Mukasey’s Tap Dance On Torture: Two Months Later, Still Can’t Say If Waterboarding Is Illegal
Mukasey’s Tap Dance On Torture: Two Months Later, Still Can’t Say If Waterboarding Is Illegal
Throughout his October confirmation hearings, Attorney General Mike Mukasey denounced the use of torture, stating that it is “antithetical to what this country stands for.”
But when it came to declaring the practice of waterboarding torture, Mukasey hedged. “I don’t know what’s involved in waterboarding,” he told Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), arguing he first needed to be “read into” the administration’s program. Mukasey pledged to study the matter and said he would order a “review” after being confirmed:
If, after such a review, I determine that any technique is unlawful, I will not hesitate to so advise the president and will rescind or correct any legal opinion of the Department of Justice that supports the use of the technique.
After the confirmation, Senators continued to press Mukasey on the issue, but he refused to be rushed into deciding whether he considers waterboarding torture without a full “review.” Today, in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Mukasey said he has “been read into the program” but suggested that he still hasn’t come to a firm conclusion:
Yes, I’ve been read into the program, but that’s part of a process. I said I would look at the program. Look at the letters. And give my answers. I haven’t yet figured out precisely when and precisely how. I understand that the time is coming.
Today, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) and nine other Senate Judiciary Commitee members urged Mukasey to decide his position. “It has been over two months since then, ample time for you to study this issue and reach a conclusion,” they wrote. The committee members noted that on November 27, “State Department Legal Advisor John Bellinger said you were giving ‘high priority’ to reviewing interrogation techniques.”
With only 12 months left in office, Mukasey is creating the perception that he’s trying to run out the clock to avoid taking a stand on torture.
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62 Responses to “Mukasey’s Tap Dance On Torture: Two Months Later, Still Can’t Say If Waterboarding Is Illegal”
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I don’t expect this beady eye little prick to say a thing. He’s Gonzales with a better pedigree.
Bush has ruined America in 7 years.
I can’t wait for the Zimbabwe style inflation to set in.
-GSD
January 23rd, 2008 at 12:18 pmHe probably won’t even admit we run Gitmo.
Or maybe he’ll “find” waterboarding is a myth, like El Dorado or affordable healthcare.
January 23rd, 2008 at 12:20 pmDUH!
If Mukasey still can’t say that waterboarding is torture, I say, let him be waterboarded. Perhaps then, he will figure it out.
January 23rd, 2008 at 12:20 pmCall me silly, but I wouldn’t have confirmed the guy if he can’t figure out waterboarding is torture.
January 23rd, 2008 at 12:20 pmWhatever. In Feb 2009 waterboarding will be acknowledged to have been torture all along and arrests will be made for those that sanctioned it for 6 years.
January 23rd, 2008 at 12:21 pmOf course he can’t say whether torture is illegal, he’s a member of the most corupt administration in history. What decent human being would question if torturing another human is wrong. This guy is a republican first, former judge and attorney general second. I don’t care if we consider them as terrorist or not when we have them in custody, it’s wrong to torture them. There are too many other techniques available to investigators for us to stoop to the same level as them. And the needs to keep in mind that he and these other idiots are opening the door for any other country to torture our troops if they capture them. I don’t know about anyone else, but I don’t want our soldiers tortured for information they don’t have. If they keep playing this game we’ll see a video of a captured US soldier being tortured and we will not have a leg to stand on.
January 23rd, 2008 at 12:23 pmThis guy Mukasey has NO intregrity left after joing these clowns. I hope he can sleep well at night and look at himself in the mirror. I wonder how he’s going to answer God when he’s held accountable for sponsoring torture?
January 23rd, 2008 at 12:25 pmThe Nazis tortured people and look what happened to them. History will reflect this dark time in our country and say that Mukasey looked the other way when he should have stood up for decency and fair treatment under the Geneva conventions.
January 23rd, 2008 at 12:27 pmWith only 12 months left in office, Mukasey is creating the perception that he’s trying to run out the clock to avoid taking a stand on torture.
Of course he is trying to run out the clock.
I have a quick and easy way to get him to make up his mind. I propose that he be waterboarded, and then asked again if it is torture.
