George W. Bush

President
Jan. 20, 2001 - Jan. 20, 2009

President Bush presided over the torture administration. He issued a still-secret order authorizing the CIA to establish secret detention facilities overseas and to interrogate detainees. Over the legal and policy objections of State Department officials, Bush also determined that the Geneva Conventions did not apply to suspected Taliban and al Qaeda detainees in U.S. custody, a legal maneuver that set the stage for future torture. Through his subordinates, including the National Security Council Principals Committee, who met in the White House to discuss the use of particular interrogation techniques to be used on particular detainees, he authorized the use of "enhanced interrogation techniques" by the CIA and other harsh techniques by the military. Asked about those meetings on national television, Bush affirmed that he knew and approved of them.

In the face of mounting evidence of abuse — including the Abu Ghraib photographs and reports by the FBI and neutral observers like the International Committee for the Red Cross — Bush held firm to the falsehood that his administration did not torture. In his subsequent memoir, Bush acknowledged that he personally approved waterboarding and continued to insist that it and other brutal methods were not torture.


https://www.aclu.org/national-security/infographic-torture-architects

Richard B. "Dick" Cheney

Vice President
Jan. 20, 2001 - Jan. 20, 2009

Vice President Cheney has been the most vocal and unapologetic supporter of the Bush administration's torture program from the beginning, and he appears to have had a hand in virtually every aspect of it. He opposed the application of the Geneva Conventions to U.S. detentions and interrogations overseas, a legal sidestep that set the stage for future torture. As a member of the National Security Council Principal Committee, Cheney received detailed briefings on the specific interrogation techniques that the CIA wanted to use on so-called "high value" detainees, and he approved them. Through his legal counsel, David Addington, Cheney also helped shape the legal memos used to justify torture.

Cheney sought unsuccessfully to ensure CIA agents would be immunized from legal liability for abusing detainees. However, his effort did lead to the inclusion in the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005 of a provision under which officials may claim they did not know particular practices were unlawful, including through "good faith" reliance on legal advice. Cheney continued to defend and maintained his pro-torture positions despite mounting internal and public reports of abuses and deaths of detainees in DOD and CIA custody.

https://www.aclu.org/national-security/infographic-torture-architects

Alberto R. Gonzales

White House Counsel
Jan. 20, 2001 - Feb. 3, 2005
Attorney General
Feb. 3, 2005 - Sept. 17, 2007

A member of the self-styled "War Council" composed of senior Bush administration lawyers, Gonzales helped craft the legal justification for the torture program. He recommended that Bush override legal and policy objections by the State Department and refuse to accord to detainees the protections of the Geneva Conventions, setting the stage for the torture to come. In making his recommendations, Gonzales argued that a benefit of not recognizing Geneva Convention protections would be a lower risk of future domestic criminal prosecution.

In May 2002, Gonzales and others were consulted by the CIA about using brutal methods, including waterboarding, on Abu Zubaydah. Gonzales also consulted with John Yoo regarding Yoo's torture memos, which approved waterboarding among other "enhanced interrogation techniques." And he visited Guantánamo Bay in September 2002 along with other administration lawyers, reportedly to observe interrogations and influence the methods used. Gonzales and the War Council also circumvented the typical review process for sensitive memos of the Office of Legal Counsel, ensuring minimal review and opportunity for dissent. Gonzales maintained his positions despite mounting internal and public reports of abuses and even deaths of detainees in DOD and CIA custody.

https://www.aclu.org/national-security/infographic-torture-architects

These people need to be called out, investigated, tried, and, if convicted, imprisoned.

See. No torture needed for justice.

If they don't go along, torture the lot of them, live on tee vee during the Super Bowl.

U.N. Official: U.S. Must Prosecute Torturers, Planners

By Miranda Leitsinger

Those responsible for the "criminal conspiracy" revealed in the report on CIA interrogation techniques must be prosecuted, including senior U.S. government officials who authorized the harsh tactics, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on counter-terrorism and human rights said Tuesday.

In its report, the Senate Intelligence Committee found that CIA interrogation techniques, employed for days or weeks at a time, never led to "imminent threat" intelligence — the figurative ticking time bomb often cited as justification. In some cases, the means were counterproductive, according to the report.

"It is now time to take action," the U.N. official, Ben Emmerson, said in a statement. "The individuals responsible for the criminal conspiracy revealed in today's report must be brought to justice, and must face criminal penalties commensurate with the gravity of their crimes."

