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Tag(s): CIA; Civics; Death; George W Bush; Justice Department; Law; Rights; STUPIDITY; Torture; Torture; (more...) Torture (less...)
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December 12, 2007 at 04:25:12

CIA Obstruction of Justice Designed to Shield George W. Bush?

by Len Hart Page 1 of 1 page(s)

www.opednews.com

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CIA destruction of at least two torture tapes underscores the degree to which this White House, this CIA has subverted the rule of law, the Constitution and the interests of the American people. This wanton destruction of evidence is now a case of obstruction of justice, an attempt to escape the consequences of this administration's deliberate and felonious violations of US Criminal Codes as well as the Nuremberg Principles and the Geneva Conventions to which this nation is bound. That it makes the news at all is surprising, given the contempt with which this government has held the people, the media and the rest of the world.

The destruction of material evidence of felonies and/or treason is to be expected by this White House. Nor should we be surprised by CIA Director Michael Hayden's ham fisted handling of the entire affair. Hayden, it should be recalled, assumed his office upon the lie he told about the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution. In an exchange with a reporter at the National Press Club General Hayden insisted that the standard for seizure and searches required by the Fourth Amendment was "reasonableness" or "reasonable suspicion". Click that link to see the video of Hayden making an utter fool of himself.

And because Hayden fell asleep during Junior High civics class here is the text of the Fourth Amentment. I suggest that Hayden block out some time to read it.

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
--Fourth Amendment, Bill of Rights, US Constitution

If Hayden can't bother to read this elementary principle of American jurisprudence or worse he cannot understand it, then he should step down. He might try sweeping floors to "generalling".

Hayden preferred to argue, not from ignorance which can be remedied, but from the marriage of arrogance and stupidity. No one on my high school debate team would have tried getting away with what this idiot, who presumes to head the freakin' CIA, tried to get away with. Hayden is a specimen to be studied, evidence of the dumbing down of America.

Is it too much to expect of our "leaders" that they take their heads out of their criminal asses? Now --the CIA and quite possibly the Bush White House are up to those same criminal "asses" in obstruction of justice. The CIA, it is now revealed, destroyed video tapes of tortures in progress even as the CIA's secret detention program was under Congressional and legal scrutiny.

Hayden's letter attempts to create a rationale for what was clearly a move to hide the government's actions from American and world public opinion and destroy evidence of criminal activity by CIA operatives and government officials, up to and including President Bush.

As the CIA well knew, if the tapes had become public-especially in the aftermath of the Abu Ghraib revelations-they would have evoked a wave of shock and revulsion in the United States and around the world, and confirmed that Abu Ghraib, far from an aberration, was the outcome of US government policy.

Hayden made the improbable claim that the tapes were destroyed to protect CIA interrogators from retaliation by Al Qaeda. He wrote in his letter that the CIA halted the practice of taping interrogations in 2002, after only a few recordings had been made.

--Counter Currents

The tapes in question are destroyed despite the fact that the CIA had been "warned" against it.

White House and Justice Department officials, along with senior members of Congress, advised the CIA in 2003 against a plan to destroy hundreds of hours of videotapes showing the interrogations of two al-Qaeda operatives, government officials said yesterday.
The chief of the agency's clandestine service nevertheless ordered their destruction in November 2005, taking the step without notifying even the CIA's own top lawyer, John A. Rizzo, who was angry at the decision, the officials said.
--CIA told not to ruin tapes, The New York Times

Violations of both Nuremberg Principles and the Geneva Conventions had become and most certainly remain a matter of Bush administration policy. This most recent destruction of evidence, this clear case of obstruction of justice, must be considered in this context.

We are told that it is not known who authorized this case of obstruction of justice. Even so, it is fair to ask who benefits? The answer to that question is simple: George W. Bush, who has supported policies violating both Nuremberg and Geneva from the get go. The numerous violations of Nuremberg and Geneva are under US Codes, Title 18, Section 2441 capital crimes.

(a) Offense.- Whoever, whether inside or outside the United States, commits a war crime, in any of the circumstances described in subsection (b), shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for life or any term of years, or both, and if death results to the victim, shall also be subject to the penalty of death.

Given Bush's numerous public pronouncements on the issue, the policy belongs to Bush. The buck stops at the White House. As I have stated repeatedly, there is enough probable cause in the public record to bring capital charges against George W. Bush. Who is protected by the destruction of these tapes of a procedure that had been denied in numerous administration lies? The answer to that question, again, is: George W. Bush!

http://existentialistcowboy.blogspot.com/

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6 comments

Len Hart is a Houston based film/video producer specializing in shorts and full-length documentaries. He is a former major market and network correspondent; credits include CBS, ABC-TV and UPI. He maintains the progressive blog: The Existentialist Cowboy
Len HartLen Hart is a Houston based film/video producer specializing in shorts and full-length documentaries. He is a former major market and network correspondent; credits include CBS, ABC-TV and UPI. He maintains the progressive blog: The Existentialist Cowboy

Time to impeach

I would hope that there are some real patriots among the Federal Judges in this nation. A federal judge can upon his own motion convene a Grand Jury to consider a panoply of onerous charges against the person of George W. Bush, whom no American of conscience can recognize as "President".

