Veracity Radio

Andy Worthington has a good new article on Judge Baltasar Garzon’s investigation of John Yoo, Alberto Gonzales, Donald Rumsfeld and others who set up the U.S. Guantanamo interrogations. Read Article

The investigation is being defined within the “universal jurisdiction” and whether a judge in Spain has the authority to investigate foreign leaders. Before this notion cements it is key to note that the United States policy abroad clearly demonstrates that the policy has been for universal jurisdiction so long as it is in the interest of the United States. When justice calls for toppling, trying, or even executing foreign leaders, the United States has been involved in all aspects. There seems little room for credibility to anyone criticizing Garzon for this endeavor.

If Eric Holder were to avoid prosecution despite evidence then the United States would be in violation of its treaties to investigate war crimes. If the accused are found innocent before a jury, then the jury has spoken. But don’t let the elephant in the room, the screaming lobby of people who call investigations politically motivated or somehow illegitimate, go unnoticed. These people who do so are almost 100% on record as favoring universal jurisdiction by their advocacy of toppling Saddam Hussein for what they didn’t approve of. He had never attacked the United States but he was a bad guy and that was enough for this same gaggle to launch a war. They would topple Iran using the same universal jurisdiction.

There may be no end to the shame the obstructionists of justice would subject this country to in order to prevent accountability by U.S. officials. There can be no moral high ground when U.S. officials or citizens commit crimes and face no prosecution. Nor is there justice when low level tools of these programs (torture, wiretapping, etc) get used and discarded to prevent culpability of the crafters and executors of such programs. When you have too many bad apples you need to investigate the tree.