CIA Admits Existence of Bush Directives Authorizing Torture and Detention of Terror Suspects

[bigtree]

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

CIA admits existence of interrogation directives
Bush signed one -- ACLU pushes for their public release

David Johnston, New York Times
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/11/15/MNGB4MCT5Q1.DTL&type=politics


The CIA has acknowledged for the first time the existence of two classified documents -- including a directive signed by President Bush -- that have guided the agency's interrogation and detention of terrorism suspects.

The CIA referred to the documents in a letter sent Friday from the agency's associate general counsel, John McPherson, to lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union.

The contents of the documents were not revealed, but one of them is "a directive signed by President Bush granting the CIA the authority to set up detention facilities outside the United States and outlining interrogation methods that may be used against detainees," the ACLU said, based on its review of published accounts.

The second document, according to the group, is a Justice Department legal analysis "specifying interrogation methods that the CIA may use against top al Qaeda members."


http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/11/15/MNGB4MCT5Q1.DTL&type=politics



http://journals.democraticunderground.com/bigtree

[SpiralHawk]

1. Impeach pResident AWOL the Torture Freak

Torture is so wrong, so un-American, so heinous, so low, so morally twisted.

What would Jesus do about torture? End it immediately, and impeach the frat-boy sadist punks who have brought shame on America by instigating it.

Commander AWOL has been into torture at least since his undergrad days in the occult anti-christian Skull & Boner fat-cat crony frat.

[wholetruth00]

35. Well, this should put impeachment "on the table again." No one would hold

the Dems to promises made about impeachment BEFORE this news surfaced.

[exlrrp]

36. You all keep forgetting the "retroactive clause"

In the latest "terrorism" bill to pass that Tanked habeas corpus and made waterboarding an All American sport, there was a "retroactive" clause that basically, absolved everybody of criminal liability for acts committed before the bill was passed.
Bushco said it was to save the "interrogators" who've been doing the torture but its easy to see now that it was primarily done to save Bush (Cheney too) Bush and Cheney don't give sht about the little guys. Bush Oked this activity before it was "legal" and he could have gone to jail for it.
Its law now, approved by the (Republican) Congress and the (Republican) President. We'd have to start by repealing this law which is most probably not going to happen. bush would veto it and there wouldn't be enough votes to over ride the veto.
You have to realize how clever the Bush Administration is in its lawbraking, they have all the bases covered. This is an example of it.
Bush is not going to be impeached unless new evidence shows up--this is not it, everybody knew this kind of thing is out there. Bush will only be impeached now over Pelosi's dead body--she's already committed to not doing it. And even if he WAS impeached, like Clinton, there's not enough votes in the Senate to remove him (takes 2/3) just like Clinton.
Impeachment, though done with the best of reasons and motives, is not going to happen, not that I wouldn't like to see it. If it did, we'd only have President Cheney to deal with--what more horrible thought is there than that?

[merh]

41. It is possible that it is "not law" - that the weed's failure to sign

it before Congress adjourned was in effect a "pocket veto". See the discussion in this thread
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=2542818

It is doubtful it will stand up when challenged.

Only time will tell (time and the moral back bones of the judiciary).

[malaise]

2. OhOh

The Hague or Impeachment? Take your pick.

[tavalon]

7. Alex, I'll take both for $1000 n/t

[malaise]

15. LOL n/t

[barbtries]

31. both

the sooner the better

[JCMach1]

3. High Crimes and Misdemeanors

:grr:

If this is true, we have the smoking gun on torture.

[mom cat]

22. Bingo and ding ding ding!

:bounce:

[Morgana LaFey]

25. But Nancy Pelosi pre-emptively put Impeachment off the table

remember?

God, what a stupid move to have made. Or at least announced. Barring threats on her life or family's lives, I can't figure it out.

[chill_wind]

26. Yep!! nt

[annabanana]

4. We were right all along...

The torture authorization went all the way to the top. This issue has done more than anything else to sully America's reputation in the world.

[wicket]

8. It's disgusting

:grr: :grr: :grr:

[bigtree]

30. It had to be authorized at the top. What about the others?

This can't be the only authorization

[HereSince1628]

5. BushCo fears not, they think they've given themselves immunity.

They knew document releases were coming, they knew Congression probes would probably follow. Thus the "time is running out" meme last September.

I hope this marks the beginning of a snow storm of document releases rather than a few snowflakes, cuz I don't think it'll take long before Pelosi will act once they begin to cover the table.

[bobthedrummer]

39. Before the Decider left for Vietnam he signed another secrecy

memo that gives more "authority" to Negroponte/DNI and other BFEE loyalists to attempt damage control about the truth coming out. As usual, it's concealed in the "war on terror" legalese of these criminals.

To DNI from The Decider
http://cryptome.org/pm111406.htm

[nashville_brook]

6. how inconvenient the Boy Prez is on an Asian Vacation for the next 8 days

[jasmeel]

9. Someone needs to leak this now!

[ThomWV]

10. Rockefeller Will Head Intelligence In The Senate

When he chairs the Committee I would immagine we'll be seeing those memos.

[porphyrian]

11. I hope he has his hands out...

...we're about to hand his ass to him.

[The Backlash Cometh]

12. Not just a smoking gun, but a silver bullet!

Add it to the pile. <snooze>

[Spazito]

13. DUers were onto this back in June of 04, ahead of the curve as usual!

Here is a link to gottabe's thread on this entitled "Conspiracy to Commit War Crimes", it makes for fascinating reading in light of this admission by the CIA:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=1704513

[magellan]

18. Wow

It's going to take another cup of java and some sleep before I can wrap my brain around all that. But I'm still going to ask the rhetorical question: where has the liberal media been on this for all these years? I mean, aside from doing their best to ignore or spin it. These controversial morsels were never presented to the American public for our views.

