Senator Patrick Leahy's (D-VT) proposal to hold a public congressional inquiry into the war crimes of the Bush Regime is gaining traction in Washington. As well it might since the public is expressing its displeasure over an increasing awareness torture was used as official policy of the United States, and their civil liberties were trampled in the name of an amorphous "war on terror"[1]. Discussions have centered around the ultimate purpose of such an inquiry. National reconciliation after a divisive invasion is often mentioned, but an equally debilitating consensus may be forming that no criminal prosecutions will take place as a result of information divulged during the proceedings. Also, any witness appearing before the commission will probably be offered immunity in return for testimony. Which may explain why Alberto "Gonzo" Gonzales the former attorney general whose Justice Department provided the alleged legal justifications for the use of torture--euphemistically termed "enhanced interrogation"--is so willing to appear before the proposed committee of inquiry. Alexander Cockburn reported two years ago that Air Force Lt. General Randall Schmidt made a 55 page sworn statement that former Defense Secretary Rumsfeld gave verbal and written approval to torture detainees at Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib. Since then potential evidence has repeatedly surfaced directly connecting top Regime officials to the torture policy[2]. Despite the damning evidence an independent committee could be misused as political theatre to distract an angry public and derail any moves to prosecute officials deemed responsible for illegal actions. Speaker Pelosi has voiced concern about the possible misuse of immunity grants and lack of criminal prosecutions resulting from a "truth commission". Complicating matters, the Senate Intelligence Committee announced it would hold its own hearings in private concerning the CIA's role in operating the rendition and interrogation programs. Congressional aides have already said that the investigation will not be used to determine wrongdoing, but merely to gather information that was withheld from Congress during the Regime. Some of this information, such as the location of black detention sites in foreign countries, is considered by Washington insiders to be among the agency's "crown jewels". Already Senator Christopher Bond (R-MO) the ranking minority member of the Senate's Intelligence Committee has labeled the Leahy proposal for a public truth commission a "witch hunt". The Senate Judiciary Committee chaired by Sentator Leahy will hold hearings on the composition of an independent inquiry. The public wants the truth, but not at the expense of justice.[photo: Camp X-Ray courtesy www.globalsecurity.org. This temporary camp held as many as 300 detainees and was closed after Camp Delta was opened in April 2002.]
[1]An example of the abrogation of civil rights in the name of fighting terror is the case of Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri, a legal US resident from Qatar, who has been held incommunicado since 2003 at the Navy's Consolidated Brig in Charleston, South Carolina. New Yorker Magazine, 2/23/09. His lengthy detention without trial may be the litmus test for President Obama's commitment to the rule of law when dealing with potentially dangerous detainees. His case is scheduled to be heard by the Supreme Court in April. Al-Marri was being prosecuted for various crimes that seemed suspiciously related to aiding terrorists in the United States when he was seized by the Regime and disappeared into total isolation. A defense lawyer familiar with the case says the government desperately wanted to interrogate the "hard case" under the new rules because he had been named by Khalid Sheik Mohammed under torture as a fellow terrorist. Al-Marri was subjected to extreme sensory deprivation in solitary and was bound and gaged with a sock during an interrogation session videotaped by the Pentagon. The only evidence offered by the Regime to justify al-Marri's secret detention is an affidavit by a DIA intelligence analyst. A former federal prosecutor during the Regime says al-Marri's indefinite detention without trial is justified because the criminal justice system cannot handle dangerous international terrorists. A criminal court may release a defendant on bail, rule out substandard evidence, or run the risk of accidental disclosure of classified information. Americans face the risk of release of child rapists, arsonists, murderers and potential serial killers everyday in the name of due process of law. In comparison a possible sleeper agent who can be deported is small potatoes. Qatar wants al-Marri to come home.
[2] Former chief jailer at Abu Ghraib, Janis Kapinski testified to Army CID about the memo from Secretary Rumsfeld stuck to a pole outside the office of interrogators authorizing starvation, dogs and stress positions at the infamous prison. "Make sure this happens!!" said the Secretary in handwritten marginalia. There was court testimony that Secretary Rumsfeld and his deputy Paul Wolfowitz received nightly briefings from intelligence personnel concerning the interrogations.