BLOGGER TEMPLATES Memes

Friday, July 28, 2006

George And Friends Are Afraid Of Criminal Charges

Detainee Abuse Charges Feared; Shield Sought From '96 War Crimes Act

Well, isn't that odd? The criminals are afraid of getting caught, thanks to a law their own party pushed through Congress back in the late '90s.

Perhaps you all shouldn't be violating the Geneva Conventions on a daily basis?

An obscure law approved by a Republican-controlled Congress a decade ago has made the Bush administration nervous that officials and troops involved in handling detainee matters might be accused of committing war crimes, and prosecuted at some point in U.S. courts.

Senior officials have responded by drafting legislation that would grant U.S. personnel involved in the terrorism fight new protections against prosecution for past violations of the War Crimes Act of 1996. That law criminalizes violations of the Geneva Conventions governing conduct in war and threatens the death penalty if U.S.-held detainees die in custody from abusive treatment.

In light of a recent Supreme Court ruling that the international Conventions apply to the treatment of detainees in the terrorism fight, Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales has spoken privately with Republican lawmakers about the need for such "protections," according to someone who heard his remarks last week.

Gonzales told the lawmakers that a shield is needed for actions taken by U.S. personnel under a 2002 presidential order, which the Supreme Court declared illegal, and under Justice Department legal opinions that have been withdrawn under fire, the source said. A spokeswoman for Gonzales, Tasia Scolinos, declined to comment on Gonzales's remarks.


So you broke the law, and now you're looking for a way out? How low can you get, guys? After all, you were the ones who said everything you've done thus far is legal because "The Decider" said so. What...you aren't so sure now? Isn't it too late for that?

No comments: