John Dean, the Watergate scandal figure who's enjoyed a second act as a civil libertarian, wrote a book a couple of years ago about the myriad abuses of the Bush administration called "Worse Than Watergate." That title begs the question of whether more aggressive journalism like that practiced during the Nixon years might have prevented some of Bush and Cheney's more outrageous offenses.
That's why it was striking to see the byline on the Washington Post's scoop this morning that a U.S. government official acknowledged that a high-level al-Qaida detainee was "tortured." The story was penned by Bob Woodward -- yes, that Bob Woodward, so maybe the circle really is closing.
The top Bush administration official in charge of deciding whether to bring Guantanamo Bay detainees to trial has concluded that the U.S. military tortured a Saudi national who allegedly planned to participate in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, interrogating him with techniques that included sustained isolation, sleep deprivation, nudity and prolonged exposure to cold, leaving him in a "life-threatening condition."
"We tortured [Mohammed al-]Qahtani," said Susan J. Crawford, in her first interview since being named convening authority of military commissions by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates in February 2007. "His treatment met the legal definition of torture. And that's why I did not refer the case" for prosecution.
Crawford, a retired judge who served as general counsel for the Army during the Reagan administration and as Pentagon inspector general when Dick Cheney was secretary of defense, is the first senior Bush administration official responsible for reviewing practices at Guantanamo to publicly state that a detainee was tortured.
We've covered this ground before, but if it can be proved in court that Mohammed al-Qahtani took part in the 9-11 plot, planning to kill innocent American secretaries and accountants in cold blood in the name of some kind of warped "holy" war, than what he deserves is harsh punishment, and what those people so tragically affected by the 2001 attacks is justice. But it needs to be American punishment and American justice, in the style that once made this nation a model for the rest of the world -- not the two-bit dictator tactics championed by Cheney and his minions.
Because now -- thanks to Cheney's Jack Bauer-inspired wet dreams -- it may be impossible to try al-Qahtani for 9/11:
Military prosecutors said in November that they would seek to refile charges against Qahtani, 30, based on subsequent interrogations that did not employ harsh techniques. But Crawford, who dismissed war crimes charges against him in May 2008, said in the interview that she would not allow the prosecution to go forward.
Who's ultimately to blame for this travesty? Crawford made it clear to Woodward -- she said: "I think the buck stops in the Oval Office." And now Barack Obama is going to leave it crumpled up on the floor.
Comment removed.- Comment removed.
"sustained isolation, sleep deprivation, nudity and prolonged exposure to cold," This stuff actually makes waterboarding seem like torture. Can't somebody come to the table with a little more than that. By the way, the number of times 9/11 has been repeated under Bush's terror policies: Zero point zero.— jmc- Comment removed.
Keyword jmc is "repeated". WTC attacks were thwarted twice under Clinton (and maybe the first Bush, I dont remember). Bush 43 is batting .000 in protecting the US from terrorist attacks on our soil.— Master Dreamz- When asked their opinion of Crawford's report, the 3,000 Americans killed by Qahtami's fellow hijackers were unavailable for comments.— erformc1
I dont beleive sleep deprivation and the like are torture just techniques used to break somebodys will . These methods are used by every country in the world big deal . In fact in the British army a survival and evasion course these methods are used on you if you get caught during the course , unpleasant yes torture nah not really , now having your head cut off while being videoed thats torture but that wouldnt be an anti american enough story for you would it Will ? .— PAEnglish- Comment removed.
- Perhaps the torture should not have happened; however, any person who writes an article in a way that tries to make people feel sorry for this low-life piece of dogsh.. should be sanctioned. This low-life tried to knock out either the white house or the capitol and if it was not for an immigration officer named Melendez, he would have been the fifth hijacker on the flight that crashed in Pennsylvania. Had he made it through immigration they would have had five terrorists and not four on that plane and the passengers may not have been able to keep it from reaching its destination. I hope he suffered greatly in gitmo.— frankf
PAEnglish, "torture" is trying to make any sense from your comment.- Master Dreamz, if we take the same standards that you've used for Bush and use them on Clinton, then he too is batting .000 in preventing terrorist attacks on US soil. Have you forgotten the first WTC attack, two embassy attacks, the attack on the USS Cole, etc. These are all US soil.— legatus
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- jmc - Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc - just because my wife had her nails appointment in the morning and it snowed after she left doesn't mean that getting her nails done caused the snow! Master Dreamz is on target.— philasportsfan
Will Bunch, a senior writer at the Philadelphia Daily News, blogs about his obsessions, including national and local politics and world affairs, the media, pop music, the Philadelphia Phillies, soccer and other sports, not necessarily in that order.
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