Well, I guess if the Congress of the United States doesn’t have the sense of purpose to honor the rule of law, we can always depend on… Spain?
Spain’s national newspapers, El País and Público reported that the Spanish national security court has opened a criminal probe focusing on Bush Administration lawyers who pioneered the descent into torture at the prison in Guantánamo. The criminal complaint can be examined here. Público identifies the targets as University of California law professor John Yoo, former Department of Defense general counsel William J. Haynes II (now a lawyer working for Chevron), former vice presidential chief-of-staff David Addington, former attorney general and White House counsel Alberto Gonzales, former Assistant Attorney General Jay Bybee, now a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and former Undersecretary of Defense Doug Feith.
Majority leader Reid and Speaker Pelosi should really be ashamed that certain nations are applying their own laws, a sort of bank shot off of international jurisdiction, to hold the Bush Administration accountable. For a very long time I’ve been contending that Congress has become a generally spineless group on these sorts of issues, all of them more wedded to political party than doing what’s right or letting U.S. law be their guide. The Gerald Ford litmus test has never served us, so ignoring what happened during Bush-Cheney won’t either. The international community seems intent on proving my case, taking the lead as Congress yawns. It’s a horrible stain on one of the most venerable institutions in this country; a body that has a commission fetish instead of doing their jobs.
Spain follows a move by Britain that targets the C.I.A.
The attorney general, Lady Scotland, announced the unprecedented move in light of damning evidence that Britain’s security and intelligence agencies colluded with the CIA in Mohamed’s inhuman treatment and secret rendition.
She said the police inquiry would look into “possible criminal wrongdoing” in what the high court described as Mohamed’s unlawful questioning. [...]
Not being a lawyer I tend not to cover these things very often, so if you are of a legal mind it would be helpful that you weigh in.
It also seems to me that President Obama would do well to encourage A.G. Holder to pursue the truth and let that be his guide. The President does not have to get embroiled at all, but cleansing this country of what the Bush Administration let run amok would be the moral road to take.
Congress is obviously not interested.
