Bybee defends his torture memos as ‘legally correct’ and ‘a good-faith analysis of the law.’
Bybee defends his torture memos as ‘legally correct’ and ‘a good-faith analysis of the law.’
Judge Jay Bybee finally “broke his silence” and talked to the New York Times about his legal memos which authorized torture. This past weekend, the Washington Post quoted anonymous friends of Bybee claiming that Bybee was apologetic for authoring the memos. Speaking for himself, Bybee said that’s not the case:
[H]e said: “The central question for lawyers was a narrow one; locate, under the statutory definition, the thin line between harsh treatment of a high-ranking Al Qaeda terrorist that is not torture and harsh treatment that is. I believed at the time, and continue to believe today, that the conclusions were legally correct.”
Other administration lawyers agreed with those conclusions, Judge Bybee said.
“The legal question was and is difficult,” he said. “And the stakes for the country were significant no matter what our opinion. In that context, we gave our best, honest advice, based on our good-faith analysis of the law.”
Bybee, “the man behind waterboarding,” once said that he would like his “headstone to read, ‘He always tried to do the right thing.’” The right thing would be for him to resign. If he does not do so, Congress should impeach him.
One thing could change that dynamic, however. The Justice Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility has been investigating the work of lawyers who signed off on the interrogation policy, and is believed to have obtained archived e-mail messages from the time when the memorandums were being drafted. If it turned out that the lawyers initially concluded that aspects of the proposed program would be illegal, then reversed that conclusion at the request of policy makers, then prosecutors could make a case that the officials knowingly broke the law.
Topic Cloud
ArchivesBlog Roll
How would Bybee know unless he was tortured he was correct?
And BTW, why was not his redefining torture put before a court?
April 28th, 2009 at 10:36 pmthat’s great that he’s convinced of his own crimes……it will be that much easier to prosecute him for crimes and incompetence.
April 28th, 2009 at 10:40 pmBybee was nothing more than a ‘Yes man’ reinterpreting the law to obfuscate things so Bush could claim he did not torture.
April 28th, 2009 at 10:40 pmBybee, if you really want to do the right thing, RESIGN NOW!
April 28th, 2009 at 10:40 pmCONFESS NOW! Anything else you say is irrelevant.
Except for how torturing people is illegal.
April 28th, 2009 at 10:41 pmShouldn’t you know that the person really is a high-ranking Al Qaeda terrorist instead of torturing him until he convinces you that he is?
April 28th, 2009 at 10:42 pmWith this statement, Bybee has laid out the case for his own impeachment. Everyone knows, and the law explicitly and repeatedly states, that torture is illegal. Bybee not only signed off on a memo that said torture is not illegal, but he continues to state that torture is not illegal, and stands by that statement. Thus, he does not understand the law. Thus, he should not be a judge.
Thanks, Bybee!
April 28th, 2009 at 10:44 pm“Good-faith analysis” of what law? The mythical law where a ban on torture is open to interpretation? All he has is feel-good words to excuse his conduct. Time for impeachment and disbarment. Used car salesman, here he comes!
April 28th, 2009 at 10:45 pmImpeach his ass.
April 28th, 2009 at 10:47 pm*
Bybee defends his torture memos as ‘legally correct’ and ‘a good-faith analysis of the law.’
– - Apparently Bybee’s “anonymous” friends weren’t quite accurate about Bybee’s regret over issuing those memos.
April 28th, 2009 at 10:51 pmIn before trolls pollute this thread with their pro-torture vomit dripping from their C U Next TuesdayS.
April 28th, 2009 at 10:54 pmOh, that’s so cute; now go to jail.
What else would he say. Cheney is just as unconvincing.
April 28th, 2009 at 10:54 pmTrittydi Says:
Impeach his ass.
Tell him there is a job opening at Fake Noise for a legal analyst. He’ll surely resign from the bench in a heartbeat.
April 28th, 2009 at 10:56 pmMegaloptera McWars Says:
“Good-faith analysis” of what law? The mythical law where a ban on torture is open to interpretation? All he has is feel-good words to excuse his conduct. Time for impeachment and disbarment. Used car salesman, here he comes!
I wouldn’t even buy a bicycle from him let alone a used car. I bet they would be shitboxes.
