Bush Faces Investigation Over Torture
U.S. Congress to Fund Probe into Potential Crimes
Jan 26, 2009
The opportunity to hold a person as powerful as the President of the United States accountable for potential abuses of their power seems to come along maybe once in a generation. Americans missed their last shot at vengeance from former president Richard M. Nixon for his infamous role in the Watergate scandal when Gerald Ford made the career-ending decision to pardon him.
But now, with George W. Bush safely out of the White House and out of power, American's lawmakers are trying not to make the same mistake twice.
On January 21st, the first working day of the Obama administration, U.S. Congressional leaders announced their intention to investigate former president George W. Bush and key members of his administration accountable for decisions related to the detention and interrogation of suspected terrorists that many have long held to be grossly unconstitutional.
The same day that President Obama ordered that Guantanamo Bay be closed as part of his first day on the job, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) said he would support “funding and staff” for further investigation by the Senate Armed Services Committee into whether Bush or his staff at any point violated the law.
Senator Carl Levin (D-Michigan), Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, released a report last month that traced the abuse of detainees at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib to an executive order signed on February 7th 2002 by then-President George W. Bush. The order excluded suspected terrorists from the 1984 Torture Convention and the 1949 Geneva Conventions that would have otherwise affording them specific rights regarding their treatment as prisoners.
House Calls for ‘Blue-Ribbon Panel’ to Investigate, Pelosi Changes Tune
In addition to Senator Levin’s report directly linking Bush to acts of torture, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-Michigan) published a 487-page report shortly after last November’s election results became known. The report called for a congressional blue-ribbon panel to be formed in order to determine if the Bush administration broke any laws through its conduct of the ‘war on terror,’ an expression the Obama administration has been happy to let end along with the Bush presidency.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-California) expressed support for Conyers’ blue-ribbon proposal during a television appearance on January 18th. Her comments were in direct contrast to her previously stated opinions, such as her now infamous declaration that “impeachment [of Bush] was off the table” following the 2006 midterm elections in which the Democrats won majorities in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Republicans Delay the Inevitable
During last week’s confirmation hearing of Eric Holder as Obama’s choice to be America’s first African-American Attorney General, Holder confirmed that he considered waterboarding to be torture. Immediately following his announcement, Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas) sought to delay the confirmation proceedings for at least a week. Cornyn said he intends to ask Holder whether he intends to launch a criminal investigation into Bush’s interrogation policies.
Common public opinion, in addition to that of the majority of members in the United States Congress, agrees with Mr. Holder’s opinion that waterboarding detainees, even if they are classified as ‘unlawful enemy combatants,’ is indeed a form of torture.
According to articles 7(1) and 7(2) of the Torture Convention, to which the United States has been a signatory for the past 25-years, the U.S. is required to submit any instances of torture to “its competent authorities for the purpose of prosecution.” Even if those instances happen to involve a high-ranking government official, such as a former President of the United States.
War Crimes?
Senator Levin has publicly stated his intention to urge Holder’s Justice Department to move forward with any evidence of torture that his or Rep. Conyers’ committee should uncover. It is likely that in delaying Holder’s confirmation, Republican Senator Cornyn is hoping to convince the incoming Attorney General not to go ahead with any prosecution.
“It is difficult to believe that Eric Holder would agree not to enforce the law,” responded John W. Dean of FindLaw.com.
Dean served as White House Counsel to former U.S. President Richard Nixon, who was pardoned for his role in the infamous Watergate scandal by his successor Gerald Ford. Dean remains forthright in his belief that “any effort to protect Bush officials from legal responsibility for war crimes, in the long run, will not work."
Indeed, the only thing that could guarantee Bush legal protection for his potential crimes would be a Presidential pardon from Barack Obama. But just as President Ford did before him, President Obama would be risking his political life by doing so.
Miss your shot at prosecuting a criminal leader once, shame on Nixon. Miss twice, shame on America.