I will never forgive Diane Feinstein and Chuck Shumer for giving us the gift of Mulkasey.
January 23rd, 2008 at 12:28 pmI’m sorry, but there isn’t any job or title important enough for me to lose my humanity and torture someone, when it’s been proven that it doesn’t work. This is a CRIME against humanity, and the weak Democrats just don’t have the guts to Impeach them bum and all of the henchmen who ordered these horrable acts.
January 23rd, 2008 at 12:30 pmJust leave it to the Hague International Court to finally throw the book at this criminal a$$holes.
January 23rd, 2008 at 12:30 pmThis guy Mukasey has NO intregrity left after joing these clowns. I hope he can sleep well at night and look at himself in the mirror. I wonder how he’s going to answer God when he’s held accountable for sponsoring torture?
Comment by The Shadow
I believe that Mukasey has no problem sleeping at night because he lacks a conscience like all other Republiscums. And if there is a God, they will all be very surprised when they find that where they end up is rather hot.
January 23rd, 2008 at 12:30 pmThat liver-lipped, mealy-mouthed little pussy is just covering up for his torturing pals.
GRRRRRRRRR.
January 23rd, 2008 at 12:31 pmMoo, Casey at bat… He’s playing a little fungo with you, folks, and he can keep doing this and bunting balls foul for the next 363 days…
Doin’ that old Diebold-Bush-Cheney-Blackwater-Enron-Rummy-Cunning-Alberto Cakewalk that they do so well…
Humm, duh, Bush and Cheney and our CIA torturing prisoners by waterboarding? Was ist der Vaterboarding, mein Herr?
January 23rd, 2008 at 12:33 pmDefinitive statement due on 01/18/09…
January 23rd, 2008 at 12:35 pmwho cares????
January 23rd, 2008 at 12:36 pmIt’s only torture when its done to our soldiers.
When we do it to anyone else, it’s Enhanced Interrogation Procedures.
A rose by any other name….
January 23rd, 2008 at 12:38 pmHe really should take that little American flag on the table in front of him and ram it up his gazoo, and ask himself, Is That Torture?
If waterboarding isn’t torture, then gazoo ramming couldn’t possibly be.
January 23rd, 2008 at 12:38 pmWith only 12 months left in office, Mukasey is creating the perception that he’s trying to run out the clock to avoid taking a stand on torture.
- - - -
I do believe this is the administration strategy for every problem:
ignore, ignore, deny, ignore some more, ask for another 6months, repeat
January 23rd, 2008 at 12:39 pmJudging by the scatter shot of issues TP is trying to recycle, it is clear that the Dems expect to lose in the general election, whether Hill’reh or Obama gets the nomination. Bill Clinton achieved his goal of preventing Hill’reh from being president, while looking like he supports her - the man is an evil genius.
January 23rd, 2008 at 12:40 pmwaterboard his family. then ask him again.
January 23rd, 2008 at 12:40 pmFools, fools, fools. Every Senator that voted for him, a fool. (unless, of course, running out the clock was what it was about all along . . . for all sides).
January 23rd, 2008 at 12:40 pmI said I would look at the program. Look at the letters.
what the hell does “look at the letters” mean? What letters? CIA? FBI?
January 23rd, 2008 at 12:42 pmEveryone is falling for a trick here. The administration wants us to “debate” whether waterboarding is torture, because it doesn’t matter! There is no real debate because it clearly is. But, if we spend months or years debating this then we never approach the real issue which is that the United States is torturing people.
We need to denounce the United States policy of torturing prisoners of war in stark defiance of the Geneva Conventions and all international norms.
We should not allow the administration to trick us into debating whether particular techniques are or are not torture or whether particular techniques are technically violations of United States law, etc. This is a question of basic ethics and morality. It does not hinge on technicalities.
January 23rd, 2008 at 12:43 pmi say we waterboard his sorry ass and lets see what kind of conclusion bushie boy draws then.
January 23rd, 2008 at 12:45 pmwho cares????
Comment by John Kerry — January 23, 2008 @ 12:36 pm
People with a heart.
People with a brain.
People with courage.
So maybe you’re 0 for 3 on this one, Toto.