April 28th, 2009 at 10:58 pmHe needs to step down or be taken down. Irrespective of whatever the DOJ does.
April 28th, 2009 at 10:59 pmBybee = TERRORIST
April 28th, 2009 at 11:01 pmBybee perverted the law, disbar and impeach.
April 28th, 2009 at 11:02 pmTorture is torture, no fine line!!!!!!!!
I hope his gravestone reads: “Here lies a treasonous criminal who broke the law for his own personal gain!”
April 28th, 2009 at 11:02 pmThey tried this rationale in 1930’s Germany as well:
Bybee runs afoul of the Nuremberg Principles, however:
A moral choice was, in fact, possible to Bybee. He, of his own choice and volition, chose not to exercise this option.
Remove him, then prosecute.
April 28th, 2009 at 11:05 pmThis is absurd! You are either torturing or you are not. You don’t say how much can we torture without it being torture. That is like saying How prenant can you be without being prenant? These crooks all belong in prison.
April 28th, 2009 at 11:08 pmAmerican Patsy says:
NOTHING.
April 28th, 2009 at 11:14 pmTo p*ss you off.
April 28th, 2009 at 11:14 pm“The central question for lawyers was a narrow one; locate, under the statutory definition, the thin line between harsh treatment of a high-ranking Al Qaeda terrorist that is not torture and harsh treatment that is.”
There is, somewhere, a line which seperates harsh treatment from torture, and everyone who condoned waterboarding knew exactly which side of that line that act fell on. No one who had ever studied law, or history, could fail to know. Impeach, disbar, prosecute!
April 28th, 2009 at 11:17 pmIMPEACH:
worstbailoutintheworld.com
April 28th, 2009 at 11:21 pmAmericanPansy: Wow we have nothing on President Obama so we’ve got to take this situation, which was not a decision of the President, and just use it to make him look bad. We’re desperate, sorry.
April 28th, 2009 at 11:21 pmWell he got his degrees at Brigham Young so he probably had to spend a lot of time studying magic underwear instead of the law.
April 28th, 2009 at 11:22 pmBecause the idiot who ordered it was a Bush appointee that hasn’t been replacet, YET.
April 28th, 2009 at 11:22 pmAmerican Patsy Says:
——————————————————————————–
Air Farce One flew over Ground Zero, why
—-
Looking for Ground Round maybe? Shall we torture those involved to find out? Near as I can tell this transient news item is already how shall we say old nes…
April 28th, 2009 at 11:25 pmYou idiots are both OFF TOPIC.
April 28th, 2009 at 11:27 pmEven the trolls can’t defend Bybee so they’re trying to change the subject. Too bad they’ve got nothing.
April 28th, 2009 at 11:27 pmByebee=WAR CRIMINAL !
April 28th, 2009 at 11:28 pmIMPEACH:
worstbailoutintheworld.com
Your tax donations pay my salary!
April 28th, 2009 at 11:30 pmThanks so much TP,
Keith Olbermann
damn can we gwt someone slightly interesting around here?
April 28th, 2009 at 11:36 pmate r kel id iOt:
I’m a desperate troll who wants to catch a verbal beat down.
April 28th, 2009 at 11:36 pmDon’t mess with Keith Olbermann jacka$$
April 28th, 2009 at 11:37 pm|||||||||||||||||||||||||
IMPEACH:
worstbailoutintheworld.com
Your tax donations pay my salary!
April 28th, 2009 at 11:37 pmThanks so much TP,
Keith Olbermann
>>>>
yeah.
whatever happened to judicial activism?
<<<
April 28th, 2009 at 11:39 pmBybee is part of the Bush Crime Family that will go down in flames when he gets impeached, disbarred and prosecuted.
April 28th, 2009 at 11:39 pmate r kel i d i0t Says:
FLAGGED AGAIN NAMEJACKER.
April 28th, 2009 at 11:39 pm“The central question for lawyers was a narrow one; locate, under the statutory definition, the thin line between harsh treatment of a high-ranking Al Qaeda terrorist that is not torture and harsh treatment that is. I believed at the time, and continue to believe today, that the conclusions were legally correct.”
So, what the Bush Administration was looking for mildly harsh treatments instead of extremely harsh treatments? WTF!!! Harsh treatment is harsh treatment. Your conclusions were not legally correct. One tiny little stumbling block to your argument is there is already precedent that waterboarding is torture and is prosecutable under current statutes.
