Should Attorney general Holder appoint a prosecutor to investigate CIA treatment of terrorism suspects?

[Siddhartha]

I have read in a number of articles that AG Holder is considering appointing a prosecutor to investigate CIA treatment of terrorism suspects. I think it is a good idea to find out what happened, who knew about it, and get that information to US citizens.

What do you think and why?

Please avoid slipping into the typical ATOT libs and conservatives dichotomies.

 

[ayabe]

Yes.

New information seems to be coming forth on a weekly basis.

This will hurt Obama even though it's not his call. I'm fine with that, ultimately, some of the policies that O has quietly kept in place, like the CIA blacksites would have to be shut down, or their activities severely curtailed as a result of this investigation. He should be forced to live up to his promises on these issues and he has NOT done so.

This is a necessary evil, we cannot continue to talk out of two sides of our mouth, trying to hold others accountable to international law, while we exempt ourselves isn't in keeping with our ideals.

 

[Siddhartha]

Originally posted by: ayabe
Yes.

New information seems to be coming forth on a weekly basis.

This will hurt Obama even though it's not his call. I'm fine with that, ultimately, some of the policies that O has quietly kept in place, like the CIA blacksites would have to be shut down, or their activities severely curtailed as a result of this investigation. He should be forced to live up to his promises on these issues and he has NOT done so.

This is a necessary evil, we cannot continue to talk out of two sides of our mouth, trying to hold others accountable to international law, while we exempt ourselves isn't in keeping with our ideals.

Please vote in the poll.

 

[Robor]

:thumbsup:

 

[Lemon law]

I agree that new information is coming on a daily basis, the problem is that we don't know a quarter of it yet. It not like Cheney and his co-conspirators are going anywhere, I want the case to be built against these morally bankrupt rascals to be so strong that its overwhelming in the overkill. The last thing I want is some premature case flop and let Cheney and his ilk off like OJ. What we have not gone through yet is the process of sweat the little fish until they rat on bigger fish, until it leads to the head rat stuff, it takes time best spent while Cheney dangles slowly in the wind.

So I have mixed feelings about Holder starting maybe too soon. And since Cheney's crimes are also international in scope, I wonder if the Hague would be a better venue.

And I note that only a small minority of us on P&N insisted that Cheney and his ilk should and would be tried as criminals, and this forum largely scoffed and dismissed it as an impossibility. And now time as gone by, and it now looks more of a certainty. And any day now, Holder can start the formal ball rolling. And nothing stops other prosecutors, foreign and domestic, from doing the same.

 

[Siddhartha]

It would be great to hear from both, or more, sides of this.

 

[themusgrat]

I think almost anyone would agree that when it comes to how our government is treating human lives, it needs some form of accountability. So it's a good idea. But I don't think that Cheney will end up going to jail or anything for this, and if he does, it would only serve to highlight what a ridiculous waste of time it would be to try to hold elected officials accountable while they're in office. It's not like anyone can fix what Cheney has done now, we needed to fix it while he was doing it. The damage is done, and now the only thing we can do is try to prevent it from happening again. I don't subscribe to whatever newsletter it is that tries to paint Cheney as the worst thing to happen to America since monica lewinsky, he was faced with the possibility of putting Americans at risk or breaking laws to do what he thought was protecting the country he swore to protect. While I can certainly fault someone for torture, it's not a situation I'd ever want to be in, because if the choice is torturing for information or not being able to do anything else to protect American lives, who knows what I'd choose.

But ya, it's a good idea.

 

[GarfieldtheCat]

Hell yes.....no one is above the law.

The only way to stop sit like this is to punish anyone that breaks the law, so future people will not do it. To let these people get away with just encourages more egregious activity in the future.

 

[Gonad the Barbarian]

I vote yes. John McCain voted no on MtP earlier.