Another small step - a torture prosecutor

brother tim's comment on my previous post about the small step of releasing the names of detainees to the icrc openly voices his skepticism...

They may throw out a couple of bones, like they do to us, but there'll be no meat on them.

however, i'll still take a small, positive step, even though it may be relatively meaningless, to yet another clearly negative one... for my own mental health, i can't afford to discount even the smallest steps in the right direction...

Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. has decided to appoint a prosecutor to examine nearly a dozen cases in which CIA interrogators and contractors may have violated anti-torture laws and other statutes when they allegedly threatened terrorism suspects, according to two sources familiar with the move.

Holder is poised to name John Durham, a career Justice Department prosecutor from Connecticut, to lead the inquiry, according to the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the process is not complete.

Durham's mandate, the sources added, will be relatively narrow: to look at whether there is enough evidence to launch a full-scale criminal investigation of current and former CIA personnel who may have broken the law in their dealings with detainees. Many of the harshest CIA interrogation techniques have not been employed against terrorism suspects for four years or more.

The attorney general selected Durham in part because the longtime prosecutor is familiar with the CIA and its past interrogation regime. For nearly two years, Durham has been probing whether laws against obstruction or false statements were violated in connection with the 2005 destruction of CIA videotapes. The tapes allegedly depicted brutal scenes including waterboarding of some of the agency's high value detainees. That inquiry is proceeding before a grand jury in Alexandria, although lawyers following the investigation have cast doubt on whether it will result in any criminal charges.

after 8 years of bush and going on 8 months of heavy-duty disappointment in obama, yes, i'm grasping at straws...

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Dear Senator Feingold

from an email i just received from russ feingold asking me to support his censure resolutions and the appointment of a special prosecutor...

As you know, last Sunday I proposed censure resolutions aimed at holding the President, Vice President and administration officials responsible for misconduct relating to the war in Iraq and for their repeated assaults on the rule of law. I am pleased to announce that Congressman Maurice Hinchey has joined me in this effort. Thanks to the input of thousands of Progressive Patriots like you, we plan to formally introduce these censure resolutions later this week. But I still need your feedback. So if you haven’t already, please let me know your thoughts on this vitally important issue. I will be sure to keep you posted as we move forward.

for what it's worth, i sent him my thoughts, as requested...

Dear Senator Feingold,

I believe that the United States is in the midst of the most serious constitutional crisis in its history. The steps taken by the Bush administration to accrue unfettered executive power have our country poised on the brink of becoming an authoritarian state, and I do not feel that I exaggerate in the least. On the contrary, I am probably understating the reality.

Every single day that the current occupants of the White House remain in power is another day for them to advance their radical agenda of invalidating the separation of powers. The United States is already effectively being governed from one branch of government, the executive branch, which has become so politicized and infiltrated with administration loyalists as to be nearly unrecognizable.

Even over and above Iraq (which, heaven only knows, is a daily tragedy of staggering proportions), there is no greater priority than stopping the Bush administration, a feat that, it should be obvious by now, can ONLY be accomplished by their removal from office. And even THAT, Senator, will be insufficient unless and until the levers of unrestrained executive power have been not only rolled back but officially REPUDIATED, PRIOR to the next president taking office on 20 January 2009.

Of course, Senator Feingold, I support your censure resolutions and your call for an independent prosecutor. However, what I am desperately HOPING you will do is to stand up and, with all the force and dignity of your office and your outstanding Senatorial career, speak out on this grave crisis, name it for what it is, and rally those of us who are so desperate for leadership from our elected officials to the cause of saving our constitutionally-based, democratic republic. I can tell you, Senator, there are many thousands of us who would be at your side in a heartbeat were you to issue such a call.

I realize that impeachment proceedings must be initiated in the House Judiciary Committee. I am not at all sure, unfortunately, that we have the luxury of enough time to let that process run its course. What I envision, unrealistic or not, is a mass convergence of citizens on Washington calling for the President, the Vice President, and all members of the Cabinet to resign. Yes, Senator, I do believe we are at that point.

Please take my thoughts as they were intended - a very serious cry for help as I watch our country being dismembered at the hands of those who have forsaken their sworn duty to protect and defend the United States Constitution.

Best regards,

if you would like, you can send your thoughts to russ at this email address...

russ@progressivepatriotsfund.com

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Data-mining exonerates Gonzo...? That's simply 20-carat hooey...!

what's wrong with THIS nyt picture...?

A 2004 dispute over the National Security Agency’s secret surveillance program that led top Justice Department officials to threaten resignation involved computer searches through massive electronic databases, according to current and former officials briefed on the program.

It is not known precisely why searching the databases, or data mining, raised such a furious legal debate. But such databases contain records of the phone calls and e-mail messages of millions of Americans, and their examination by the government would raise privacy issues.

The N.S.A.’s data mining has previously been reported. But the disclosure that concerns about it figured in the March 2004 debate helps to clarify the clash this week between Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales and senators who accused him of misleading Congress and called for a perjury investigation.

it would be the SAME thing that's wrong with this wapo picture...

The report of a data mining component to the dispute suggests that Gonzales's testimony could be correct. A group of Senate Democrats, including two who have been privy to classified briefings about the NSA program, called last week for a special prosecutor to consider perjury charges against Gonzales.

first, let's hear from glenn greenwald...

This leak would be arguably exculpatory for Gonzales only if it reported that data mining was the only source of the Comey/Ashcroft objections, not merely one of the sources. But both articles explictly states [sic] that there were other grounds for those objections besides data mining, leaving open -- rather than resolving -- the only relevant questions: did those objections, contrary to Gonzales' sworn testimony, relate to the "TSP's" [Terrorist Surveillance Program] warrantless eavesdropping?

let's cut to the chase... data mining is PRECISELY what produces grist for the entire surveillance program... data mining - what i refer to as sniffing - is an automated program designed to "sniff" through multi-terabytes of real-time electronic transactions and untold mountains of stored data looking for certain pre-programmed patterns - words, phrases, data-strings, and hex code - which, if found, are then spit out for further analysis... if further analysis, probably also automated, confirms the initial analysis, the information is further spit out to a human analyst who makes a determination about what to do with it... the determination may include such options as further investigation, real-time data interception (wiretaps, et al), additional database searches, personal surveillance, etc... this is happening 24/7/365 and has been going on for years... the bush administration is simply banking on the fact that most members of congress, most journalists and most americans are simply too stupid to figure out what's REALLY going on...

p.s. and, in case you would like to see how it's all done, click here...

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