The Case for Disbarment of Lawyers Who Facilitated Torture Grows

The Case for Disbarment of Lawyers Who Facilitated Torture Grows
Lawyers were the lynchpin if they had given real legal advice: torture is illegal under domestic and international law; there would have been no torture program.

by Kevin Zeese


Since filing complaints against 12 Bush-Cheney lawyers the case for disbarment has gotten stronger. More information is leaking out. And, more and more Americans from citizens to generals to a former president are speaking out. On June 10th, a coalition of hundreds of organizations filled an addendum to the complaints against these lawyers to highlight the new information.

The addendum included statements by two generals with first hand knowledge of what occurred in U.S. detention centers in Iraq and Afghanistan. General David Patraeus said on May 29th that the U.S. violated the Geneva Conventions in carrying out “enhanced interrogations.” On FOX TV, in response to a question about the controversial interrogation practices, Patraeus said:



Patraeus even said that in the so-called “ticking time bomb” scenario torture techniques were not needed -- “the techniques that are in the Army Field Manual” were sufficient. The Army Field Manual goes further than banning torture; it specifically requires humane treatment of prisoners and detainees.

Patraeus went on to say that he believed that banning the more extreme techniques had taken away “a tool” employed by “our enemies” as a moral argument against the United States. He said Guantanamo Bay inflamed U.S. hostility and he supported its closure, commenting, “Gitmo has caused us problems, there’s no question about it . . . the existence of Gitmo has been used by the enemy against us.”

more...

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/06/11-7

"In fact, the lawyers were the lynchpin. There was dissent inside the CIA, FBI and DoD over the torture program. Those directly involved were worried that they could be prosecuted for war crimes as torture is clearly prohibited by international and U.S. law. If lawyers had not manipulated the meaning of the law through tortured legal reasoning, the torture program would have ended rapidly. Honest legal advice would have prevented these war crimes.

This is why we are seeking torture accountability for all involved. The lawyers need to answer to ethics complaints, but that is not enough a public inquiry followed by the appointment of a special prosecutor are the steps that need to be taken to apply the rule of law and remove this toxic poison from the body politic."

to put his special ops guys into position in Afghanistan. And he is not clean and it's very likely that those he will install are not clean either.

Prisoner abuse and worse. Hiding prisoners from the Red Cross. The whole nine yards.

We will get no trials at this rate. The Obama administration will have too much to protect.

:kick: