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The AP has a good lol Obama story.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jNJh9ZFMqkoehf9byAYKGnm-EKYQD94H27D80
WASHINGTON (AP) — Barack Obama's incoming administration is unlikely to bring criminal charges against government officials who authorized or engaged in harsh interrogations of suspected terrorists during the George W. Bush presidency. Obama, who has criticized the use of torture, is being urged by some constitutional scholars and human rights groups to investigate possible war crimes by the Bush administration.Two Obama advisers said there's little — if any — chance that the incoming president's Justice Department will go after anyone involved in authorizing or carrying out interrogations that provoked worldwide outrage.
Anonymous advisers, of course. And here it is, the coming whitewash of the whole sordid affair:
Obama has committed to reviewing interrogations on al-Qaida and other terror suspects. After he takes office in January, Obama is expected to create a panel modeled after the 9/11 Commission to study interrogations, including those using waterboarding and other tactics that critics call torture. The panel's findings would be used to ensure that future interrogations are undisputedly legal.
Might as well start pretending it didn't happen. It never happened. Nothing ever happens.
Here is a knee slapper:
"I know of no one who acted in reckless disregard of U.S. law or international law," said Culvahouse, who served under President Ronald Reagan. "It's just not good for the intelligence community and the defense community to have people in the field, under exigent circumstances, being told these are the rules, to be exposed months and years after the fact to criminal prosecution."
It's just not good *finger wag*.
There is one line of apparent dissent:
"The only way to prevent this from happening again is to make sure that those who were responsible for the torture program pay the price for it," Ratner said. "I don't see how we regain our moral stature by allowing those who were intimately involved in the torture programs to simply walk off the stage and lead lives where they are not held accountable."
But just in case it isn't clear:
Barack Obama's incoming administration is unlikely to bring criminal charges against government officials who authorized or engaged in harsh interrogations of suspected terrorists during the George W. Bush presidency.
...
Two Obama advisers said there's little — if any — chance that the incoming president's Justice Department will go after anyone involved in authorizing or carrying out interrogations that provoked worldwide outrage.
...
Additionally, the question of whether to prosecute may never become an issue if Bush issues pre-emptive pardons to protect those involved.
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The panel's findings would be used to ensure that future interrogations are undisputedly legal.
...
Obama's most ardent supporters are split on whether he should prosecute Bush officials.[lol?]
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"These things are not going to happen," said Leahy, D-Vt.
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Robert Litt, a former top Clinton administration Justice Department prosecutor, said Obama should focus on moving forward with anti-torture policy instead of looking back.
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Bush could take the issue of criminal charges off the table with one stroke of his pardons pen.
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Under the Constitution, the president's power to issue pardons is absolute and cannot be overruled.
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Pre-emptive pardons would be highly controversial, but former White House counsel Arthur B. Culvahouse Jr. said it would protect those who were following orders or otherwise trying to protect the nation.
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"I know of no one who acted in reckless disregard of U.S. law or international law," said Culvahouse, who served under President Ronald Reagan.
Andrew Sullivan says maybe we can have a Truth and Reconciliation Committee instead of appointing a special prosecutor:
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/11/a-question-of-w.html
But it might also be feasible for Obama to set up a Truth and Reconciliation Commission that, in return for legal immunity in the US, could at least unearth and publicize the full evidence and records of the past eight years. We would at least know more about who authorized what and when. And in a democracy, we need to know, when such immesne power is being exercised on our behalf.
So, we can "expose" the criminals with a whitewash in exchange for immunity in the US. That way they can live in their fortress mansions, eat steak dinners every night, and parade around the US giving quarter of a million dollar speeches. What will probably happen is that they will live in their fortress mansions, eat steak dinners every night, parade around the country giving quarter of a million dollar speeches, jet set to Dubai, and say fuck all to anyone that gets in their way.
