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NYT Editorial Board Demands Criminal Prosecution Of Dick Cheney For CIA Torture Program
NYT Editorial Board Demands Criminal Prosecution Of Dick Cheney For CIA Torture Program.
The New York Times editorial board has called on President Barack Obama and the Justice Department to launch a criminal investigation into the CIA’s use of torture, in a scathing editorial published Sunday.
The board demanded that the investigation look into involvement of former Vice President Dick Cheney, as well as several other former Bush officials, with regards to the Senate Intelligence Committee’s report detailing the CIA’s post-Sept. 11 torture program. The 500-page report, released in early December, examined the tactics inflicted upon terrorism suspects, whom interrogators waterboarded to the point of near drowning and rectally rehydrated.
“These are, simply, crimes,” the board wrote.
“No amount of legal pretzel logic can justify the behavior detailed in the report,” The Times continued. “Indeed, it is impossible to read it and conclude that no one can be held accountable. At the very least, Mr. Obama needs to authorize a full and independent criminal investigation.”
The board then asked the big, lingering question: As the U.S. seeks to regain “moral credibility,” who should be held responsible? While the editors themselves could not answer, the board named those they strongly feel should be investigated first, in addition to Cheney, including: Cheney’s chief of staff, David Addington; former CIA director George Tenet; and Office of Legal Counsel attorneys John Yoo and Jay Bybee, among others.
More from The New York Times:
Noam Chomsky: The U.S. Declares Itself to Be the World’s Leading Terror State and Is Proud of It – Truthdig
The acclaimed linguist and philosopher sits down with GRITtv’s Laura Flanders to discuss the crimes America was founded on, how social movements like the Ferguson protests can help the U.S. progress, and other topics such as capitalism, China and his friendship with none other than Amy Goodman’s father.
…click on the above link to view the interview…
CIA report: ‘Torture is a crime and those responsible must be brought to justice’ | US news | theguardian.com
The UN, human rights activists and legal experts have renewed calls for the Obama administration to prosecute US officials responsible for the CIA torture programme revealed in extensive detail following the release of a damning report by the Senate intelligence committee.
The report, released on Tuesday, found the CIA misled the White House, the Justice Department, Congress and the public over a torture programme that was both ineffective and more brutal than the agency disclosed.
“Today’s release once again makes crystal clear that the US government used torture. Torture is a crime and those responsible for crimes must be brought to justice,” Amnesty International USA’s executive director, Steven W Hawkins, said in a statement.
“Under the UN convention against torture, no exceptional circumstances whatsoever can be invoked to justify torture, and all those responsible for authorising or carrying out torture or other ill-treatment must be fully investigated.”
In Geneva, the United Nations’s special rapporteur on human rights and counter-terrorism, Ben Emmerson, said CIA officers and other US government officials should be prosecuted.
“The fact that the policies revealed in this report were authorised at a high level within the US government provides no excuse whatsoever,” Emmerson said in a statement.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
