Torture Debate Follows Holder To Europe

Attorney General Visits Centuries-Old Torture Site As He Seeks EU Help With Gitmo Detainees

(AP)  The Obama administration says it won't look backward in the debate over harsh interrogations. On Attorney General Eric Holder's first stop in Europe this week, he looked back centuries, visiting a historic torture site.

Holder arrived Sunday in London, the first of three European cities he will visit seeking allies' help to close Guantanamo Bay, fight terrorism, and catch cyber-criminals.

The attorney general and his staff took a tour of the Tower of London, home of The Bloody Tower, and also the site where Guy Fawkes was put on the rack in 1605 to name those plotting with him to blow up Parliament.

The tower visit is standard fare for tourists, but one loaded with extra meaning for Holder, who listened quietly to tales of torture, execution, and palace intrigue.

The attorney general must decide whether Bush administration officials should be prosecuted for authorizing and approving harsh interrogation techniques against terror suspects. Critics call the methods torture.

Holder also has less than a year to empty the U.S. military detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

During the flight to London, Holder said in an interview with The Associated Press that the Obama administration is close to deciding what to do with an initial group of prisoners.

The attorney general did not say how much longer he thought it would take to relocate the Guantanamo detainees. Before officials can meet President Obama's January deadline, the U.S. must first decide which detainees to put on trial and which to release to the U.S. or other countries.

Holder said the first step is to decide how many total detainees will be freed.

"We're doing these all on a rolling basis," he said. "I think we're probably relatively close to making some calls."

The Obama administration is edging toward taking some prisoners to the U.S., most likely to Virginia. They are Chinese Muslims known as Uighurs, and their supporters say they never should have been at Guantanamo.

Currently, there are 17 Uighurs held at Guantanamo. In recent weeks, officials reinterviewed them in preparation for their eventual transfer.

The Uighurs were captured in Pakistan and Afghanistan in 2001. Uighurs are from Xinjiang, an isolated region that borders Afghanistan, Pakistan and six Central Asian nations. They say they have been repressed by the Chinese government. China has said that insurgents are leading an Islamic separatist movement.

Any country that takes them is likely to anger Beijing.

Republicans in Congress say Guantanamo should remain in operation and are mobilizing to fight the release of any detainees into the United States.

Some European leaders argue that if the detainees are to be released anywhere, it should be in the United States.

There are about 240 inmates at Guantanamo. As many as 60, if freed, cannot go back to their homelands because they could face abuse, imprisonment or death. They are from Azerbaijan, Algeria, Afghanistan, Chad, China, Saudi Arabia and Yemen.

Several European nations, including Portugal and Lithuania, have said they will consider taking such detainees. Some nations, such as Germany, are divided on the issue.

[weedapeapl]

Posted by Rowdy108 at 1:17 PM : Apr 27, 2009

Rowdy, if you haven't done so already, check out the comments on the "Low-Flying Jet In Manhattan" story.

The jet was Air Force One. Or... was it?

[weedapeapl]

It's illegal - end of story.
Posted by rednomo at 12:43 PM : Apr 27, 2009

So was Madoff when he was reported to the SEC on Clinton's watch in 2000.

Why isn't Obama launching a witch hunt about that???

[weedapeapl]

thoughts of Clinton seem to titillate you....Some secret longing on your part, Hun??
Posted by raflin1 at 12:40 PM : Apr 27, 2009

I keep telling you, I'm not German.

Or are you that homosexual man who keeps se xually harrassing me?

I see you had to change your screen name. I wonder why.

Maybe you're the one who has secret longings for Bill Clinton.

And no, I have NO secret longings for Hillary. Well, I do have fantasies about her being locked behind bars for the rest of her life.

But I have that same fantasy about Bill.

And about Phil Gramm and Barney Frank being locked in the same solitary confinement cell for twenty years.

But not for the same reason you do.

[rednomo]

It's illegal - end of story.

If you want to argue that 48% of Americans believe that it is justifiable under certain circumstances and ignore that it is illegal then fine, how about this? 80% think Cheney is a horses @ss, does that mean it is okay for someone to shot him? Same logic.

[weedapeapl]

Republicans were FASCINATED with Clinton's s*x life
Posted by raflin1 at 12:15 PM : Apr 27, 2009

At this point, that's the least of my concerns.

I'm MUCH more concerned about why he let one of his major campaign contributors get away with the biggest financial fraud in history when Madoff was reported to the SEC in 2000, but the SEC just ignored him.

Just like the Clinton admin ignored all the other things that were going on during Clinton's presidency, but we didn't find out until the next president took office.

Funny, I don't remember the Bush admin going on any partisan witch hunt against the Clinton admin, even though he richly deserved it.

Why is Obama limiting his witch hunt only to Bush, and not illegal activities of other presidents???

[weedapeapl]

Time to focus, hun. The topic of this article is about "torture" and whether those who ordered it should be prosecuted.
Posted by raflin1 at 11:53 AM : Apr 27, 2009

I'm not German, so don't call me "Hun."

Ya how convenient that you choose to play along with Obama's partisan witch hunt, while everybody just pretends not to notice the blatant failure of the Clinton admin to prosecute the biggest financial fraud in history when Madoff (a staunch Democrat) was turned in to the SEC in 2000.

It just fits right in with all the other rampant financial fraud that was occurring at Enron, Wroldcomm, Andersen Accounting and all the rest.

Sorry, spare me your wisecracks about "Boosh" and "Kenny Boy." It was all happening on Clinton's watch.

But ya, you want us to put blinders on and focus only on Bush.

Hey, 8 years is enough. Time to stop playing "pin the blame on Bush" when there's an even BIGGER donkey just to the left...

[noloyalisti]

Are the Republicans still defending breaking the law? And if they are, I ask whether they all hate America or is it just the ones in Congress? The party of No, Nope and No Hope.

[weedapeapl]

if you are a republican the laws do not apply to you.
Posted by johndevinejr at 11:29 AM : Apr 27, 2009

And yet, that's exactly what YOU think about Democrats.

Projection. Look it up. It's you.

[weedapeapl]

Posted by johndevinejr at 11:35 AM : Apr 27, 2009

Translation: you want to give Clinton the traditional Democrat free pass even when he's obviously guilty.

Why do you want us to ignore what Clinton did wrong?

You think there's no harm in Clinton allowing one man to steal $50 billion???

[johndevinejr]

it's not a partisan witch hunt, then why isn't Obama invistigating the rampant financial fraud of the Clinton years, which included Madoff.

Posted by weedapeapl at 11:02 AM : Apr 27, 2009

You lame republicas spent $40 MILLION to try and pin something, ANYTHING on Clinton.
In the end he was impeached for the crime of getting a hummer and lying about it so his wife wouldn't find out.

And YOU think that his acts are worse than torture???

And you call yourself and American. The things you say show clearly that you are a republican first and an American second.

republicans= Party First Country Second
republicans= Party First Constitution Second
republicans= Party First Justice second

The Party of NO
No Patriotism
No Honesty
No Courage

These repubs will destroy our Country if they can because they don't believe in Justice.