MoveOn Enters Torture Fray, Calls For Special Prosecutor

[Cali_Democrat]

The Huffington Post

MoveOn Enters Torture Fray, Calls For Special Prosecutor

By Ryan Grim

MoveOn.org will enter the debate over torture investigations on Tuesday, asking its members to call on Attorney General Eric Holder to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the architects of the Bush administration's program of detainee torture.

The foray represents a new direction for MoveOn, which has previously been focused on pushing the progressive agenda - the stimulus, Obama's budget, healthcare, cap and trade - through Congress. Groups to MoveOn's left have long been critical of the organization for not making investigations and prosecutions of Bush-era criminal activity a top priority.

The call for a special prosecutor adds MoveOn's rather loud voice to the growing chorus demanding that crimes be investigated. It's also an indication that the call for accountability for those who committed crimes during the Bush administration is becoming a mainstream Democratic position, and one the White House will find harder to move past.

The group will only deliver the petition to Holder, however, if it gathers 200,000 signatures, making the call a test of the appetite of the progressive base for investigations.

MoveOn makes the case that without consequences for breaking the law, rogue behavior is only encouraged. "So far there's been no accountability for the architects of Bush's torture program -- the top officials who justified keeping detainees awake for 11 days straight, waterboarding them repeatedly, and forcing prisoners into coffin-like boxes with insects," reads the letter from MoveOn to its members. "We need real consequences for those responsible -- it's the only way to keep this from happening again."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/20/moveon-enters-torture-fra_n_189277.html

Click here to sign a copy of the petition!!!!!
http://pol.moveon.org/torture/