January 23rd, 2008 at 12:47 pmSomeone give Mukasey the tape of the show Prison Break which showed a woman being waterboarded. If he still says he doesn’t know then he’s out right lying.
January 23rd, 2008 at 12:47 pmMukasey, Gonzales, Alito and Roberts have all lied under oath and of course we have Clarence Thomas who sees dead people. Our Court System is full of Bush appointed Judges who out right lie while saying they represent the Law. We have no Legal System anymore if those who are in charge of carrying out the laws break it themselves. The criminals are running the Justice System and the Courts.
who cares????
Comment by John Kerry — January 23, 2008 @ 12:36 pm
January 23rd, 2008 at 12:48 pmAll of us who possess brains and believe in our Constitution and the rule of law ; looks like you’re 0-for-3 on that count…………
“With only 12 months left in office, Mukasey is creating the perception that he’s trying to run out the clock to avoid taking a stand on torture.”
——————————————-
Geez — he just got there and he’s trying to run out the clock? What in the world did he take the job for if he wasn’t going to do anything with it? Oh wait…
January 23rd, 2008 at 12:48 pmwho cares????
Comment by John Kerry — January 23, 2008 @ 12:36 pm
People with a heart.
People with a brain.
People with courage.
So maybe you’re 0 for 3 on this one, Toto.
Comment by Luis M — January 23, 2008 @ 12:47 pm
who cares????
Comment by John Kerry — January 23, 2008 @ 12:36 pm
All of us who possess brains and believe in our Constitution and the rule of law ; looks like you’re 0-for-3 on that count…………
Comment by MCMetal — January 23, 2008 @ 12:48 pm
January 23rd, 2008 at 12:48 pmLooks like it’s unanimous ……..
Mukasey claiming not to know whether waterboarding is torture or not reminds me of Clarence Thomas during his confirmation hearings claiming not to have an opinon on abortion.
My reaction to both — WHY do these guys think we’re idiots?
January 23rd, 2008 at 12:51 pmLooks like it’s unanimous ……..
Comment by MCMetal — January 23, 2008 @ 12:48 pm
What can I say, great minds think alike :P
January 23rd, 2008 at 12:51 pmTom Ridge recently said waterboarding is torture
Why do we even need Mucous Case to admit it to bring BushCo in front of the Hague?
January 23rd, 2008 at 12:54 pmwho cares????
Comment by John Kerry — January 23, 2008 @ 12:36 pm
you make such a convincing argument…..
January 23rd, 2008 at 12:54 pmWe should not allow the administration to trick us into debating whether particular techniques are or are not torture or whether particular techniques are technically violations of United States law, etc. This is a question of basic ethics and morality. It does not hinge on technicalities.
Comment by fletc3her — January 23, 2008 @ 12:43 pm
This is the same as the “debate” on whether Bush lies, Global Warming, or tobacco/nicotine is dangerous.
January 23rd, 2008 at 12:56 pmCan we start pelting Bush administration lackeys with eggs, tomatoes and rotten lettuce when we see them in public?
-GSD
January 23rd, 2008 at 12:58 pmRunning out the clock? That is and has been the only strategy of this miserable loser and his pResidency, the rolling six month clock. If the chimp can just hold on for another year, whatever pussy Democrat wins the election will drop all investigations in the spirit of unity. Let’s let bygones be bygones, spilt milk, that kind of crap.
Ok, the milk has been spilt, the country damaged, soldiers and reputation lost. It’s time to spill some blood of the perps.
January 23rd, 2008 at 12:59 pmMy reaction to both — WHY do these guys think we’re idiots?
Comment by missmolly — January 23, 2008 @ 12:51 pm
missmolly, I don’t think you are an idiot.
As for the vast majority of the rest of the American people, I think the shoe fits.
I hate to say it, but John Kerry has a point: “who cares?” about waterboarding when the real news is that Heath Ledger just died???
January 23rd, 2008 at 12:59 pmI hate to say it, but John Kerry has a point: “who cares?†about waterboarding when the real news is that Heath Ledger just died???
Comment by dim wit — January 23, 2008 @ 12:59 pm
No
His only ‘point’ is the very tip of his empty skull………..
