Veracity Radio

During the Cheney/Bush Administration we saw many examples of judicial manipulation. From the Department of Justice attorney firings to the commutation of Scooter Libby’s sentence, the Bush Administration repeatedly flaunted its power to protect its own backside. The questions of legality of torture were obfuscated by ideologues who favored any actions the CheneyBush Admin wished to enact. But the question remains, how binding are those decisions?

Now, first off, I’m not a lawyer, and would love to hear someone with enough background in this subject matter speak up about the possibility of rejecting any immunity deals given to agents of our government, and whether any provisions sent through Congress for a rubber stamp could be overturned on constitutional grounds. Additionally would such immunity be bogus at face value and would such agents still be legally accountable if their actions were normally illegal?

One thing that is for sure, regardless of the internal decisions made by the United States, the international community isn’t subject to these immunity deals and our soldiers, elected officials and others would be subject to the international laws regarding torture, rendition, or other crimes. The Special Investigator Manfred Nowak said:
“The Government of the United States is required to take all necessary steps to bring George W. Bush and Donald Rumsfeld before a court.”

Thus, we must acknowledge the difference between our ‘wants’ and the reality of the world. This is one of the major issues confronting our increasingly narcissistic policies. Just because the President might want to believe any policy, the treaties and existing law heavily disagree. We must adjudicate these cases so we aren’t in violation of our treaty obligations.

Manfred Nowak refers to the treaty signed under the Reagan Administration prohibiting torture. Here Ronald Reagan, the darling of the conservative movement, stated:

The core provisions of the Convention establish a regime for international cooperation in the criminal prosecution of torturers relying on so-called “universal jurisdiction.” Each State Party is required either to prosecute torturers who are found in its territory or to extradite them to other countries for prosecution.

and

By giving its advice and consent to ratification of this Convention, the Senate of the United States will demonstrate unequivocally our desire to bring an end to the abhorrent practice of torture.

RONALD REAGAN
MAY 20, 1988

The reality is that George Bush, Dick Cheney, and Donald Rumsfeld are responsible for authorizing and executing torture practices that have lead to the disgrace of our country before the world, the eroding of our standing as the moral leaders in “freedom” and put many of our finest military service members in harms way of prosecution all in the name of Jack Bauer diplomacy. Do not continue to give credence to the Hannity jobs of the world who wish to water down the discussion as ‘debate’ when it is not debatable.

We have many more years to clean up this mess, but first we must investigate what authorization and actions have been taken by the former administration and hold steady that this administration and Congress must perform their duty to investigate under our treaty obligations and domestic law.