MIAMI — It was three months into Barack Obama's presidency, and the administration -- under pressure to do something about alleged abuses in Bush-era interrogation policies -- turned to a Florida senator to deliver a sensitive message to Spain:Obama, like Bush and Cheney before him, is a war criminal who ought to be carted out of Washington in handcuffs and thrown in the darkest cell in the bottom of a Dickensian Newgate prison and have former U.S. prisoners perform the torture on him that the U.S. performed on them.
Don't indict former President George W. Bush's legal brain trust for alleged torture in the treatment of war on terror detainees, warned Mel Martinez on one of his frequent trips to Madrid. Doing so would chill U.S.-Spanish relations.
Rather than a resolution, though, a senior Spanish diplomat gave the former GOP chairman and housing secretary a lesson in Spain's separation of powers. "The independence of the judiciary and the process must be respected,'' then-acting Foreign Minister Angel Lossada replied on April 15, 2009. Then for emphasis, "Lossada reiterated to Martinez that the executive branch of government could not close any judicial investigation and urged that this case not affect the overall relationship.''
The case is still open, on the desk of a Spanish magistrate, awaiting a reply from the Obama administration on whether it will pursue a probe of its own.
But the episode, revealed in a raft of WikiLeaks cables, was part of a secret concerted U.S. effort to stop a crusading Spanish judge from investigating a torture complaint against former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and five other senior Bush lawyers.
It also reveals a covert troubleshooting role played by Martinez. Now a banker, he won't discuss it.
Sunday, December 26, 2010
More Change We Can Believe In
From McClatchy:
Ain't it funny RBE? That Obama is twisting himself into pretzels not to prosecute the Bush-Cheney junta. While Repugs are going to haul President Accountability out for all kinds of inquiries? John Kline(R-MN) is going to investigate the doling out of Race to the Bottom funds. Will he investigate the testing companies and turn-around companies?
ReplyDeleteSeems the rest of the world are slowly coming out of Obama derangement syndrome and seeing him for the evil persona he is. Serves him right to be prosecuted by some other country when our own Banana Republic won't do it.
That is irony, isn't it? They can't WAIT to send subpoenas his way, he won't take them on.
ReplyDeleteI don't think Kline will investigate the testing companies (he's probably on the payroll), but Arne is in for a surprise come January. I think Duncan thinks he's above partisanship, that his corporate-friendly ed reforms and stance will be embraced by new Repubs. But these guys want to hammer Obama and they will, even if they agree with some of the policies. I don't think Duncan is going to be spared from the subpoenafest.
To which I say, good! Hope he racks up a million bucks in legal fees and has to declare bankruptcy.