Thanks for the link back, Spazito.

[originalpckelly]

14. There are some people in America who think torture is a sign of strength...

I see it as the ultimate act of cowardice. It tells the world that the greatest country cannot stand up to terrorism, that its people are so weak and cowardly, they would commit terrible sins in order to save their own skins.

There are those in this country who look at the atrocities the enemy commits and use them as justification for the ones they wish us to commit, all the while forgetting we fight the enemy because they commit those atrocities. We do not seek to equal al-Qaeda's viciousness, we seek to end it.

[seafan]

16. So, Bush signed prisoner detention and interrogation directives? TELL THE PUBLIC.

CIA admits existence of interrogation directives--Bush signed one -- ACLU pushes for their public release

David Johnston, New York Times
Wednesday, November 15, 2006

The CIA referred to the documents in a letter sent Friday from the agency's associate general counsel, John McPherson, to lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union.

The contents of the documents were not revealed, but one of them is "a directive signed by President Bush granting the CIA the authority to set up detention facilities outside the United States and outlining interrogation methods that may be used against detainees," the ACLU said, based on its review of published accounts.

The second document, according to the group, is a Justice Department legal analysis "specifying interrogation methods that the CIA may use against top al Qaeda members."

ACLU lawyers said they will urge public disclosure of the contents of the documents.

"We intend to press for release of both of these documents," Jameel Jaffer, a lawyer for the (ACLU), said in a statement. "If President Bush and the Justice Department authorized the CIA to torture prisoners, the public has a right to know."

snip

In the CIA letter, McPherson confirmed the existence of the documents but declined to release them, saying that essentially all of their contents were exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act because release would damage national security and violate attorney-client privilege.

The ACLU sought the documents based on references to them in various news accounts. While both documents have been written about before, the CIA had not previously acknowledged their existence.

The directive from Bush is thought to have been issued shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks, and the Justice Department memo about a year later. The administration has acknowledged the agency's role in handling detainees.

US does not torture, Bush insists

Monday, 7 November 2005

"We do not torture," Mr Bush told reporters during a visit to Panama.
He said enemies were plotting to hurt the US and his government would pursue them, but would do so "under the law".
Meanwhile, the US Supreme Court has allowed a legal challenge to the Bush administration's use of military tribunals for foreign detainees.

snip

The White House has not confirmed Washington Post claims that the CIA set up a covert prison network in eastern Europe and Asia to hold high-profile terror suspects following the 11 September 2001 attacks.
About 30 detainees, considered major terrorism suspects, were held at these "black sites", although the centres have now been closed, the paper reported.

On Sunday, the United Nations' special rapporteur on torture urged European officials to conduct high-level investigations into the allegations.

snip

The Senate has passed legislation banning torture, but the Bush administration is seeking an exemption for the CIA spy agency.

"We do not torture and therefore we're working with Congress to make sure that as we go forward, we make it more possible to do our job," Mr Bush said.

snip

If We The People have anything to do with it, Mr. Bush will be looking at impeachment proceedings in the near future. But right now, the giggling murderer swaggers freely.

[leftchick]

17. and the Senate passed a new law exonerating him

how convenient.

[blm]

19. I'd bet anything they've known about it since Abu Ghraib but held it for BushInc.

just as they've held back so many stories to protect him for so long.

[kentuck]

20. What does this mean??

Will these directives be made public? Will they be investigated? Will people be subpoenaed? Is Bush running from this news? What will happen with this story?

[NNN0LHI]

21. I would hope the CIAs testimony at an open Congressional hearing...

...would be devastating to the Bush regime.

Don

[Marnieworld]

23. Paging The Hague. Please pick up the white courtesy phone

Blatant war crimes and the world just whistles.

[FredStembottom]

24. Oh my...here we go with our whistleblower extravaganza!

Expect an avalanche of people feeling free to talk now!

Fasten your seat belts!

[opihimoimoi]

27. Damn, what else can go wrong for these guys? My bet is they let 9/11 happen on purps

[spinbaby]

28. A bump to the top

.

[personman]

29. Germany needs to add him to their list of U.S. Officials they are considering prosecuting. n/t

[mmonk]

32. .

:kick:

[stepnw1f]

33. Bush is Making a Private Snuff Collection

for his fascist friends so they can have a "circle-jerk" watching people have their spirit broken.

[bigtree]

34. he does seem to enjoy it. but, hard to imagine them letting Bush know ANYTHING about what they do

He just signs the orders and reads the excuses they write for him when we get close to busting them out. I don't think he could handle blood and gore. He's a wimp like his daddy.

Cheney, however, and Rummy, fit your description. They're ghouls.

[Blackhatjack]

37. IMHO These May Be The Docs That Result In Bush's Impeachment & Removal

So much wrongdoing can be 'spun' and the responsibility shared by so many in this Administration.

If this directive exists, and it authorizes illegal interrogation tactics that include torture, and it is signed by this President, there is no wiggle room.

It could and probably will result in Bush's eventual impeachment and removal from office, if it becomes public before his term ends in two years.

Just an explosive revelation.

May we have a Court willing to step into the fray, and willing to uphold our Constitutional constraints on a sitting President not to engage in high crimes and misdemeanors.

[bobthedrummer]

38. Mission creep, just a few bad apples, "we don't torture"...

then the Decider appoints people like torture advocate William Haynes III to be a judge.

These torture folks have names like:
Cheney
Rumsfeld
Ashcroft
Boykin
Addington
Gonzales
Sanchez
Miller
Fast
Luti
Feith
Cambone
Flanigan
and many others

[bobthedrummer]

40. kick