WWII interrogators of captured Nazi officers and officials were treated humanely. They were taken out for steak dinners and engaged in games of chess. We basically befriended them and in return for taking the high road with regard to our prisoners we obtained mountains of information that was nearly infallably reliable.
The only reason one would torture another, whatever the method used, whatever the reason, is because the one administering the torture likes it, gets off on it, is sadistic.
Bybee has to go. Investigations need to be expedited forthwith. Let justice be done though the heavens fall. The world is watching.
April 28th, 2009 at 11:41 pmI quess there is a little something to be said for being so lame that even I won’t f uck with you…
April 28th, 2009 at 11:42 pmTax donations pay KO’s salary? You must be confusing KO with red states — a feat accomplished only in the neurotic right-wing mind.
April 28th, 2009 at 11:48 pmJudge Bybee Says:
[H]e said: “The central question for lawyers was a narrow one; locate, under the statutory definition, the thin line between harsh treatment of a high-ranking Al Qaeda terrorist that is not torture and harsh treatment that is. I believed at the time, and continue to believe today, that the conclusions were legally correct.”
Other administration lawyers agreed with those conclusions, Judge Bybee said.
“The legal question was and is difficult,” he said. “And the stakes for the country were significant no matter what our opinion. In that context, we gave our best, honest advice, based on our good-faith analysis of the law.”
Judge,
The question you should have been asking is, “Why do you feel that we have to be ‘harsh’? What’s wrong with the methods we’ve been using, the ones that have given us good results? Why do you feel you have to start getting aggressive?”
April 28th, 2009 at 11:53 pmI am embarrassed to admit I supported Bush during this period. I apologize to everyone here for that mistake I made. After katrina I woke up, but the damage is done. I’m sorry fellow Americans.
April 28th, 2009 at 11:54 pmAmerican Patsy Says:
Air Farce One…
WTF? “Air Farce?” Why don’t you support our troops?
April 28th, 2009 at 11:57 pmHey Jay Jay Bybee;
You think just because you worked for some chimp and received a plum job wearing a $350.00 robe, your legal opinion is something that should even be taken seriously?
A little torture is okay, WTF is that suppose to mean anyway?
It would be like your teenage daughter coming home someday crying her eyes out. You comfort her and ask her, “what’s wrong honey?” She replies, “Daddy…sob…I’m pregnant.” You respond, “WHAT!” Your daughter replies, “just a little.”
Your a disgrace, resign or get impeached.
April 29th, 2009 at 12:10 amIt is shocking how the Repugs actually think torture would hold water with any patriotic American. We’re a decent nation, not a bunch of thugs that Cheney and his boy portrayed us to be.
April 29th, 2009 at 12:13 amThis is the damage Bush has done.
April 29th, 2009 at 12:21 amKillgore Trout Says:
——————————————————————————–
This is the damage Bush has done.
Right on brother, absolutely disgraceful.
April 29th, 2009 at 12:28 amBybee will be found to be wrong, if they let the truth be known.
April 29th, 2009 at 12:49 am@53 American Patsy
Off Topic.
April 29th, 2009 at 12:56 amPRINCETON, NJ — Barack Obama’s first quarter in office concludes on Sunday, and during this early stage of his presidency he has averaged a solid 63% job approval, reaching as high as 69% in the initial days of his presidency and falling as low as 59% on a few occasions.
President Obama is off to a solid start as president, as far as his job approval ratings are concerned. His 63% first-quarter average is the better than the averages of each of his four predecessors, and the fourth best since 1953.
http://www.gallup.com/poll/117598/Obama-Averages-Approval-First-Quarter.aspx
April 29th, 2009 at 1:03 am.
Dear Mr. Bybee,
Hitler did it for his Country WHILE giving good speeches, too!
NO?
.
April 29th, 2009 at 1:14 am.
Q U E S T I O N:
Why are these memo’s consistently referred to as “Legal” memos?
Are memos legal when they advise how to violate the law?
These memos are not legal, or at least that is the issue at hand for their advice was a rationale to violate the law. Where as legal memos instruct and advise on how to remain within the bounds of the law…
… NO?
.
