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Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Dispatches from the Bush Posse #18


Who are the "Bush Six"?


1.  Alberto Gonzales, former US Attorney General

2.  Jay Bybee, federal Appeals Court Judge and former Assistant Attorney General

3.  John Yoo, University of California law professor and former Deputy Assistant Attorney General 

4.  William J. Haynes II, former Defense Department general counsel and current Chevron lawyer 

5.  David Addington, Vice President Cheney’s former chief of staff 

6.  Douglas J. Feith, former Undersecretary of Defense 


Pressure Grows to Investigate Interrogations from the New York Times

Could easily see this coming down.  Prediction: appointment of a special prosecutor/investigator by ... a week from Friday.

"While Mr. Obama vowed not to prosecute C.I.A. officers for acting on legal advice, on Monday aides did not rule out legal sanctions for the Bush lawyers who developed the legal basis for the use of the techniques."


Why Obama Needs to Reveal Even More on Torture (Robert Baer) from Time Magazine

This from a former CIA officer assigned to the Middle East.

"One memo notes that in 2004 the CIA obtained half of its reporting on this organization from detainees, many of whom "confessed" under abusive interrogation. A complete investigation into the quality of that information, I suspect, will prove we are going through this national trauma and international humiliation for absolutely nothing."


Impeach Jay Bybee from Slate

"While John Yoo did most of the staff work for Bybee, Yoo was barely 35 years old—and his memos showed it. They not only took extreme positions; they were legally incompetent, failing to consider many of the most obvious counterarguments. Bybee was 49. He was the grown-up, the seasoned jurist."


Torture from Afar (James Fallows) from the Atlantic

"Full process of American self-examination and accountability will make a tremendous long-term difference in international views of the United States. Even among those who at the moment don't know that there is any controversy going on within the United States."


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