Binding U.S. law requires prosecutions for those who authorize torture

*UPDATED BELOW**UPDATED AGAIN below – new video*
If Bush and his people admit that they ok’ed using torture (and they do admit it), and we have a law specifically forbidding it, even under the circumstances Bush et al describe as being the reasons they ok’ed it (and we do)…..and the Obama administration says that the acts used constitute torture (and they have), then they HAVE TO prosecute everyone involved, end of story.

“As a matter of fact,” Bush added, “I told the country we did that. And I told them it was legal. We had legal opinions that enabled us to do it.”

Hmmm…..legal “opinions” eh?

Sorry, “opinions” are not laws, that’s why they are called “opinions”, and laws are called “laws”. A law is….well…a LAW! And everyone has to adhere to it’s standard. And opinions…..well…they are like assholes, everyone has one, and for the most part, nobody else cares about anyone else’s. Unless you happen to be getting waterboarded by the Bush administration, then you probably wish they had a different “opinion”.

Here’s a more detailed and referenced article, but the bottom line is, all the criteria for prosecution is in place, if Obama does NOT prosecute, then he will be breaking the law as well, and will “own” part of the crime as an co-conspirator.

Now I like Obama in general, ( though as I’ve said before, he’s HARDLY a liberal or anything even close to it), but it’s time to get our legal bearings set straght again in this country. And screw “moral”, this is simple unbiased no point of view LAW BREAKING we’re talking about, not some “morality” that’s open to debate or subjective interpretation. This is objective, court-testable “you broke the law, and in this country NO ONE is above the law, for ANY reason“.

Now maybe they wouldn’t be found guilty (!?!?!?!?), but THEY MUST BE TRIED FOR THE CRIMES!

A precedent (if you can call it that) must be set, that no matter who you are, or your justifications, or the political climate at the time, or what’s expedient, or what the other side will do if you do it, the bottom line is that THE PUBLIC has the right to have it’s leaders held to the same standards they themselves must adhere to. And future political leaders and their administrations must know that they WILL be held to account for their actions. You break the law, you get to go to court to have a conversation about it. Maybe (probably) you get off, but the public has the right to see it all, and to make sure the law is equal, and no one is above it. Not even the people who make it.

If you want to keep these people under control, you have to force them, otherwise they will own you every time.

Here’s an excellent bit on this from a constitutional law professor..

Here’s more from the same professor –

Here’s a UN investigator speaking about the treaty and what we have to do about it.

“We have clear evidence,” he said. “In our report that we sent to the United Nations, we made it clear that former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld clearly authorized torture methods and he was told at that time by Alberto Mora, the legal council of the Navy, ‘Mr. Secretary, what you are actual ordering here amounts to torture.’ So, there we have the clear evidence that Mr. Rumsfeld knew what he was doing but, nevertheless, he ordered torture.”