April 29th, 2009 at 1:19 amAmerican Patsy Says:
Why are YOU trying to change the subject TROLL??? What is it with you morons. Its always look over there, no over there, ANYWHERE but the topic. Go back to your bridge troll.
April 29th, 2009 at 1:23 amAmerican Patsy Says:
Why are you trying to change the subject troll. What is it with you morons constantly whining, look over there or over there or anywhere but the TOPIC? Go back to your bridge troll
April 29th, 2009 at 1:24 amAmerican Punk Says:
Look over there or over there AGAIN. Bite me you ignorant worthless punkass troll
April 29th, 2009 at 1:27 amjudges are lawyers with black robes on and until we figure out that we will continue to think that judges are more ethical than lawyers.
look at the supreme court it is all about political ideaology. supreme court judges even made sure bush jr won in florida.
hey that worked out well.
as an american citizen you can be dragged out of your house and kept in jail forever and no rights to a lawyer and even tortured.
nice going americans first hit on america and we lose our bill of rights.
also we have two unwinable wars.
benny boy has to be happy in his cave. one hit did us in.
revenge can backfire big time .
April 29th, 2009 at 1:37 amEugene,
The patsy spoke…
… And now we all know who the patsy is.
I’ll try not to point and laugh to long, K, AP?
April 29th, 2009 at 1:39 amAnyone want to bet that Bybee’s payoff for writing those memos was the seat on the 9th circuit bench?
April 29th, 2009 at 1:41 am.
What if Instead of the Nuremberg Trials There Was Only a Truth Commission?
http://rebelreports.com/post
By Jeremy Scahill
.
April 29th, 2009 at 1:44 amAmerican Patsy Says:
Mr. Obama is the second-least-popular president in 40 years.
And this is what America has to say about your party patsy:
WP/ABC Poll:
Do you approve or disapprove of the way (ITEM) are doing their job?
Republicans in Congress:
Approve/Disapprove/No Opinion
4/24/09 30 64 6
2/22/09 38 56 6
How much confidence do you have in [ITEM] to make the right decisions for the country’s future – a great deal of confidence, a good amount, just some or none at all?
Republicans in Congress
Net/Great Deal/Good Amount/Just Some/None at all/No opinion
4/24/09 21 4 16 78 50 28 2
1/16/09 29 8 21 69 49 21 2
Generally speaking, do you usually think of yourself as (a Democrat), (a Republican), an independent or what? IF NOT DEMOCRAT OR REPUBLICAN: Do you lean more towards the (Democratic Party) or (Republican Party)?
Democrat /Republican /Independent /Other /No op./Lean Dem./Lean Rep. /No Lean
4/24/09 35 21 38 5 * 18 16 10
3/29/09 36 25 33 5 1 15 16 8
Did you get that patsy. Only 21% of Americans identify with your party and you have lost 4% in the last month alone.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/polls/postpoll_042609.html
April 29th, 2009 at 1:44 amLaying the groundwork for his defense at impeachment. The problem is it is a defense that convicts him. His “opinion” is not a judgment on torture as much as guidelines for perps to rationalize their crimes. I agree with Bilbo @63. This monstrous set of memos were written in exchange for his seat on the bench.
April 29th, 2009 at 1:46 amlaworder Says:
It is shocking how the Repugs actually think torture would hold water with any patriotic American. We’re a decent nation, not a bunch of thugs that Cheney and his boy portrayed us to be.
Unfortunately only 51% seem to think that it’s a bad thing and needs to be investigated. But, that’s because the polling always refers to it as “enhanced interrogation” instead of torture.
Did everyone watch Countdown tonight with the Bush tapes where he said that we would not tolerate torture and would prosecute anyone who committed torture (saying this to Saddam Hussein before he invaded Iraq). And then after Abu Garab saying that we must fully investigate and get to the bottom of who authorized the treatment in the pictures that were released?
In case you missed it, here is a link to that segment. I’m keeping the link handy to give to any troll who says that torture should not be prosecuted or investigated.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677/#30464632
April 29th, 2009 at 1:50 amBilbo @#63,
I’ve been asking that question since around 2006. They’ve all been rewarded for their participation in violating the Constitution in one form or another.
But what I’m still puzzled on is what role Harriet Miers played?
… But that’s for a different thread sometime in the future.
.