January 23rd, 2008 at 1:01 pmCan we start pelting Bush administration lackeys with eggs, tomatoes and rotten lettuce when we see them in public?
-GSD
I’m amazed we haven’t started already…
January 23rd, 2008 at 1:01 pmwho cares????
Comment by John Kerry — January 23, 2008 @ 12:36 pm
This John Kerry character is like someone back in the 1950s or 1960s that used to make crank calls and say filthy things to people. A half wit that was likened to a mosquito buzzing around your head, who couldn’t be traced.
Now, these people are a hi-tech versions using IP spoofing and Proxies, but the anonymity is still the same. Hiding in the shadows.
January 23rd, 2008 at 1:01 pmThe Nazis tortured people and look what happened to them. History will reflect this dark time in our country and say that Mukasey looked the other way when he should have stood up for decency and fair treatment under the Geneva conventions.
Comment by The Shadow
I agree, it’s about honor…….it was telling to read john kerry’s response.
You always have a choice….it may not be good choices but you don’t have to do these things if you choose not to.
January 23rd, 2008 at 1:07 pmOnce again, thanks for the info Plunger. Maybe Mukasey needs to try it out for size - sample a bit of waterboarding - before he can be certain??
January 23rd, 2008 at 1:08 pmHe only has 12 more months to tell the TRUTH! You think the bush DOJ can investigate and see where it went???
January 23rd, 2008 at 1:08 pmkeep it coming plunger……I upgraded my connection…
January 23rd, 2008 at 1:10 pmMukasey’s running out the clock - just like the rest of the Bush Cabal - before they run out of Dodge. If Mukasey rules on waterboarding, then his Jefe goes to jail - pretty simple and transparent to all.
January 23rd, 2008 at 1:10 pmComment by The Shadow — January 23, 2008 @ 12:23 pm
If one or more of our troops are captured and tortured, and it’s shown on the evening news, Bush will just get on the tube and demand they be released. See, it’s different when everyone else does it.
Remember his reaction when 10 of our men and women were held in China after their emergency landing, after colliding with a Chinese fighter plane? Did Bush say, hey, take all the time you need. Process them, interrogate them, however long it takes. Hell no…he demanded they be released from day one.
January 23rd, 2008 at 1:13 pmComment by plunger — January 23, 2008 @ 1:12 pm
Well said, plunger.
January 23rd, 2008 at 1:16 pmwho cares????
Comment by John Kerry — January 23, 2008 @ 12:36 pm
REAL AMERICANS CARE, ya moron.
January 23rd, 2008 at 1:17 pmwho cares????
Comment by John Kerry — January 23, 2008 @ 12:36 pm
AMERICANS! We don’t torture! What kind of LOWER LIFE FORM ARE YOU? That believes it’s OK to act like an uncivilized third world dictator? If you like a government that acts THIRD WORLD, then MOVE TO ONE - *$SHOLE! And leave THIS CIVILIZED COUNTRY to CIVILIZED CITIZENS! STUPID LITTLE PIG!
January 23rd, 2008 at 1:20 pmComment by plunger — January 23, 2008 @ 1:25 pm
Well said, plunger.
January 23rd, 2008 at 1:29 pmMukasy is waiting to be told what his position is by the White House.
January 23rd, 2008 at 1:32 pmHe is just suffering from ’slow learning’ problem.
January 23rd, 2008 at 1:34 pmMore on waterboarding….
January 23rd, 2008 at 1:40 pmhttp://tshirtinsurgency.com/guantanamo-bay-t-shirt
There is a very simple solution…: WATERBOARD MUKASEY AND THAN ASK HIM IF IT IS TORTURE! (make sure it is against his will too!!)
January 23rd, 2008 at 1:45 pm“As Nuremberg showed, differences of race, religion or ideology cannot be tolerated as valid grounds for destroying those who happen to be different. It is NOT permissible ’self-defense’ to slaughter ‘the other’—it is the crime of murder. Aggression, according to the Nuremberg judges and other precedents, is ‘the supreme international crime’ since it includes all the other crimes. There can be no war without atrocities, and unauthorized warfare in violation of the UN Charter is the biggest atrocity of all.â€
Comment by plunger — January 23, 2008
Excellet quote… ther is no argument against its content! BUSH/CHENNEY ARE WAR CRIMINALS!
