Glenn has written a 3rd update. Article 7 is not incorporated in U.S. laws (not executed, I think, is the correct turn of phrase). The title of this post and much of his core argument in the initial post are not fully correct. However, my reading of him is that investigation of credible allegations of torture is apparently required, based on the portions of the treaty that were executed.

In 3 years this is the first time I've seen him this far off.

See if you can guess what THIS is...

http://www.wordle.net/gallery/wrdl/450432/Monarch%27s_top_100

or touch sig

Hint: I "made" it

Hint: GG, you might find it "interesting"

GG I'm sorry if you've addressed this but Charles McArthur Emmanuel was just convicted as a US citizen in US courts for torture commited overseas.

No mention of the sky falling in or oxygen being sucked out of the room.

"Our message to human rights violators, no matter where they are, remains the same: We will use the full reach of U.S. law ... to hold you accountable for your crimes," said Matthew Friedrich, acting chief of the U.S. Justice Department's criminal division, in a statement.

Any chance that this makes it harder to ignore all the self confessed torturers out there?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/09/AR2009010901119.html

Glenn has written a 3rd update. Article 7 is not incorporated in U.S. laws (not executed, I think, is the correct turn of phrase)

Actually, unless you know something that nobody else has been able to in down, this is way overstated.

The issue Heller raises is different from the one you're raising. He's arguing that Article 7 itself doesn't make prosecutions mandatory -- it affords some minimal discretion.

That's a totally different issue from whether Article 7 is incorporated into American law. I asked Heller, along with a few other international law experts, about this. Nobody has given a definitive answer, though it was Heller who pointed out that the Bush State Department's own 2005 report discusses Article 7 as though it is binding on the U.S. (just like the 2000 report did).

Actually, unless you know something that nobody else has been able to pin down, this is way overstated.

The issue Heller raises is different from the one you're raising. He's arguing that Article 7 itself doesn't make prosecutions mandatory -- it affords some minimal discretion. -- GlennGreenwald

No, I misread what you'd written in Update III. What is "minimal discretion" in this context?

But Steele, before you are relegated to the Sphere of Deviance altogether, I want you to know that I've followed many of your links with interest and found the Righteous Jews one especially useful.

You must mean this one:

http://desertpeace.wordpress.com/2009/01/13/the-righteous-jews-of-today/

Yes, that is nice to see. However, it would be anti-Semitic to assume that this is a representation of Jews in the main. Moreoever, there is no such thing as "the Jews." So, they appear to be a fringe element with little to no influence over the vast majority of the world's Jews.

Thanks for your feedback. But once the Fusion Centers generate their reports and see all the URLs you and I have visited, we will probably meet each other at some Halliburton Detention Center. I'll cook us up some rat tea, with spider crumpets.

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Mooser - because the IDF and Dershowitz are both JEWS! duh. His Mossad code-name is "Curly," and he is in charge of academia inthe United States. Didn't you see him remove Finkelstein from DePaul?

He supports Israel's aggression. That is why I mentioned him.

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This is some pretty heavy shit, I just found by following one of my sub-links.

http://www.csulb.edu/~kmacd/books-Preface.html

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0759672229/kevinmacdonal-20

However, my reading of him is that investigation of credible allegations of torture is apparently required, based on the portions of the treaty that were executed.

This is the argument/objection that Heller is making, and this is what I find basically persuasive (though I think he describes the discretion being larger than it is). It would make my headline -- "Binding U.S. law requires prosecutions for those who authorize torture" -- not accurate, because (as you say) it would really require only a real investigation and not require prosecutions. But it would also foreclose the in-advance decree that no investigations should happen and the DOJ should just decide without looking not to do anything here.

But again, that's a different issue than whether Article 7 was enacted by Congress.

In 3 years this is the first time I've seen him this far off.

I've been pretty wrong in the past on some occasions. That is inevitable. I probably should have looked more closely at the proceedings underneath the Senate ratification, but the fact that the argument was being made by Phillipe Sands (and, to a lesser though still substantial extent, Hilzoy and Dalhlia Lithwick) endowed it with some preliminary credibility for me.

The name is meaningless and is pronounced however you like.

You have mistaken me for an educated man. I can't follow your reasoning process. Mine is proprietary and with it I learned long ago, that there is no way to bring reason or logic into the categorization of races, ethnic group and gender. Besides being nearly impossible to categorize people so neatly, the amount of effort and energy necessary to succesfully categorize a group consisting of millions is beyond most people's off hours. One can use common sense observations to lead you to all sorts of conclusions. White people run America, fat people eat too much, men with big shoes are well endowed, Jews proliferate in the media--perhaps all true, but why would I spend time trying to prove such things when it is much easier and more effective to categorize people based on their actions, i.e. Republicans vote for war-mongering presidents. Its observable they do. Militarized governments tend to seek out war. There is historically observable data. The powerful seek to gain more power. Rulers seek absolute rule when possible. These are all noted dynamics that have accompanied humanity throughout history, and no one will give you any grief if you pepper your observations with them from time to time. The best thing about them is that you never look stupid inserting such an observation, because almost everyone of every race, gender, and class has noticed the same. Just some advice.