April 29th, 2009 at 1:52 amI caught a second of the Jon Stewart show tonight. His guest said that the CIA utilized “harsh interrogation” on ONLY 3 subjects. Probably not, but perhaps that’s true. The CIA may have directly harshly interrogated but a few individuals. But who tortured the rest of them?
BushCo farmed everything else out to private contractors. Might torture (err…information gathering) have been farmed out too? (It surely was…alleged black sites, etc.) And what if they crossed Bybees’ “thin line”?
Bet Bybee is happy the CIA destroyed those tapes. Gotta love the ACLU.
http://www.aclu.org/safefree/torture/38872prs20090302.html
April 29th, 2009 at 1:56 amMycelium,
http://www.russiatoday.com/Politics/2009-04-10/CIA_shutters_overseas_secret_shops_of_horror.html
:(
April 29th, 2009 at 2:09 amAmerican Patsy Says:
Air Farce One flew over Ground Zero, why?
[translation]
American Patsy Says: I can’t think of any way shape or form to defend bybee so instead I’ll go off topic like the good little inbred girly troll that I am.
[/translation]
Very good little girly troll. Now go back to your room and play with your Barbies.
April 29th, 2009 at 2:20 amMax Anax junius @70
Closed and records destroyed no doubt. CYA first in order and they’ve had plenty of heads up.
I’m preaching to the choir but a special prosecutor is needed.
April 29th, 2009 at 2:25 amMycelium,
You mean like at #64?
.
April 29th, 2009 at 2:43 am.
Conyers, Nadler request special prosecutor on torture
By Raw Story
Published: April 28, 2009
Bye, bye, Bybee…
… Now, Bybee, dontcha cry.
.
April 29th, 2009 at 2:51 amDoh…
April 29th, 2009 at 3:03 amhttp://rawstory.com/08/blog/2009/04/28/conyers-nadler-request-special-prosecutor-on-torture/
I’m not legal beagle, but I do remember being told everyone is equal in the eyes of the law. If that is true, then why would someone identified as being high-ranking be subjected to harsher treatment than someone of lesser-ranking? Does our legal profession seek out harsher penalties and treatment for white-collar criminals over blue-collar criminals? I don’t think so. In fact, I believe white-collared criminals are afforded the luxury of prisons dubbed as country clubs whereas blue-collar criminals find themselves in the worst man-made hells on earth. There seems to be a distinct disconnect with Bybee’s legal logic and the law as it is written. Especially seeing how he cannot/did not offer supporting precedent upon which his decision was based on the good-faith analysis of the law as he so claims.
April 29th, 2009 at 3:59 amBybee,
Basically I tried to appease Cheney the best I could. I covered my butt by having other Cheney minion lawyers approve it too. I didn’t torture, they did.
In my mind I it was legal because we said it was. We expected McCain to be president and none of this would even be a question. I could have been given a medal by McCain for my sucumbing actions to Cheney. It is what the Bush Adm hired me for. It was my moment of power. I worked hard to get to the top and I was going to come through for the Bush Adm because I Believed in them and I took that oath to the president.
This is what it sounds like………..
April 29th, 2009 at 4:29 amAs with the primary campaign we As Americans are now looking at the same problem of deciding whether or not we are sophisticated enough nation to “MULTITASK”. The one person who suspended his campaign and “went back to Washington” said no we can’t we can only do “one thing at a time”. I don’t think the American people thought much of that opinion. On the other hand, his opponent “that other guy…what’s his name? I forget because they now call him Mr. President so often or the Winner…..something like that proved we Americans CAN multitask..
PLEASE….It does not have to be mandatory that we devote the entire eight-hour workday of the whole administration just to prosecute a few damn criminals. The justice department does it every day. If they had robbed your house or raped your little girl(not something I am inexperienced with, my daughter was raped so I do not use this example lightly) I assure you, you would demand they be held accountable.
Why is it that the only two positions that seem to be considered in the media are retribution or exoneration? Where the hell is right and wrong? Where the hell is emphasis on lawbreaking-guilt or innocence? What about “A country of laws, not men”? Who are these people they deserve a free pass? Based upon your logic, when one has been exposed to a major tragedy certain crimes are excusable.
