Sometime today, the administration is going to release a declassified version of the CIA’s Inspector General report on the treatment of detainees that was produced in 2004. For a preview, go over to Emptywheel. Even though it is unlikely that we are going to learn anything spectacular that has not already been leaked in some form, being able to read about this abuse in plain language is bound to reignite a big debate over the crimes of the Bush administration. It appears that the timing of this release has been carefully coordinated.
David Johnston reports in the New York Times that the Justice Department is going to reopen investigations into close to a dozen prisoner abuse cases. These are cases that were investigated by the Bush Justice Department but cleared from prosecution.
The recommendation by the Office of Professional Responsibility, presented to Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. in recent weeks, comes as the Justice Department is about to disclose on Monday voluminous details on prisoner abuse that were gathered in 2004 by the C.I.A.’s inspector general but have never been released.
The OPR is the ethics panel of the Justice Department and they made similar recommendation during the Bush years.
The report by the Justice Department’s ethics office has been under preparation for more than five years, and its critique of legal work on interrogations provoked bitter complaints from Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey as he was leaving office as the Bush administration’s final attorney general.
These cases are not centered around the interrogation of high-level al-Qaeda suspects, but lower lever detainees picked up on the battlefields in Iraq and Afghanistan. Nevertheless, Anne Kornblut reports in the Washington Post that the administration is creating an entirely new specialized unit to conduct interrogations of high-level detainees. The responsibility for those interrogations is being taken away from the CIA.
Obama signed off late last week on the unit, named the High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group, or HIG. On Monday, White House spokesman Bill Burton confirmed that the high-value interrogation unit will be based at the FBI and will operate “consistent with the army field manual” which provides guidelines for questioners.
Made up of experts from several intelligence and law enforcement agencies, the interrogation unit will be will be overseen by the National Security Council — shifting the center of gravity away from the CIA and giving the White House direct oversight.
Here’s the most significant part:
Under the new White House guidelines for interrogating detainees, interrogators must stay within the parameters of the Army Field Manual when questioning suspects. The task force concluded — unanimously, officials said — that “the Army Field Manual provides appropriate guidance on interrogation for military interrogators and that no additional or different guidance was necessary for other agencies,” according to a three-page summary of the findings.
That is some change I can believe in, but it is not all.
As previously reported, the OPR report also will recommend that at least two Bush administration lawyers, Jay S. Bybee and John C. Yoo, face further investigation by state legal disciplinary authorities. Such a probe would not expose them to criminal sanctions for their work in developing memos that supported such harsh interrogation techniques as waterboarding and wall slamming.
Criminal penalties may be off the table, but disbarment and impeachment (for Bybee) may not be. So, this appears to be a big rollout. The last week of summer provides a relatively quiet time to do this, especially with Congress in recess. But this is sure to raise the partisan rancor in the Beltway. After all, we know Bush never did nothing wrong when it came to terrorists.
One detainee is on his way home from Gitmo to Afghanistan today.
There have to be criminal charges brought if the evidence is there. Too bad about the criminals in Congress that went along with this. They will probably start screaming about War on Terror and patriotism and all that garbage.
We have to watch and see what Holder does.
Holder to appoint prosecutor to investigate.
Never heard of him.
Marcy is unimpressed, but I don’t really get why.
I saw that and I don’t understand either.
Because of the narrowness of the scope of the investigation, ie. “to look at whether there is enough evidence to launch a full-scale criminal investigation of current and former CIA personnel who may have broken the law in their dealings with detainees” and the fact that he is a member of the Justice Department who will have several levels of people senior to him monitoring where he goes with this. He is not the kind of high profile Independent prosecutor we need to go where the evidence leads. And for two years he has been “investigating” the destruction of the torture tapes at the CIA. How long does he need to find criminal responsibility for that and to bring charges? Like Marcy and unlike those dancing for joy over at Dkos, I’m not impressed either.
It took Patrick Fitzgerald two years to investigate the Plame case and in the end the only charges he brought were against Libby.
I’m not complaining about Fitzgerald. I’m simply pointing out that most federal investigations go on for years.
And just because they go on for years does not automatically make them a white wash. The burden is on the Federal prosecutors to make the case and making the case is often difficult when a coverup has gone on.
I do wish the scope of the investigation was broader. On the other hand, a narrow preliminary investigation sometimes leads to a broader general investigation.
More on the prosecutor.
Thanks for this. Having “a strong sense of morality” would certainly be a plus.
A few CIA losers with names like “Scooter” and “Foggo” (Who’s writing this shit!!! Geniius!!!) taking the fall for Cheney and the rest?
Betcha.
AG
Obama has completely botched the War on Terror. Bush is gone. It is now Obama’s war and he should take responsibility for it.
My question is how can he release terrorists back onto the battlefield when there is strong evidence they will fight the US troops again.
Another concern is this guy can’t command a teleprompter, let alone the US military. God help us all!
Someone is trying to push Panetta out.
Panetta’s letter to the CIA employees.
Minor gripe: can we please quit going along with the linguistic fiction of the word “detainee”? They are prisoners, pure and simple, and mostly they are prisoners of war. “Detainee” was the term the Bush crew used to pretty up its abuses; it sounds ever so nicer than the reality. “I missed the train; I was detained by a meeting that ran late.” And so on. The term has no legal value; only a propaganda one.
Thank you Geov. The Bushies have certainly seized control of our language. I don’t think of such things as a “minor gripe.” It’s a way of erasing and obscuring the truth.
I fly into a rage at such news as “One troop was killed in the war.” Our soldiers may think they’re noble warriors, but to the media they are merely a collection of troops, unworthy of a respectful designation.
Language is important, and should always be questioned.