Torture Showdown Coming?
By Dan Froomkin
Special to washingtonpost.com
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Some of the leading architects of the Bush administration's torture policies have agreed to appear before the House Judiciary Committee. But anyone hoping for an accountability moment may be in for disappointment.
Just because they're willing to show up for questioning, doesn't mean they'll be willing to give straight answers -- or any answers at all, for that matter.
Scott Shane writes in the New York Times: "A House panel investigating the Bush administration's approval for harsh interrogation methods voted Tuesday to issue a subpoena to David S. Addington, chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney and a primary proponent of the methods, which some legal experts have condemned as illegal torture.
"Two former administration officials -- John Ashcroft, who was attorney general, and John C. Yoo, who wrote legal opinions justifying harsh techniques -- have agreed to give public testimony to the panel, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, staff members said. Their testimony and that of several other officials invited to speak at a future hearing might provide the fullest public account to date of the internal discussions that led the administration to break with American tradition in 2002 and authorize waterboarding and other physical pressure against terrorism suspects. . . .
"Mr. Ashcroft's testimony might shed new light on discussions of interrogation methods at the highest level of the administration. ABC News has reported that the so-called enhanced interrogation techniques used by the Central Intelligence Agency were approved after Mr. Ashcroft and other top officials discussed them at the White House."
(Continued here.)
Special to washingtonpost.com
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Some of the leading architects of the Bush administration's torture policies have agreed to appear before the House Judiciary Committee. But anyone hoping for an accountability moment may be in for disappointment.
Just because they're willing to show up for questioning, doesn't mean they'll be willing to give straight answers -- or any answers at all, for that matter.
Scott Shane writes in the New York Times: "A House panel investigating the Bush administration's approval for harsh interrogation methods voted Tuesday to issue a subpoena to David S. Addington, chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney and a primary proponent of the methods, which some legal experts have condemned as illegal torture.
"Two former administration officials -- John Ashcroft, who was attorney general, and John C. Yoo, who wrote legal opinions justifying harsh techniques -- have agreed to give public testimony to the panel, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, staff members said. Their testimony and that of several other officials invited to speak at a future hearing might provide the fullest public account to date of the internal discussions that led the administration to break with American tradition in 2002 and authorize waterboarding and other physical pressure against terrorism suspects. . . .
"Mr. Ashcroft's testimony might shed new light on discussions of interrogation methods at the highest level of the administration. ABC News has reported that the so-called enhanced interrogation techniques used by the Central Intelligence Agency were approved after Mr. Ashcroft and other top officials discussed them at the White House."
(Continued here.)
Powered by Blogger
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home