Don’t Let Them Bury Torture Crimes

Evidently, CIA director Michael Hayden decided that Super Tuesday was a good day to bury bad news, and he wasn’t far from wrong. Yesterday Director Hayden admitted that the US Government has used waterboarding on at least 3 people. This is the first such clear admission by the Bush Administration.

Let’s be clear. Waterboarding is torture and torture is a crime.

1. The Anti-Torture Act criminalizes the use of torture;
   
2. Article 3 of the Geneva Convention prohibits cruel treatment, torture and outrages upon personal dignity, in particular, humiliating and degrading treatment;
   
3. The War Crimes Act criminalizes the use of torture and abuse against detainees protected by the Geneva Conventions, which includes terrorist suspects;
   
4. The U.S.-ratified Convention Against Torture prohibits all torture and cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment;
   
5. The McCain Amendment of the Detainee Treatment Act reaffirms the prohibition of torture in the Convention Against Torture;
   
6. General criminal laws such as federal statutes criminalize conduct such as assaults by or against Americans in federal facilities.

I like to think that on any other day, an admission by the Director of the CIA that employees of the federal government violated international and federal laws would be a headline. I’d like to think that people would notice. However, after the litany of high crimes and misdemeanors committed by the Bush Administration, the public has grown too weary to care. And with the feeding frenzy of the election to replace Bush, the press hardly noticed.

Are we still a good and decent people? Do we still care if our government violated the law? If we are, then don’t let this be buried. Don’t let this issue die. Write a letter to the editor. Tell everyone you know about it. We can’t let the head of the CIA come to congress and admit that the US violated laws without consequences.

The Case for Impeachment

I often write blog entries, expecting nothing more than someone nod politely in agreement. That gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling, and most of the time, that’s enough. Today’s blog entry is not like that. I hope you read this article, take direct and immediate action and then pass this article on to everyone you know. I hope to add my voice and yours to a non-violent revolution to impeach the imperial president, George W. Bush and his bulldog, Dick Cheney.

When I first began this blog, I started with an article that listed several areas that deeply upset me and motivated me to begin writing. That was July, 2006. After more than 18 months, I’m angrier than ever. So, perhaps it’s time for another list of grievances. As the writers of the Declaration of Independence declared:

“…The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.”

Therefore, “King” George W. Bush, Imperial President, unresponsive to the will of your people, we do hereby submit these facts to a candid world:

He has sent the NSA to spy on the people without warrant and without cause. He uses unconstitutional broad warrants, as aggrieving as the writs of assistance” were to the colonists.

He purposely ignores the minimal FISA requirements that were legally passed by the will of the people, violating the law.

He issues signing statements negating the law of the land and declaring himself to be above the law.

He has held prisoners indefinitely, without charges and incommunicado. He has held people, many of whom are still unaccounted for, in secret prisons.

He arbitrarily declared people, including US Citizens to be “enemy combatants.” He has stripped the fundamental right of Habeas Corpus from prisoners.

He has declared that the requirements of Article 3 of the Geneva Convention do not apply during times of war, an argument that was rejected by the United Nations Committee Against Torture. He has ordered the torture of prisoners and allowed evidence of the torture to be destroyed.

He has carried out a campaign of “extraordinary rendition” (outsourced torture) while hiding behind a cloak of “states secrets” and “executive privilege.”

Therefore, investigative hearings should be convened by Congress as soon as possible to determine whether these and other actions constitute “high crimes and misdemeanors” as defined by the Constitution, leading to impeachment.