senators demanded that Holder commit to not launching criminal probes of intelligence operatives, lawyers, and high-level Bush advisers who took part in debates over warrantless wiretapping and detainee interrogations.

Congressional Democrats and left-leaning interest groups are calling on the Justice Department to revisit the alleged sins of the past and to provide the public with a legal reckoning. But it remains unclear whether Obama and Holder will have the appetite to devote scarce prosecutorial resources to exploring the politically sensitive allegations. At his Senate confirmation hearing Jan. 15, Holder said that "no one is above the law," but he hastened to add that he was not interested in "criminalizing policy differences."

Meanwhile, there is the Durham probe, which is among the narrower of the security dustups of the past eight years. At its simplest, the investigation has looked into whether anyone at the CIA or other high government offices intended to obstruct justice by eliminating videotapes that showed harsh questioning in 2002 of suspected Qaeda operatives. Prosecutors are exploring why the tapes were destroyed, even though they were covered by an array of lawsuits or congressional requests for information.

We KNOW WHY! They SHOWED SOMETHING HORRIBLE!!!!

People following the investigation say they doubt that criminal charges will emerge from the 13-month inquiry, in part because of the difficulty in penetrating legal defenses cited by key actors in the case. One of the lead FBI agents, counterterrorism expert Stephanie Douglas, was transferred to a new investigation last fall, according to lawyers involved in the probe.

Tom Carson, a spokesman for Durham, and CIA spokesman George Little declined comment.

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