Guantanamo Bay Interrogation, CIA | 04/16/2009 9:45 am

Spain May Let Bush Loyalists Off Hook for Alleged Guantanamo Torture

By The Staff at wowOwow.com

Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and five other Bush administration officials may be off the hook in Spain.

Although a Spanish court originally decided to take a case by human rights groups accusing six Bush administration officials of sanctioning torture at Guantanamo Bay, prosecutors now want the court to drop the case.

The case threatens to turn the court "into a toy in the hands of people who are trying to do a political action," Attorney General Candido Conde-Pumpido said, reports CNN. "We undoubtedly cannot support that action." Although the judge could still decide to take the case, officials say such a trial should take place in the United States.

"It’s a shame the prosecutor is taking this position, but not a surprise," Gonzalo Boye, a lawyer who filed the original complaint, told CNN. "They always obey political orders. They don’t want to be in a bad position in front of the Obama administration."

Meanwhile, there’s more news on the CIA’s interrogation techniques of terror suspects. President Obama may choose to keep some graphic details of CIA tactics like water boarding and banging a prisoner’s head against a wall a secret, The Wall Street Journal reports, even though many want him to make them public. We may get some details about these techniques today.

30 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

I dont think the public needs to know all the secrets…some are better left unknown.

By C Hardy on 04/16/2009 10:08 am

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Why do you say that C ?

By Mel Berg on 04/16/2009 10:22 am

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Mel, I say that b/c there are people out there who think putting a bag over someone’s head is torture…so any little bit of "man handling" (for lack of a better word) will be blown out of the water. Yes there are some technique’s that I dont believe in BUT if they do it to our Soldiers then I say they are free game to whatever we can give to them…

By C Hardy on 04/16/2009 11:57 am

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WOW…I have to question the tone of this article. Since when are American, presidential administration members subject to the whims of the judiciary of other soverign nations? Off the hook!?!?! There is no hook. This was Spain pandering.

By Mary Quite-Contrary on 04/16/2009 10:32 am

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Mary - US officials have been subject to international law on torture since Reagan signed the anti-torture treaty. According to the treaty, all signatories — including the US, Spain and dozens of other countries — have an obligation, not a right, an obligation, to investigate and prosecute all reports of torture, irrespective of jurisdiction.

The jurisdiction here was the White House, where Condi says she led the "principals" meeting during which the torture guidelines were written and where Bush’s top officials received regular updates on the CIA’s torturing of suspects.

This was a violation of US law as well as international law.

By Rudi G. on 04/16/2009 5:55 pm

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"President Obama may choose to keep some graphic details of CIA tactics like water boarding and banging a prisoner’s head against a wall a secret, The Wall Street Journal reports, even though many want him to make them public. We may get some details about these techniques today. "…….

Seems Obama has been educated that some of these techniques may save lives/?? Ya think?

By S.J. Morgan on 04/16/2009 10:50 am

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SJ…I for one do think!!! President Bush kept us safe….maybe this is how he had to do it….what ever works….we as Americans felt very, very safe….obama has no idea yet what he may have to do if attacked like 9-11! President Bush’s main concern was keeping America Safe…and I applaud him for that!

By Libra Lady on 04/16/2009 10:56 am

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And, also, there are worse forms of torture than waterboarding. Our special forces troops are trained to be waterboarded. It is actually a part of our military training!

George Bush kept us safe after 9/11. Obama, as inexperienced as he is in leadership, will do well to continue to follow George Bush’s lead when it comes to intelligence and surveillance techniques. "If it ain’t broke….don’t fix it."

By deber B on 04/16/2009 1:22 pm

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Deber…since obama has no clue what he’s doing due to his inexperience, I think he decided to leave things as are and not rock the boat…he will learn fast what it takes to keep America safe….(at least I hope)

By Libra Lady on 04/16/2009 1:41 pm

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Obama had "no idea" why George Bush made the decisions he did until he, himself, sat down every morning to read all of the intelligence reports! Must’ve been a real eye opener for a community organizer and young Senator!

By deber B on 04/16/2009 1:54 pm

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Deber…probably shaking in his boots….finding out that just reading a teleprompter isn’t enough in this position….you have to make some tough decisions….

By Libra Lady on 04/16/2009 1:58 pm

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Obama is whiffing on this for two reasons: 1) like all presidents he has to move forward and this would be going backwards and 2) presidential perogative or courtesy. Unlike conservatives, liberals do not goose-step after their leaders, and many Dems are not happy that Obama is not bringing Bush and his treasonous cabal to justice.

Similarly, Obama has allegedly agreed with Bush Jr. not to unseal the Reagan/Bush records that reveal how much VP Bush was invovled in illegally dealing with the Iranian terror regime during the Iran-Contra scandal. The records — which reporedly proof that Bush’s claim then to have been "out of the loop" were false — were mandated by executive order to be unsealed in 2001, but Bush ordered them sealed until the end of his presidency, and now scuttlebutt is, Obama has agreed to Bush’s request to keep the records from the public until Bush Sr. dies.

By Rudi G. on 04/16/2009 6:09 pm