It is past time to bring this rogue to trial, justice and an accounting to the sovereign people of the United States. Simply, enough is enough.

|Former US Attorney Elizabeth de la Vega has already drafted an "indictment" for which there is ABUNDANT probable cause now to indict the usurper who has taken over OUR White House.

by Len Hart (131 articles, 172 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 543 comments) on Wednesday, December 12, 2007 at 1:53:39 PM

Currently I'm a cartoonist and contributing writer for The New Orleans Levee. For those wishing to view my work you can see my latest at: nolvee.com
Mr MCurrently I'm a cartoonist and contributing writer for The New Orleans Levee. For those wishing to view my work you can see my latest at: nolvee.com

Good luck with all that ...

Myself, I'll believe it when I see it.

To start this presidency was a fraud from the get-go. This ass-clown never should have been made president. The case for imprisoning him was made on the day of the farce of an election of 2000. Since then there has hardly been a day that has gone by that another impeachable crime hasn't been committed.

I'm exhausted. I've marched, I've written, I've called, I've emailed and if a call for civil disobedience is made I'm ready to do that for all the good it would do. But to date, save for a few ineffectual exceptions, all I see and hear are totally deaf, placating, ignorant, stupid and corrupt politicians who couldn't care less as long as they get theirs.

by Mr M (4 articles, 0 quicklinks, 12 diaries, 1425 comments) on Wednesday, December 12, 2007 at 4:32:59 PM

Michael C. Morris has been involved in racing since the age of twelve (12) when he took a summer job working at Terry’s Speed Shop located in Phoenixville PA.

With the help of his brother John Morris, they teamed up and joined Razzberry Racing. In the 90’s, the team was building their own cars to complete in the Sports Car Club of
America’s National Classes when in 1993 Michael joined Ed Arnold Racing with David
Donahue, son of the legendary Mark Donahue, to run in th...

to see more of bio, click on member name
Michael MorrisMichael C. Morris has been involved in racing since the age of twelve (12) when he took a summer job working at Terry’s Speed Shop located in Phoenixville PA.

With the help of his brother John Morris, they teamed up and joined Razzberry Racing. In the 90’s, the team was building their own cars to complete in the Sports Car Club of
America’s National Classes when in 1993 Michael joined Ed Arnold Racing with David
Donahue, son of the legendary Mark Donahue, to run in th...

to see more of bio, click on member name

Did you expect something different for this administration?

Is it any surprise that the CIA covered King George? It is thier job. But the real story here is that because we as a nation have allowed criminals, liars and cheats to fill almost every position within our government. And it get worst in the court systems.

They are to busy sacrificing our children to satin to care about petty crimes like destroying tapes. When illegal needs defining when attached to the word alien, then that should tell you what help your going to get from the courts.

by Michael Morris (18 articles, 0 quicklinks, 15 diaries, 300 comments) on Wednesday, December 12, 2007 at 6:25:39 PM

no surprises but...

given that we are not surprised, there is no excuses for Bush having taken office. Worse than \goppers themselves are the Democrats which simply did not oppose them in Congress.

by Len Hart (131 articles, 172 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 543 comments) on Thursday, December 13, 2007 at 3:49:11 AM

home Kedron valley. born 1920 male chauvenist porcine
beelza bubbhome Kedron valley. born 1920 male chauvenist porcine

Te CIA protects the Upper Class of the United States

THe CIA over which Bush Er presided under the Ford Administration is just a guard dog for the interests of the ruling class in the US.

THere is and always has been a class system in the United States since its beginnings.

The electoral college was founded in recognition of that fact.

That is why it still exists, also to protect the upper class in the US

This is how you account for Dubya being president

Had he been born in Clinton's trailer park, he would still be there. but instead he was the issue of George Sr and Barbara Bush, members of the ruling class in the US.

I am not saying anything here that is not a fact. Until we recognize that there is a class. system openly we will still go on pretending there is not a class system in the US. That is not good for every citizens mental health.

We are entering a time when you need to know where you are in the pecking order.

Vertical mobility is almost dead now and that is deliberate and intentional.

So if you are a college student from the lower classes do not take out student loans to finish your education. You will graduate with a debt load that may indenture you for the rest of your working life, particularly if you end up with marginal employment.

by beelza bubb (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 12 comments) on Thursday, December 13, 2007 at 2:08:34 AM

protecting privilege

You are right ...not only the "CIA but the Military/industrial complex which enriches this cabal of elites. It was no accident that Reagan's tax cut of 1982 benefited only the upper quitinle. Even among the upper quintile REAL wealth is skewed to an increasingly tiny elite. All this can be confirmed vividly at the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the presentations of Dr. Daniel Weinburg at the Census Bureau, the BEA el al. I think even the conservative Brookings Institute has done some analysis on the raw data available at the above named sources. Additionally, the kind of gerrymandering that Tom DeLay pioneered in Texas was intended to preserve the voting power of obscenely rich suburbanites in walled, gated communities.

by Len Hart (131 articles, 172 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 543 comments) on Thursday, December 13, 2007 at 4:18:36 AM