Robert Maguire's Library tagged Law →  View Popular

“The delegation concluded that a unit of international forces
descended from a plane Sunday night into Ghazi Khan Village in Narang
district of the eastern province of Kunar and took 10 people from three
homes, eight of them school students in grades six, nine and 10, one of
them a guest, the rest from the same family, and shot them dead,” said
a statement from the president’s office.

Mr. Karzai, the
statement added, “was deeply grieved at the loss of civilians and
assured the mourning families of his every effort for a serious and
thorough investigation and said perpetrators would be legally dealt
with.”

"The issue here isn't to look at these things piecemeal," Ware says. "It's to figure out, how do you address situations where people like Abdulmutallab and Reid that are taken into custody after failed attacks on American soil."

Richard Norton-Taylor notes the moral and legal consequences of the recklessness of the Iraq invasion:

Under the fourth Geneva convention,
adopted in 1949, occupying powers are obliged to protect the civilian
population of the country they are occupying. No wonder the British and
American governments backed away from the description of "occupying
power" – as evidence to Chilcot has heard – even though that was their formal status established by the UN.

Some
well-placed former public figures involved have said privately that
prominent policy-makers in London and Washington at the time could be
tried more easily for war crimes for breaching the fourth Geneva
convention than for other acts or omissions.

Appearing on Hardball just now, Rep. Aaron Schock (R-IL) defended the use of waterboarding -- and unlike other GOPers, he openly used the word "torture."

"I would not limit our intelligence agencies' ability to get information from people," said Schock. "If they have a ticking time-bomb or some critical piece of information that can save American lives, I don't believe that we should limit waterboarding or quite frankly any other alternative torture technique, if it means saving Americans' lives."

Today, in response to that delay, the National Religious Campaign Against Torture sent a letter urging Holder to make good on his promise and release the report immediately.

“The delay in the issuance of the report jeopardizes the admirable leadership the Administration has shown in calling for transparency in government and in ending U.S.-sponsored torture once and for all,” says the letter. “Release of the OPR report is not like release of the photographs of torture; release of the OPR report will not imperil the safety of our troops or encourage new recruits for the terrorists. Its effect will be exactly the opposite. Release of the OPR report will demonstrate the integrity of our government processes.”

The attack on Obama is an accusation of treason:

“Here’s a guy without much experience, who campaigned against much of
what we put in place ... and who now travels around the world
apologizing,” Cheney said. “I think our adversaries — especially when
that’s preceded by a deep bow ... — see that as a sign of weakness.”

Specifically, Cheney said the Justice Department decision to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the accused mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, in New York City is “great” for Al Qaeda.

“One of their top people will be given the opportunity — courtesy of
the United States government and the Obama administration — to have a
platform from which they can espouse this hateful ideology that they
adhere to,” he said. “I think it’s likely to give encouragement — aid
and comfort — to the enemy.”