Obama releases secret Bush anti-terror memos

[KillSwitch_J]

By DEVLIN BARRETT and MATT APUZZO, Associated Press Writers Devlin Barrett And Matt Apuzzo, Associated Press Writers

WASHINGTON – The Obama administration threw open the curtain on years of Bush-era secrets Monday, revealing anti-terror memos that claimed exceptional search-and-seizure powers and divulging that the CIA destroyed nearly 100 videotapes of interrogations and other treatment of terror suspects.

The Justice Department released nine legal opinions showing that, following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the Bush administration determined that certain constitutional rights would not apply during the coming fight. Within two weeks, government lawyers were already discussing ways to wiretap U.S. conversations without warrants.

The Bush administration eventually abandoned many of the legal conclusions, but the documents themselves had been closely held. By releasing them, President Barack Obama continued a house-cleaning of the previous administration's most contentious policies.

"Too often over the past decade, the fight against terrorism has been viewed as a zero-sum battle with our civil liberties," Attorney General Eric Holder said in a speech a few hours before the documents were released. "Not only is that school of thought misguided, I fear that in actuality it does more harm than good."

The Obama administration also acknowledged in court documents Monday that the CIA destroyed 92 videos involving terror suspects, including interrogations — far more than had been known. Congressional Democrats and other critics have charged that some of the harsh interrogation techniques amounted to torture, a contention President George W. Bush and other Bush officials rejected.

The new administration pledged on Monday to begin turning over documents related to the videos to a federal judge and to make as much information public as possible.


Full story here:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090302/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/terror_memos

That last part about "turning over documents related to the videos to a federal judge" probably has a lot of people jumping for joy. As there is a lot of them out there that would love to see "Bush" brought before a federal court and tried for what they see as not only crimes against U.S citizens, but for involving the U.S in an unecessary war in iraq.

It will probably never happen given his families money and power. yet it doesn't keep some out there from dreaming though.

[Butcher]

Who would've thought that this guy:
http://www.2night.it/blog/wp-content/gallery/alisonjackson/AJ_0312_Bush-RubiksCube_L.jpg
had the brains for something like this eh?

[God Like]

Who would've thought that this guy:
http://www.2night.it/blog/wp-content/gallery/alisonjackson/AJ_0312_Bush-RubiksCube_L.jpg
had the brains for something like this eh?

lol'd at pic

[Agent 008]

Do ex-Presidents in the US have immunity? Current Presidents? Congressmen?

[bigwoodtommy]

i really dislike how ppl of the US or any other country criticize our former president so much. he is simply one man who tried to protect our country, tried to protect america from the evils of terrorism and extremism. he wasnt intterogating ppl and tapping our phones and trying to bypass the constitution to hurt us. also keep in mind that all of the things he did werent by himself. he is obviously advised by many ppl before he can take action on anything. please leave the man alone. no matter how much some of you ppl want him to be tried before a federal court it will never happen. theres no need to hope or dream for that becos i assure you it will never happen. and to all of you who think your messiah obama is going to fix anything, i pray that he does, but i can almost guarantee he will drive us into the ground. good intentions he may have but socialism is surely not the answer

[beergoggles]

Do ex-Presidents in the US have immunity? Current Presidents? Congressmen?

Haha, hell no. They break the law they are investigated/charged/whatever. Does not mean they can't buy their way out.

[ytter_man]

If only this had happened in 2003! :applaud::applaud::applaud:

[Mutant Funk Drink]

he wasnt intterogating ppl and tapping our phones and trying to bypass the constitution to hurt us.

Actually, he did all of those things.

[blackhype]

i really dislike how ppl of the US or any other country criticize our former president so much. he is simply one man who tried to protect our country, tried to protect america from the evils of terrorism and extremism. he wasnt intterogating ppl and tapping our phones and trying to bypass the constitution to hurt us. also keep in mind that all of the things he did werent by himself. he is obviously advised by many ppl before he can take action on anything. please leave the man alone. no matter how much some of you ppl want him to be tried before a federal court it will never happen. theres no need to hope or dream for that becos i assure you it will never happen. and to all of you who think your messiah obama is going to fix anything, i pray that he does, but i can almost guarantee he will drive us into the ground. good intentions he may have but socialism is surely not the answer
being a president bares great responsibility and accountability. even though a president is advised by many people, he can become a scapegoat and blame guilt on the man who carried the decisions out.

[Cytosine]

I would honestly rather see Cheney or Rumsfeld charged. Those fuckers were in it deeper than Bush ever was. The child emperor will likely end up being the scapegoat he was meant to be.