My I remind you, our children are watching us to see how we respond to this band of criminals. They are watching to see if we are really stand up people or “blowing in the wind”. If we don’t stand now, in the face of such atrocities against mankind, when will we stand? This is the same attitude that has allowed the resulting 200 years of discrimination against Blacks after slavery. No damn body will stand firm and condemn wrong. everybody wants “get over it and let it go”! If we as a people, stand FIRM for what is right instead of always trying to marginalize and minimize the pain caused by the lawbreaking of citizens, who are just as obligated to obey the same laws that we ourselves have to obey, it will make us a stronger nation. We will survive OK….We’ll live and succeed through doing the right thing.
I must disagree with you on this matter, sir. As an Honorably discharged US Army Veteran I cringe when I think of what “retribution” these people have set in motion for our military serving around the world. It only aggravates my anger when coupled with the fact that the authorizers of this treatment of out opponents were all cowards who ran from voluntary and compulsory service as fast as they could, when their number was called. They have been cowards their entire lives yet you want us to “let them off the hook” when they offer up our brave men and women to be subjects of torture. Make no mistake about it, that is exactly what these weak-spine men did.
NO! Prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law, immediately, if not sooner. No only prosecute them but I strongly advocate waterboarding them, and slamming their damn heads against a “flexible wall” too. Since they seem to think that is appropriate punishment for withholding information I’m sure with all the information they have withheld they should find no problem with the experience!
April 29th, 2009 at 5:14 amOf course, it’s not just one judge. Every Republican is a traitor at heart.
April 29th, 2009 at 5:31 amBybee is but one symptom of the larger Bush White House illness. It will take many years and a lot more money to fix the Republican mess left behind by Bush and his GOP cabal.
April 29th, 2009 at 7:03 amUmmmmm Bybee? On September 10, 2001 Americans for decades knew waterboarding was considered torture and any country doing it would be held up for war crimes. Even George Bush said torture was war crimes….
Oh, but wait! Georgie said that in response TO AMERICANS BEING TORTURED! Yeah, yeah, ONLY AMERICANS CAN TORTURE AND NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND! See? AMERICANS CAN TORTURE….NO ONE ELSE CAN. Spit.
Anyway, Mr. Bybee, YOU PURPOSELY WROTE DOWN ON PAPER THAT TORTURE IS JUST, PURE, AND GOOD to give the go ahead to those in the Bush Regime to torture (and in some instances to kill!). You were pro-torture, pro-breaking-the-law, and pro-war-crimes.
You must be either impeached, disbarred, or tried in a war crimes court. Which would you prefer?
April 29th, 2009 at 7:05 amIsn’t this even worse? These lawyers showed a gross lack of moral principles. They should have resigned rather than succumb to political pressure. They certainly should not be sitting on the bench because one can never know whether they have again caved to political pressure rather than ruling based on law. I know I sure wouldn’t trust them.
April 29th, 2009 at 7:35 amKayInMaine Says:
Ummmmm Bybee? On September 10, 2001 Americans for decades knew waterboarding was considered torture and any country doing it would be held up for war crimes. Even George Bush said torture was war crimes….
http://www.truthout.org/042009J
“If there is somebody captured,” President George W. Bush told reporters on March 23, 2003, “I expect those people to be treated humanely. If not, the people who mistreat the prisoners will be treated as war criminals.”
Oh, but wait! Georgie said that in response TO AMERICANS BEING TORTURED! Yeah, yeah, ONLY AMERICANS CAN TORTURE AND NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND! See? AMERICANS CAN TORTURE….NO ONE ELSE CAN. Spit.
Anyway, Mr. Bybee, YOU PURPOSELY WROTE DOWN ON PAPER THAT TORTURE IS JUST, PURE, AND GOOD to give the go ahead to those in the Bush Regime to torture (and in some instances to kill!). You were pro-torture, pro-breaking-the-law, and pro-war-crimes.
You must be either impeached, disbarred, or tried in a war crimes court. Which would you prefer?
Since what he did falls in line with treason against the United States of America….. You know what the penalty is for that, do you?
April 29th, 2009 at 7:41 amIn other words…. Option 4. DEATH!
April 29th, 2009 at 7:46 amI am very surprised the redneck inbred hillbilly trolls did not make the slightest attempt to defend this obvious war criminal. I was hoping to give at least one troll a verbal beat down.