Emmerson said U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder had a legal duty to bring criminal charges. He noted that the report confirmed what the international community "has long believed — that there was a clear policy orchestrated at a high level within the Bush administration, which allowed to commit systematic crimes and gross violations of international human rights law."

"The fact that the policies revealed in this report were authorized at a high level within the U.S. government provides no excuse whatsoever. Indeed, it reinforces the need for criminal accountability," he added, noting that international law prohibited granting immunity to public officials who have engaged in acts of torture.

read more: http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/cia-torture-report/u-n-official-u-s-must-prosecute-torturers-planners-n264976

That guy's been head cheerleader for torture since day one, if not earlier.

Drumbeat for prosecutions intensifies after CIA torture report

12/11/14
By Emma Margolin

-snip-

If the Obama administration remains unwilling to pursue national proceedings against individuals responsible for the CIA’s interrogation program, legal experts see a chance – albeit, a very slim one – that the matter could end up in foreign courts. A week before the Senate report came out, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) announced that her office was examining the U.S. treatment of detainees captured in Afghanistan. The inquiry is not yet a formal investigation, but Eugene Kontorovich, a professor at Northwestern University School of Law, told msnbc that the Senate report “provides a basis for broadening and pushing along the ICC investigation.”

However, he continued, U.S. officials shouldn’t worry about being shipped off to The Hague anytime soon. For one thing, said Kontorovich, “it’s quite unlikely that the ICC would press charges against Americans because it wants American support so badly.” Secondly, he added, the U.S. is not party to the ICC and has no reason to cooperate in the unlikely event that they did bring charges.

read more: http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/drumbeat-prosecutions-intensifies-after-cia-torture-report

(Dated but worth visiting again)

A brief primer designed to help you understand the workings of our new, streamlined American system of government.
Jon Carroll
02 January 2006

••••••••

Perhaps you have been unable to follow the intricacies of the logic used by John Yoo, the UC Berkeley law professor who has emerged as the president's foremost apologist for all the stuff he has to apologize for. I have therefore prepared a brief, informal summary of the relevant arguments.

Why does the president have the power to unilaterally authorize wiretaps of American citizens?

Because he is the president.

Does the president always have that power?

No. Only when he is fighting the war on terror does he have that power.

When will the war on terror be over?

The fight against terror is eternal. Terror is not a nation; it is a tactic. As long as the president is fighting a tactic, he can use any means he deems appropriate.

Why does the president have that power?

It's in the Constitution.

Where in the Constitution?

It can be inferred from the Constitution. When the president is protecting America, he may by definition make any inference from the Constitution that he chooses. He is keeping America safe.

Who decides what measures are necessary to keep America safe?

The president.

Who has oversight over the actions of the president?

The president oversees his own actions. If at any time he determines that he is a danger to America, he has the right to wiretap himself, name himself an enemy combatant and spirit himself away to a secret prison in Egypt.

But isn't there a secret court, the FISA court, that has the power to authorize wiretapping warrants? Wasn't that court set up for just such situations when national security is at stake?

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court might disagree with the president. It might thwart his plans. It is a danger to the democracy that we hold so dear. We must never let the courts stand in the way of America's safety.

So there are no guarantees that the president will act in the best interests of the country?

The president was elected by the people. They chose him; therefore he represents the will of the people. The people would never act against their own interests; therefore, the president can never act against the best interests of the people. It's a doctrine I like to call "the triumph of the will."

But surely the Congress was also elected by the people, and therefore also represents the will of the people. Is that not true?

Congress? Please.

It's sounding more and more as if your version of the presidency resembles an absolute monarchy. Does it?

Of course not. We Americans hate kings. Kings must wear crowns and visit trade fairs and expositions. The president only wears a cowboy hat and visits military bases, and then only if he wants to.

Can the president authorize torture?

No. The president can only authorize appropriate means.

Could those appropriate means include torture?

It's not torture if the president says it's not torture. It's merely appropriate. Remember, America is under constant attack from terrorism. The president must use any means necessary to protect America.

Won't the American people object?

Not if they're scared enough.

What if the Supreme Court rules against the president?

The president has respect for the Supreme Court. We are a nation of laws, not of men. In the unlikely event that the court would rule against the president, he has the right to deny that he was ever doing what he was accused of doing, and to keep further actions secret. He also has the right to rename any practices the court finds repugnant. "Wiretapping" could be called "protective listening." There's nothing the matter with protective listening.

