Mukasey appoints torture apologist as his chief of staff.
Mukasey appoints torture apologist as his chief of staff.
Today, Attorney General Michael Mukasey appointed Brian Benczkowski to serve as his chief of staff. TPMMuckracker reminds readers that Benczkowski served as one of the Justice Department’s torture apologists, arguing that if torture is conducted to prevent an attack “rather than for the purpose of humiliation,” it doesn’t violate the Geneva Conventions’ ban on “outrages upon personal dignity” and thus is likely acceptable:
“The fact that an act is undertaken to prevent a threatened terrorist attack, rather than for the purpose of humiliation or abuse, would be relevant to a reasonable observer in measuring the outrageousness of the act,” said Brian A. Benczkowski, a deputy assistant attorney general, in the letter, which had not previously been made public. [...]
In one letter written Sept. 27, 2007, Mr. Benczkowski argued that “to rise to the level of an outrage” and thus be prohibited under the Geneva Conventions, conduct “must be so deplorable that the reasonable observer would recognize it as something that should be universally condemned.”
Last month, Mukasey declared that people who perpetrated torture “cannot and should not be prosecuted” or even investigated.
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MUSASEY?
August 6th, 2008 at 3:31 pmYou have my permission to use my handle for him, AG Mucky…
August 6th, 2008 at 3:32 pmOh my!!!! When will this impunity end? When will the criminals of this administration be held accountable? Mukesey should be made to resign, just like that other War Criminal, Gonzo!
August 6th, 2008 at 3:32 pm“The fact that an act is undertaken to prevent a threatened terrorist attack, rather than for the purpose of humiliation or abuse, would be relevant to a reasonable observer in measuring the outrageousness of the act,” said Brian A. Benczkowski, a deputy assistant attorney general, in the letter, which had not previously been made public. […]
Can this imbecile cite 1 example of a “threatened terrorist attack” that’s been thwarted that would justify his insane and idiotic argument ?
August 6th, 2008 at 3:33 pmRUCerious Says:
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MUSASEY?
August 6th, 2008 at 3:31 pm
Musucky
August 6th, 2008 at 3:34 pmSenators Shumer and Feinstein, no one could have seen this coming. Right?
PEACE
August 6th, 2008 at 3:35 pmWell then, I guess we should pardon Jeffrey Dahmer posthumously, right?
August 6th, 2008 at 3:37 pmMcMetal ~ perhaps MoFocky?
August 6th, 2008 at 3:38 pmMcMetal Can this imbecile cite 1 example of a “threatened terrorist attack” that’s been thwarted that would justify his insane and idiotic argument ?
Sorry, these Dumas Company types don’t do hypotheticals.
August 6th, 2008 at 3:40 pmThree little words that, once upon a time, actually meant something: Rule Of Law. When did these words cease to have Any validity in this country? How did the Government, that’s supposed to be Of the People, By the People, and For the People, cease to care?
August 6th, 2008 at 3:40 pmImpeach Mukasey, Pelosi, Cheney and Bush (proper sequece is Everything), and Save the Constitution!
While we’re at it, why don’t we pardon Dr. Josef Mengele? Remember him? Dr. Death of Hitler’s Nazi fame (infamy).
Why don’t we just pardon all the Nazi guards and interrogaters that did every inhuman thing possible during WWII.
These people from Bush on down are sick, demented and sadistic.
August 6th, 2008 at 3:41 pm“The fact that an act is undertaken to prevent a threatened terrorist attack, rather than for the purpose of humiliation or abuse, would be relevant to a reasonable observer in measuring the outrageousness of the act.”
Allow me to translate:
“The end justifies the means.”
The ultimate justification of all totalitarians and tyrants throughout history.
This is the exact principle the founders of this country sought to overturn in their creation of the American government.
Gee, 232 years. It was a good run while it lasted.
August 6th, 2008 at 3:41 pmKeeping it in the Family, I see.
Screw you, Mucky.
August 6th, 2008 at 3:44 pm“The fact that an act is undertaken to prevent a threatened terrorist attack, rather than for the purpose of humiliation or abuse,
So, he is saying sometimes they torture for what they consider a worthwhile reason, and sometimes they do it just for kicks.
August 6th, 2008 at 3:45 pmmongo – that’s exactly what came to my mind upon reading that ‘argument’.
Btw – who decides that the torture would be due to a “threatened terrorist attack”?
August 6th, 2008 at 3:46 pmMCMetal Says:
Can this imbecile cite 1 example of a “threatened terrorist attack” that’s been thwarted that would justify his insane and idiotic argument ?
August 6th, 2008 at 3:33 pm
______
You seem to forget that Ibn ash-Shaykh al-Libi warned us about Saddam Hussein training al-Qa’ida operatives in the use of biological and chemical weapons. And how did we get that valuable information? Torture.
And then of course there’s ‘Abd Allah Higazy, the Egyptian who confessed to helping plot the 9/11 attacks after we threatened to have his family tortured.
Never mind that both of these were false confessions. That doesn’t matter in Bushworld.