April 29th, 2009 at 7:49 amI believed at the time, and continue to believe today, that the conclusions were legally correct.”
And that’s exactly why you’ll be impeached, dipshit.
April 29th, 2009 at 8:16 am[H]e said: “The central question for lawyers was a narrow one; locate, under the statutory definition, the thin line between harsh treatment of a high-ranking Al Qaeda terrorist that is not torture and harsh treatment that is.”
*******************************************************
No matter how you might try to slice it, this is the essential translation:
“Come up with a list of cruel and unusual punishments which we would not be permitted to use against US citizens, strike off anything which has a high potential for causing death or permanent injury — and then give us your permission to do anything and everything that’s left on the list to people who are not US citizens and who may or may not be terrorists. Since we have your permission, we can tell ourselves that it really isn’t torture but just ‘harsh interrogation’. Why not? After all, we turn a blind eye to the accidental yet brutal slaughter of innocent civilians in a combat area and euphemistally call it ‘collateral damage’ — so how is this much different?”
Make no mistake…what we’ve implicitly got here is a slightly more intense recreation of the infamous Stanford Prison Experiment from 1971, which was scheduled to run for two weeks but was prematurely terminated after six days because it was getting out of hand. (It was estimated that one-third of the middle-class college students randomly assigned to the role of “guard”, despite being pre-screened as healthy and psychologically stable were — although strict instructions prevented them from physically harming the prisoners in any way — demonstrating genuinely sadistic behavior and that many of those assigned to the role of “prisoner” were becoming emotionally traumatized.) The only differences are that this is happening in real life instead of a research setting, involves real prisoners rather than volunteers acting out a role, and is not subject to time restrictions. Oh…and the fact that it’s the US government doing this, the same government which stridently claims to believe in freedom and human rights.
April 29th, 2009 at 8:27 amok. let’s just see how his opinion fares with that of the free world.
April 29th, 2009 at 8:53 amDid you check to see if his fingers were srossed?
April 29th, 2009 at 8:59 amLie. Deny. Obfuscate and, if finally outed, claim you were in the right all along.
This guy NEEDS to be disbarred, much less removed from the bench.
April 29th, 2009 at 9:04 am“Buh-bye-bee”.
April 29th, 2009 at 9:23 amConservativeForProgress Says:
Actually, that’s exactly why he can’t be impeached dipsh*t; but I wouldn’t expect you to understand that.
So to you torture is legal no matter what federal and international treaties imply? Face the facts inbreed. Bybee made what is obviously ILLEGAL legal in order to be rewarded a judicial appointment by Bushitler “dips*it”; FACT! but I wouldn’t expect you to understand that since rethug hillbillies like you ignore facts. Deal with it you fu*king moron!
If you were tortured by islamofascists, you’d be singing a different song and you know it. LOSER.
April 29th, 2009 at 9:45 amKeep defending the indefensible criminal act. I’m willing to bet you have a criminal record yourself.
April 29th, 2009 at 9:47 amBybee must be disbarred, impeached and imprisoned for criminal behavior and abusing public office. But I imagine the great Universe has much more in store for this karmic soul.
April 29th, 2009 at 10:14 amIt is a well known fact that many things “legal” are immoral. I’m sorry, but his excuse makes him more cupable than ever.
April 29th, 2009 at 11:22 amO.K., time for a little sanity check here, although talking to you folks IS like talking to the insane (or a drunk.) I don’t expect I will make a dent in your THICK skulls…
First, the United States DID NOT engage in torture. Period.
The intent of all the so-called harsh interrogation techniques was not to inflict permanent emotional or physical damage on the individuals it was used on! The intent was to gain useful information. This is not a distinction without a difference, my friends. If you actually READ the memos, you will gain an understanding of the extraordinary lengths we went to in order NOT to actually torture these terrorists!
Second, if these techniques some people like to characterize as torture WERE actually illegal, then how was it that they WERE APPROVED BY CONGRESS, Hmmmm?????
The simple truth is that we used just the right amount of force to gain VERY valuable intelligence from these terrorists. Too bad our new President hasn’t seen fit to tell the whole story.
April 29th, 2009 at 7:58 pmThanks Sites Sesli Sohbet
April 30th, 2009 at 8:28 amSesli Chat
SesliSohbet
SesliChat