Comments on: Mukasey Argues That Torture Authorizers ‘Cannot And Should Not’ Be Prosecuted Or Even Investigated

By: Uosdwis

Uosdwis — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 03:51:21 +0000

He’s a Tom Hagen. You young’uns look that up in Wikipedia.

By: rodsteel

rodsteel — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 21:35:09 +0000

We hung men at Nuremberg who were “only following orders”. That defense wasn’t accepted then, and it shouldn’t be accepted now.

By: Max-1

Max-1 — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 16:35:36 +0000

So does Mukasey think Justice should NOT pursue the mastermind behind crimes against people… like 9/11?

By: Paul W

Paul W — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 15:20:24 +0000

MUKASEY: Any CIA agent who acted in good faith reliance on an opinion from the Department of Justice cannot and should not be prosecuted because if they are, any opinion from the Department of Justice to anyone on the frontline is totally and completely useless. […]

This is the same bogus argument used to justify telecom immunity, essentially they’re just following orders. But even in the army soldiers are required not to follow illegal orders.

DURBIN: What about those who authorized that torture?

MUKASEY: I think its the same answer. … I think what lawyers have to do is focus on what’s legal and not be concerned with what is politically acceptable later on. And if we go after them and prosecute them that’s exactly what they will be concerned about.

So in other words, whether you did it or authorized it makes no difference, Mukasey will do nothing. And his rationalization is beyond belief. Prosecuting tortures is politically motivated? Absurd. Not prosecuting such obvious crimes is politically motivated.

Mukasey is just another Bush stooge. And the beat goes on.

http://progressiveworldreview.com

By: dogjudge

dogjudge — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 14:16:21 +0000

I would like to compliment Senator Durbin for keeping this issue in the forefront.

Rather than get upset about the AG’s response, how about everyone here DOING something about it?

Write your Congressperson and Senators and demand that a special prosecutor be installed to investigate this matter. If crimes of this magnitude have been committed, they need to be prosecuted (irrespective of the AG’s opinion).

The world is watching to see what type of morals the United States has.

By: A Patriot Acting

A Patriot Acting — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 13:33:28 +0000

Addington, Yoo and the rest should be hung for what they have done to this Country’s reputation. It would be a good start and possibly deter future criminals from trying this shit down the road. Not doogedly going after the Reagan Administration after the Iran/Contra fiasco has emboldened these neocon thugs, many of which are holdovers from the Reagan and Nixon Administrations that have been sculking around DC since then waiting for exactly this kind of opportunity. They feel safe in the security that nothing will be done to punish their criminal activities so they push further and further over the legal boundaries, almost daring someone to do something about it. Mukasey deserves to be disbarred for not investigaitng such blatant illegal acts. After his term he should be arrested along with the rest of these thugs and tried for war crimes and domestic terror acts. IF A STRONG EXAMPLE ISN’T MADE OF THIS ADMINISTRATION WHAT WILL PREVENT THE NEXT REPUB PRESIDENCY FROM PUSHING EVEN FURTHER?

By: shoeless

shoeless — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 12:43:04 +0000

I agree. Torture authorizers should not be prosecuted. They should be arrested, thrown in a cell, and denied any contact with the outside world. They should have no legal counsel, and no day in civilian court. They should be renditioned to Morocco or some other hellhole where the CIA has learned really effective “enhanced interrogation” techniques from the locals.

After several years of this treatment, the DOD can decide whether to send them to a military tribunal, or to simply drop them off somewhere like Albania and forget about them.

By: Frankly_my_dear

Frankly_my_dear — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 09:31:16 +0000

Mukasey is that rarest of all creatures: A Jew who never heard of Nuremberg.

By: christopher wiwi

christopher wiwi — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 05:40:54 +0000

Mukasey responded by saying that he “cannot and should not” prosecute those individuals because such an investigation would focus on what is “politically acceptable” rather than what is “legal”:

I thought torture was illegal,

oop`s the re-pukes forgot….

By: Briseadh na Faire

Briseadh na Faire — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 05:05:19 +0000

This does clear the way for international jurisdiction.

By the way,

BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING

By: Omnipotency

Omnipotency — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 04:46:42 +0000

Lets do this in a choose your own adventure version.

Are you American?

Yes? – Welcome to American civil/criminal rights

no? – Welcome to being the weakest link. Be lucky we took the time to talk to you instead of putting a handful of bullets in you. You might not be guilty of anything we can prove, but no one is truly innocent. However, Alpha > all so we can do what we want. Life isn’t fair, stop being such a flower and accept it.

By: questioneverything

questioneverything — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 02:48:17 +0000

Is Schumer really surprised? I’m not. Mukasey should never have been confirmed, as I told every Democratic member of the Judiciary Committee at the time. No AG would be better than this AG. Who nominated him again? That would be Bushco. They will all skate away with not even a slap on the wrist. So sick of these criminals. Nobody is doing anything and nobody will. Check back in 4 years or 8 years and all of these same characters will still be lying to us and robbing us blind.

By: Max-1

Max-1 — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 02:44:35 +0000

What Mukasey meant was:

Opinion is the law.
Follow illegal orders.

By: Max-1

Max-1 — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 02:43:12 +0000

Mukasey said:

You’ve asked a variety of questions, made a variety of statements about a variety of situations…
but, ummm… I’ll give you a variety of answers. No, no, no way and hardly!”

By: nofltwlt

nofltwlt — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 01:35:27 +0000

A shadow puppet government as been installed right before our eyes.

By: wizard2000

wizard2000 — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 01:17:29 +0000

Why does Mukasey sound like a defendant at the Nuremberg Trials?

By: artmann11

artmann11 — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 01:06:57 +0000

They should’nt be imprisoned. They should be tried, convicted and hung. We see just how low the Republican party has gone when they continue to side with torturers.

By: tgbobbi

tgbobbi — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 01:02:41 +0000

The current administration has mastered the talent of accepting no responsibility for themselves or thier subordinates actions. They have obviously passed it down to thier heir apparant and he is using it masterfully. Because these men have no integrity, they can so effortlessly make it appear natural and quite legitimate when they performing this it.

By: LibertyLover

LibertyLover — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 00:52:58 +0000

By that logic, we should release Charles Manson, because he didn’t participate in the Manson killings, he just instigated them.

And the German officers that gave orders in WWII were not responsible for the atrocities that occurred, right?

What ever happened to the rule of Law in this country? Maybe Bush could search for them in the Oval office under a chair, like he did for the missing WMD’s in Iraq.

By: Fool Zero

Fool Zero — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 00:47:21 +0000

Whoops, sorry! For some reason an unfinished version of my post disappeared from the page. Very annoyed, I reposted from scratch before finding the raw version already posted.