Recently, a White House spokesman defended the wiretaps this way: "This is not about monitoring phone calls designed to arrange Little League practice or what to bring to a potluck dinner. These are designed to monitor calls from very bad people to very bad people who have a history of blowing up commuter trains, weddings and churches." If these very bad people have blown up churches, why not just arrest them?

That information is classified.

Have many weddings been blown up by terrorists?

No, they haven't, which is proof that the system works. The president does reserve the right to blow up gay terrorist weddings -- but only if he determines that the safety of the nation is at stake. The president is also keeping his eye on churches, many of which have become fonts of sedition. I do not believe that the president has any problem with commuter trains, although that could always change.

So this policy will be in place right up until the next election?

Election? Let's just say that we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. It may not be wise to have an election in a time of national peril.



http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/carroll/article/JON-CARROLL-2507599.php

John Yoo needs to be prosecuted BIG TIME. He's the one who wrote the "legal" "justification" for all this shit. Hard to decide which one of these beasts should be first to face justice. Yoo or cheney. Both of 'em can go straight to Hell for all I care.

it's just ONE HUGE STAIN on this country

More than all of the others combined, I want that rat-reptile-subhuman garbage pile dragged into a court of law.

Get him, and you get a Nixon crook free. That's how far back that piece of shit goes.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024629995

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024804285



What does that tell you?

The only CIA officer prosecuted for torture is John Kiriakou, who leaked classified details of the program to national reporters, for which he is currently serving a 30-month prison sentence. Share if you agree John Kiriakou should be pardoned and the real criminals prosecuted.

https://www.facebook.com/usauncut/photos/a.190167221017767.44131.186219261412563/880680395299776/

by Barbara MorrillFollow
December 9, 2014

Former Vice President Dick Cheney, in 2011, peddling one of his favorite claims in defense of torture:

And today, from the initial release on the torture report:



http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/12/09/1350473/-Key-takeaway-from-torture-report-Dick-Cheney-is-a-dirty-stinking-liar#

Preferably at the for profit prisons that they established.

sickening!

Torture Architects Earned $80 Million And More Jaw-Dropping Revelations

By Sahil Kapur
December 10, 2014

Torture architects were paid $81 million by the CIA. Harsh interrogation techniques, portrayed in "Zero Dark Thirty" as helping the U.S. hunt down Osama bin Laden, didn't actually lead to his capture. And then-Secretary of State Colin Powell was not briefed on torture because the White House feared he would "blow his stack."

These are some more jaw-dropping revelations, along with what TPM reported earlier, contained in the 525-page report released Tuesday by Senate Democrats about the CIA's torture program during the Bush administration.

[font size="3"]1. CIA contracted with torture instructors for $180 million and paid them $81 million[/font]

The agency contracted with two psychologists "to develop, operate, and assess its interrogation operations" for a $180 million fee in 2006; they were paid $81 million when the contract was terminated in 2009. Neither "had any experience as an interrogator, nor did either have specialized knowledge of al-Qa'ida, a background in counterterrorism, or any relevant cultural or linguistic expertise," the report states.

[font size="3"]2.Torture didn't help catch Osama bin Laden[/font]

Contrary to the CIA's claims, the Senate report found that the use of torture didn't play a role in the eventual killing of Osama bin Laden. The Al-Qaeda chief's courier, Abu Ahmad al-Kuwaiti, who led the U.S. to him, provided substantial intelligence before he was subject to enhanced interrogation, the report found, which they used to track him.

The findings contradict what senior CIA officials said about the role of torture in the capture of bin Laden, a portrayal that made it into the film "Zero Dark Thirty."

read more: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/fivepoints/cia-torture-report-more-revelations

we are a sick nation and we need help.

VICE News Exclusive: The Architect of the CIA's Enhanced Interrogation Program

Published on Dec 10, 2014

This is the first time Mitchell has ever appeared on camera.

"Let me put it plainly: these people do not belong on my television. They belong in prison, for the crimes of theft, torture and murder. They shattered the lives of thousands of American soldiers and millions of Iraqi civilians. They savaged the American economy paying for it all, and several of them got very rich in the process. They should be in orange jumpsuits and fetters, picking mealworms out of their gruel while shuttered in very small, very grim, very inescapable metal rooms."


see http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025944048

hauled into prison, tried, found guilty and, in the cases of those at the top, hanged. Just add those two "psychologists" who apparently did their dissertations under Doctor Mengele and there's a good start.

More please !!!!

nt

nt