Saturday, May 14, 2005

The Raw Story | Ranking Judiciary Democrat in House, along with others, call for counsel on alleged U.S. 'war crimes'

So it begins. This is not the trail that leads to sperm stains on a blue dress, but the trail of tortured bodies that leads back to the fundamental betrayal of humanity that lies at the heart of the Bush/Blair administration.

The Raw Story | Ranking Judiciary Democrat in House, along with others, call for counsel on alleged U.S. 'war crimes':

"Dear Mr. Attorney General:
We are writing to request that you appoint a special counsel to investigate whether high-ranking officials within the Bush Administration violated the War Crimes Act, 18 U.S.C. 2441, or the Anti-Torture Act, 18 U.S.C. 2340 by allowing the use of torture techniques banned by domestic and international law at recognized and secret detention sites in Iraq, Afghanistan Guantanamo Bay and elsewhere.
One year and 10 investigations after we first learned about the atrocities committed at Abu Ghraib, there has yet to be a comprehensive, neutral and objective investigation with prosecutorial authority of who is ultimately responsible for the abuses there and elsewhere. While more than 130 low-ranking officers and enlisted soldiers have been disciplined or face courts-martial for the abuses that occurred, there have been no criminal charges against high-ranking officials. Yet the pattern of abuse across several countries did not result from the acts of individual soldiers who broke the rules. It resulted from decisions made by senior U.S. officials to bend, ignore, or cast rules aside."