[Thelegendarylocke]

Good thing Bush fucked those sand niggers up

[Agent 008]

I would honestly rather see Cheney or Rumsfeld charged. Those fuckers were in it deeper than Bush ever was. The child emperor will likely end up being the scapegoat he was meant to be.

I agree.

[-SpectraL]

That last part about "turning over documents related to the videos to a federal judge" probably has a lot of people jumping for joy. As there is a lot of them out there that would love to see "Bush" brought before a federal court and tried for what they see as not only crimes against U.S citizens, but for involving the U.S in an unecessary war in iraq.

It will probably never happen given his families money and power. yet it doesn't keep some out there from dreaming though.Keep in mind though, a President cannot be prosecuted. Even now that he's stepped down to normal citizen, they can't retroactively incarcerate him when the proof comes out finally. Although Bush and a few of his murdering cronies are directly responsible for the 5000 or so deaths on 9/11, when he bombed the World Trade Centers, and also co-ordinated an illegal war against the U.S. Constitution using a self-fabricated war as the means to do it, the most that can happen to him is he will go through life being known as the most evil and vile mass-murderer ever to set foot on this Earth.

[JustAnotherAsshole]

Do ex-Presidents in the US have immunity? Current Presidents? Congressmen?

As I understand it, Ex-Presidents are still allowed to receive secret briefings, just like the current one. I don't think they've got immunity, but hell, who knows. They'd probably just buy their way out or use connections to make it go away.

Haha, hell no. They break the law they are investigated/charged/whatever. Does not mean they can't buy their way out.

You have no Idea how rich these people are.

Remember when we wanted to Impeach people in the Bush administration for war crimes? Right after they heard of the plan, Bush and all his friends got together and signed a bill that made it so we couldn't do that.

Then the CIA investigated itself and surprise, found itself innocent.

[-SpectraL]

I don't think they've got immunity, but hell, who knows. They'd probably just buy their way out or use connections to make it go away.



I said they have immunity because there is already a bit of precedent on that. Nixon was found to be guilty of criminal involvement, beyond a shadow of a doubt, but he never set foot in a criminal courtroom for it. There is nothing at al in the books that says a President can be charged and prosecuted for a crime, but neither does it say they cannot be. However, history has shown that it is an unwritten law that Presidents are in fact immune to criminal prosecution. It's just that in the old days, the very idea of a President committing a crime was preposterous, as the man or woman should already be beyond reproach, and no such provision should ever even have to exist. Little did they know back then about the likes of mass-murdering Bush and his black-flagging cronies.

[Mankonaut X]

^Well that fucking sucks and then some.

[Lao Tzu]

I'm all for it, but it worries me that Obama might have ulterior (not so benign) motives for releasing them.

[Agent 008]

I'm all for it, but it worries me that Obama might have ulterior (not so benign) motives for releasing them.

It's only natural.

I wish there were more honest people that would whistleblow when something fishy starts to go down. It's much better when "the people" force information release, and not the government that decides to publish whatever is convenient at the time.

[Lao Tzu]

It's much better when "the people" force information release, and not the government that decides to publish whatever is convenient at the time.

I agree completely.
I think that "the people" of western society are disturbingly docile at the moment.

[Agent 008]

I agree completely.
I think that "the people" of western society are disturbingly docile at the moment.

Well, I can't remember any nation ever that had the people demand access to classified documents. Even when the Soviet Union ceased to be, and the archives were to be declassified and made public (which the new Russian government promised to do, to get more trust and popularity) - most of the documents remained secret.

So one can't expect the ordinary people to one day start demanding classified information - they just don't really care. The only hope is for the people who come in direct contact with the information to disobey the subordination and make the info public - risking their lives if the information doesn't bring much public resonance.
And considering that they have probably learned the lessons of the "Pentagon Papers", I doubt they let anyone unreliable close to the sensitive documents - which unfortunately means, that all we can do is speculate.

At least, in 25 years we may have more to play with.

[KillSwitch_J]

i really dislike how ppl of the US or any other country criticize our former president so much. he is simply one man who tried to protect our country, tried to protect america from the evils of terrorism and extremism. he wasnt intterogating ppl and tapping our phones and trying to bypass the constitution to hurt us. also keep in mind that all of the things he did werent by himself. he is obviously advised by many ppl before he can take action on anything. please leave the man alone. no matter how much some of you ppl want him to be tried before a federal court it will never happen. theres no need to hope or dream for that becos i assure you it will never happen. and to all of you who think your messiah obama is going to fix anything, i pray that he does, but i can almost guarantee he will drive us into the ground. good intentions he may have but socialism is surely not the answer

:facepalm:

oh to be so young and so naive.