August 6th, 2008 at 3:46 pmCongress has given the Bush gang everything they want and the Bush gang has in turn given the American people the worst government in U.S. history.
August 6th, 2008 at 3:53 pmThank Senator Schumer for the nice recommendation of a traitor in Mukasey. Guess Mr. Schumer is a traitor as well. You can’t have it both ways senator.
August 6th, 2008 at 3:54 pmA pox on the Justice Department for their pattern of injustices. Oh, they’re speaking on that very topic right now in regard to the evidence against Dr. Ivin.
One representative just said they wouldn’t talk about the evidence!
August 6th, 2008 at 3:56 pmThis country’s government is now officially a nightmare from hell.
Visions of the 1968 night of the living dead come to mind.
August 6th, 2008 at 3:59 pmWith the bush administration wandering blindly around outside the farmhouse eating the innards of it’s own people while what’s left of the country’s citizens huddle inside boarding up the windows listening to am radio news praying for a ray of hope.
After eight years of lies, damn lies and more lies, we need a Truth and Reconciliation committee to take a long and serious look at what government officials have done in our name.
Those who approved torture should be held to account for their actions. Those who actually carried out the torture should be investigated as well. The American people have a right to know who ordered what and who did what to whom.
Anyone who was involved in the systematic torture of prisoners should be brought to justice. This includes everyone from the lowest level private to the Commander in Chief himself. No one is above the law. Those found guilty should be made to pay the price for their actions.
If we can’t bring justice to our own, how can we expect to bring justice to others? Al Qaeda’s actions do not give us carte blanche to throw our values and beliefs out the window. We are better than that; we’re supposed to be a superpower. It sure has been a long time since we acted like one… well, a responsible one anyway. The punch-drunk Bush administration has a lot to account for, not the least of which are these un-American activities that took place during their watch.
August 6th, 2008 at 3:59 pmstateofthedivision Says:
A pox on the Justice Department for their pattern of injustices. Oh, they’re speaking on that very topic right now in regard to the evidence against Dr. Ivin.
One representative just said they wouldn’t talk about the evidence!
EVIDENCE?!?? WE DON’T NEED NO STINKING EVIDENCE!
August 6th, 2008 at 4:00 pmThat’s a quaint concept…….just like the Geneva Convention.
Perhaps a bill to rename the department to
DOCI
Dept of Criminal Injustice…
August 6th, 2008 at 4:03 pmMukasey is one sick phuck.
Then we have Henry Paulson, former CEO of Goldman Sachs, handing out billions to private entities.
Gonzo may be gone, but the drips just keep coming!
August 6th, 2008 at 4:25 pmMukasey once again shows his true colors–apparently Schumer and Feinstein were color-blind.
August 6th, 2008 at 4:33 pmThose acts have already been “universally condemned” by “reasonable observer(s)”, for eons. But, Benczkowski probably considers himself a reasonable observer, and the actions of the Marquis de Sade would not outrage him.
August 6th, 2008 at 4:35 pmReporter asks for direct evidence of Dr. Ivin’s guilt:
“I won’t discuss the actuality of evidence then”
Joseph Persichini, FBI Washington Field Office
http://www.c-span.org/
August 6th, 2008 at 4:52 pmSegment titled: DOJ Announces Anthrax Results
[Benczkowski]: “The fact that an act is undertaken to prevent a threatened terrorist attack, rather than for the purpose of humiliation or abuse, would be relevant to a reasonable observer in measuring the outrageousness of the act,” said Brian A. Benczkowski, a deputy assistant attorney general, in the letter, which had not previously been made public. […]
And if I shoot you to take your money because I need it, rather than just because I think you’re too stoopid to live, Benczkowski, that’s just A-OK, and I get a “get out of jail free” card….
I’d note for the brain-damaged that the Cnvention Against Torture categorically bans such in “all circumstances whatsoever”, and makes no provision for “benign <GAAACK!*> motives”. Same with the U.S. laws for assault and torture, no provision for “gummint belevolence” there.
In one letter written Sept. 27, 2007, Mr. Benczkowski argued that “to rise to the level of an outrage” and thus be prohibited under the Geneva Conventions, conduct “must be so deplorable that the reasonable observer would recognize it as something that should be universally condemned.”
Once we hang all the remaining 28% (and falling) of neocons and RW authoritarians for enabling war crimes (if not abject stoopidity), there will be “universal[] condemn[ation]” of torture.
Speaking hypothetically, of course.
Cheers,
August 6th, 2008 at 5:03 pmOh my, oh my. He should have kept his mouth shut. Now the whole world knows that Benczkowski is a stupid fool.
August 6th, 2008 at 6:00 pm.
Mukasey = Obstruction of Justice through a refusal to investigate the Administration.
Court Martial General Mukasey!
.
August 7th, 2008 at 12:37 amIt’s quite the opposite: any reasonable man will realize that torture is wrong in itself, no matter what the payout is.
August 7th, 2008 at 3:50 pmWhat if the World Trade attack could have been prevented by torturing 1 man? Would you do it?