Rahm Emanuel says Obama against prosecutions of those who devised torture policy
Since the OLC memos were released, some have taken comfort in the fact that President Obama’s statement only spoke against prosecution of CIA operatives who relied, in good faith, on the memos. This left open the possibility of prosecution of the Bush officials who planned the torture and the lawyers who devised the spurious legal theories.
Valtin now points out:
This morning on “This Week with George Stephanopoulos”, Obama’s chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, said the White House did not support prosecuting — not only CIA officers who tortured, believing in “good faith” what they were doing was legal — but would also not support the prosecution of “those who devised the [interrogations/torture] policy.”
The video can be watched here. The elevant section begins with about 3:30 remaining.
The President is now officially committed to a policy of legal exceptionalism, that US leaders who design and order war crimes such as torture should be immune. Since the Convention against Torture requires signatory countries to investigate torture, President Obama is now engaged in an obstruction of justice.
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1 comment April 19th, 2009