Comments on: The Torture Week That Was

Andrew Cohen: Sound, Fury And Inaction

[rharrin1]

If it's not a crime then why did those people in the military get a court martial?

[cs4466]

Before anyone attempts to defend members of the Bush administration for torture of suspects they should read U.S. Code: Title 18: Part 1: Chapter 113c: Sections 2340 for a specific definition of the act of torture:

(1) ?torture? means an act committed by a person acting under the color of law specifically intended to inflict severe physical or mental pain or suffering (other than pain or suffering incidental to lawful sanctions) upon another person within his custody or physical control;
(2) ?severe mental pain or suffering? means the prolonged mental harm caused by or resulting from?
(A) the intentional infliction or threatened infliction of severe physical pain or suffering;
(B) the administration or application, or threatened administration or application, of mind-altering substances or other procedures calculated to disrupt profoundly the senses or the personality;
(C) the threat of imminent death; or
(D) the threat that another person will imminently be subjected to death, severe physical pain or suffering, or the administration or application of mind-altering substances or other procedures calculated to disrupt profoundly the senses or personality; and
(3) ?United States? means the several States of the United States, the District of Columbia, and the commonwealths, territories, and possessions of the United States.

Chapter 2340A states:

a) Offense.? Whoever outside the United States commits or attempts to commit torture shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both, and if death results to any person from conduct prohibited by this subsection, shall be punished by death or imprisoned for any term of years or for life.
(b) Jurisdiction.? There is jurisdiction over the activity prohibited in subsection (a) if?
(1) the alleged offender is a national of the United States; or
(2) the alleged offender is present in the United States, irrespective of the nationality of the victim or alleged offender.
(c) Conspiracy.? A person who conspires to commit an offense under this section shall be subject to the same penalties (other than the penalty of death) as the penalties prescribed for the offense, the commission of which was the object of the conspiracy.

Section 2340B, reads:

Nothing in this chapter shall be construed as precluding the application of State or local laws on the same subject, nor shall anything in this chapter be construed as creating any substantive or procedural right enforceable by law by any party in any civil proceeding.

It is past time for the Justice Department to issue arrest warrants for every member of the Bush administration who sat in on this meeting where it was authorized.

[noloyalisti]

The HUGE issue is not that the Bush Crime Family broke the law, that is a no brainer. The Huge issue is that they use the illegal torture to promote their neo con agenda to start wars that killed and maimed tens of thousands of American and millions of Iraqis. Sounds like treason to me.

[PVperson2]

"Someone is going to have to rise up and exercise some political courage"

In Washington? You can't be talking about our Senators or Congressmen............