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Senior Bush figures could be prosecuted for torture, says Obama + Prosecution possible for those who OK’d torture

Dandelion Salad

by Ewan MacAskill and Robert Booth

guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 21 April 2009 11.30 BST

President says use of waterboarding showed US had ‘lost moral bearings’ as Dick Cheney says CIA memos showed torture delivered ‘good’ intelligence

Former US vice-president Dick Cheney has asked the CIA to declassify memos detailing ‘success’ of torture. Photograph: Kevin Wolf/AP

Senior members of the Bush administration who approved the use of waterboarding and other harsh interrogation measures could face prosecution, President Obama disclosed today .

He said the use of torture reflected America “losing our moral bearings”.

He said his attorney general, Eric Holder, was conducting an investigation and the decision rested with him. Obama last week ruled out prosecution of CIA agents who carried out the interrogation of suspected al-Qaida members at Guantánamo and secret prisons around the world.

[…]

via Senior Bush figures could be prosecuted for torture, says Obama | World news | guardian.co.uk.

h/t: CLG

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Obama: Prosecution possible for those who OK’d torture

By Steven Thomma and Marisa Taylor | McClatchy Newspapers | April 21, 2009

WASHINGTON — Hours after he said that he’d never prosecute CIA officers for harsh interrogations of suspected terrorists, President Barack Obama opened the door Tuesday to prosecuting the Bush administration officials who OK’d the techniques.

Obama said it was up to Attorney General Eric Holder to decide whether Bush administration officials should be charged with war crimes or other offenses for approving techniques such as waterboarding.

“I do worry that this gets so politicized that it hampers our ability to function effectively,” the president said when he was asked about a possible independent investigation.

[…]

via Obama: Prosecution possible for those who OK’d torture | McClatchy.

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