January 23rd, 2008 at 1:47 pmINDICT IMPEACH IMPRISON BUSH AND CHENNEY! HAGUE 2009
January 23rd, 2008 at 1:57 pmCan we start pelting Bush administration lackeys with eggs, tomatoes and rotten lettuce when we see them in public?
-GSD
Comment by GSD — January 23, 2008 @ 12:58 pm
Permission Granted.
January 23rd, 2008 at 2:30 pmwho cares????
Comment by John Kerry is a true American hero (I, on the other hand, am part of the virgin keyboard brigade!!!!) — January 23, 2008 @ 12:36 pm
Hey, jk has something here.
January 23rd, 2008 at 2:31 pmWho cares if it’s torture or not.
In fact, since it’s such a light “punishment”, why not legalize it so elementary school staff and teachers can “use” it on disruptive 1st and 2nd graders? I mean, after all, it’s harmless. And if successful, maybe we can incorporate the procedure for out of control teens, and eventually minor criminals. Geez, wouldn’t that be a fun society!
A war crimiinal or, at least, accessory after-the-fact!
January 23rd, 2008 at 2:34 pmThe tactics of fighting these criminals must change.
1. There is no doubt that water boarding is torture under international law and that the United States is bound to that definition. No debate should even be tolerated on this issue.
2. The point needs to be made that anyone in a position who attempts to debate the issue on technical grounds is merely a liar attempting to lay a foundation of denying complicity in a manifestly illegal activity.
3. Anyone attempting to say that water boarding may not be torture depending upon how it is practiced should simply be confronted with the simple truth: WATER BOARDING IS USED TO FORCE A CONFESSION AGAINST THE SUSPECTS WILL. IT IS ONLY EFFECTIVE WHEN THE SUSPECT IS PLACED IN A DROWNING SITUATION. IT WILL NOT WORK UNLESS THE FEELING OF TERROR CAUSED BY THE DROWNING IS FELT.
4, We need to humiliate them. Challenge them in public to take the water cure. After all, it is not torture to them. Call them liars, cowards and criminals if they refuse.
January 23rd, 2008 at 3:01 pmIt’s SUCH a load.
THE LAWS ARE ON THE BOOKS!
They do not need review.
He is a LAWYER, but Bush lawyer, a Cheney lawyer like David Addington&Co, who want to rewrite law in “ther image” - like God.
The US intends to continue to rule the world that they think THEY (and the Israelis) own and threaten every person with kidnap for bounty (rendition), keep them locked up (black sites, Fema camps), and throw away the keys (no-hearing hearings). They are free to torture at will. They can trump evidence by using wiretaps that have no warrants to approve them. They can break Geneva conventions whenever they want.
And Mukasey CHOSE to be Attorney General although it was widely speculated it would be others. Why Mukasey? Precisely because it came as a suprise! No one was prepared and no one looked at Mukasey’s prior record EXCEPT for his decisions regarding Jose Padillo, a US citizen with severe mental illness who has now been destroyed.
The Courts had to step in and undo Mukasey, other non politicized courts.
He has probably sworn an oath to Israel (many do that are at high levels of government) and it means the Constitution he is sworn to uphold and the Geneva Conventions which ARE the Supreme Law of the Land, btw, mean absolutely nothing to him.
What has he done to support the attorneys who were illegally fired, members of his own profession? Nada
I resent that CRIMINALS are bringing America into the 13th century.
What has he done to make the US turn over tapes and emails, or even what comments has he made about this - even though the Judge Advocate Generals have had PLENTY to say about the legalities involved and so have other former Justice Department attorneys.
I am sure at some point we will hear ” I did this for security reasons to protect YOU, the citizen of the Homeland” or some other “lofty” stuff!!
I hope he is studying the verdicts at Nuremberg closely, because some day he will be facing charges at the Hague HIMSELF. The attorneys invovled were found GUILTY. He’s already done a number of crimes. He just doesn’t want to write them down.
January 24th, 2008 at 12:39 pm