State Department Lawyers Warned in 2002 That Denying Terror Suspects' Gene

[sabra]

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/060709/nysu010.html?.v=61


NEWSWEEK: State Department Lawyers Warned in 2002 That Denying Terror Suspects' Geneva Conventions Rights Could Upset U.S. Courts, Make Officials Vulnerable to War Crimes Charges


Supreme Court's Gitmo Decision Could Undermine NSA Wiretapping, Other Anti- Terror Programs: 'This is an Extremely Damaging Decision for Presidential Power' Says Former Administration Lawyer


NEW YORK, July 9 /PRNewswire/ -- A group of State Department lawyers warned in 2002 that the Bush administration was inviting an enormous backlash, both from U.S. Courts and foreign allies, by denying terror suspects rights commonly given under U.S. law or the Geneva Conventions, report Investigative Correspondent Michael Isikoff and Contributing Editor Stuart Taylor, Jr. in the July 17 issue of Newsweek (on newsstands Monday, July 10). "Even those terrorists captured in Afghanistan ... are entitled to the fundamental humane treatment standards of ... the Geneva Conventions," William Howard Taft IV, the State Department legal counselor wrote in a January 23, 2002 memo obtained by Newsweek. In particular, Taft argued, the United States has always followed one provision of the Geneva Conventions-known as Common Article 3- which "provides the minimal standards" of treatment that even "terrorists captured in Afghanistan" deserve.

Taft was one member of a "working group" assembled after 9/11 to figure out what rights captured foreign fighters and terror suspects were entitled to while in U.S. custody. According to a young lawyer also in the group, David Bowker, they were instructed by White House hard-liners, led by Vice President Cheney and his lawyer David Addington, to create and legally justify a system for prisoners where few legal restraints would apply. The day the orders came down, Bowker recalls, a colleague explained to him that they were supposed to "find the legal equivalent of outer space"-a "lawless" universe.

Cheney's men may come to wish they'd listened a little more closely to the warnings, report Isikoff and Taylor. In its ruling in the case of Ahmed Hamdan, the Guantanamo detainee who once served as Osama bin Laden's driver, the Supreme Court harshly criticized the administration's treatment of prisoners and came down squarely on the side of the dissenters. The majority opinion, written by Justice John Paul Stevens, concluded that the administration's military commissions, with their limited protections for the rights of the accused, specifically violated the basic provisions of Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions-precisely the same argument that Taft, Bowker and other State Department lawyers had tried to make four years ago.

Now some legal scholars and current and former administration officials believe the case could undermine other anti-terror programs that the president has justified by invoking Congress's post-9/11 resolution-including the secret foreign detention centers and the NSA wiretapping program. "This is an extremely damaging decision for presidential power," says a former senior administration lawyer. "And it was largely a self-inflicted wound."

[RufusEarl]

1. When it comes to shooting oneself in the foot,

Bu$h has very good aim. But i suppose he'll continue to listen to Cheney, and we all know how well Cheney can aim.

[Roland99]

2. And we can rest assured the media will be there at every misfire.

:eyes:

[rodeodance]

4. paybacks are wonderful (if the media has any guts at all).

[Ms. Clio]

3. "The implications of this -- for potentially being arrested and tried"

n other countries -- is certainly a little scary," says Ted Olson, the former Solicitor General."

Oh, yeah. Tremble, you torturing bastards.

[hootinholler]

6. Isn't there a law on the books that allows military rescue of officials?

I think there is but I'm too lazy to look it up.

I've been bitching about the lack of investigation since the decision was handed down. It's nice to see it get some press.

-Hoot

[MasonJar]

5. Bush may now spend less time abroad on our nickel. He certain-

ly never went anywhere when he had to pay for it.

[flyarm]

7. "just so long as i am dictator"...well it seems little lord pissy pants

may get his nuts in a ringer...but we know he thinks he is dictator..so any bets he will continue doing what he has and this monica congress will just let him continue breaking every law in the books..

now don't look under the desk...you might see a gop congress critter..looking for pissy pants wmd...weenie of minor deception

or it could be gannon/ guckert ..posing as the American media...or the facsimile there of..

fly

[chill_wind]

8. K&R n/t