In honor of Independence Day and the Declaration of Independence, let us remember that
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness."
This means that any one destroying or interfering with the unalienable right of Liberty of each and every person detained at Guantanamo is doing so in violation of Creator endowed unalienable Rights.
As Firedoglake commented: "You follow the Rule of Law. You uphold the Constitution, what it stands for, and honor every drop of blood spilled since the Revolution to establish and defend it. You honor your oath to office. You do the right thing and have accountability on the merits. That is what you do, and it is time for a concerted effort from the grassroots to demand just that. To paraphrase Ben Franklin, those who would give up the essential Rule of Law for temporary security and political gain, deserve neither."
Note that President Obama's nominee to be the next general counsel of the agency, when asked whether waterboarding is torture (paragraphs 12 and 13), reportedly testified:
"I have not reached that conclusion."
Thus leaving open the prospect that Obama's nominee will decide, as did his predecessor, that waterboarding is not torture, leading to the literal death by what amounts to essentially crucifixion of yet more people in government custody.
In a few years, there will be yet another article by Jane Mayer such as this one referred to at the press conference where the commencement of professional disciplinary proceedings against two lawyers who were allegedly torture enablers at the CIA was announced:
"According to a June 22 article in The New Yorker magazine, cited during the press conference today, an Iraqi prisoner in US custody was crucified – dying from asphyxiation while hanging from his arms during a CIA interrogation.
'An Iraqi prisoner named Manadel al-Jamadi died on November 4, 2003, while being interrogated by the C.I.A. at Abu Ghraib prison, outside Baghdad,' the New Yorker’s Jane Meyer wrote. 'A forensic examiner found that he had essentially been crucified; he died from asphyxiation after having been hung by his arms, in a hood, and suffering broken ribs. Military pathologists classified the case a homicide.'"
It's time for this nominee to stay in the private sector until he has reached the conclusion that waterboarding is torture and sufficient additional time has elapsed, say about 40 years.
It's time for President Obama to stop listening to and employing (using hard earned taxpayer dollars) the people who found, allegedly vetted, supported, and proposed this nominee.
Torture autopsy. More here, and here; apparently we're not through yet. Yes, we. This is being done in your name. Angry yet? Tell your elected representatives!
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Briefs
Pink slip would be Sanford’s fate in private sector. As someone else observed, when are the Republicans going to advocate using the always superior private sector principles and procedures in this case: