Evening Buzz: Prosecution for 'Torture Memos?'
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/POLITICS/04/21/obama.memos/art.obama.afp.gi.jpg caption="Pres. Obama leaves door open to prosecute former Bush officials' who crafted 'torture memos'."]
Maureen Miller
AC360° Writer
Tonight on AC360°, a dramatic change at the White House. President Obama is now leaving it up to his Attorney General to decide whether to prosecute Bush administration officials who drew up policies allowing alleged torture of terror suspects.
Pres. Obama still doesn't think CIA officers should be prosecuted for using the interrogation techniques he has since banned.
But he worries about the debate turning political.
"I think it's very important for the American people to feel as if this is not being dealt with to provide one side or another political advantage, but rather is being done in order to learn some lessons so that we move forward in an effective way." said Pres. Obama today.
Obama's comments come five days after his administration released four Bush-era memos detailing interrogation techniques such as waterboarding, which stimulates drowning.
As Tom Foreman reported last night on AC360°, CIA officers used waterboarding at least 266 times on two top al Qaeda suspects. Pres. Obama considers waterboarding torture.
Do you think the lawyers or others who wrote the legal guidelines should be prosecuted?
Share your thought below.
We'll have more on this story tonight.
We're also getting new information on the medical student accused of being the so-called 'Craigslist killer.' Philip Markoff was in court today, where a not guilty plea was entered in his behalf. Police say he killed a woman and attacked and robbed another - after finding them through Craigslist. His fiance says police have the "wrong man."
Join us for these stories and more starting at 10pm ET.
See you then!
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Filed under: Maureen Miller • The Buzz |
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Here we go again. We have got to play the blame game. Duh how long have there been torture for information. It did not start with 9/11 . Try oh WWI,WWII,Korea and Vietnam. Americas hands have not been clean in a long time. America in the past has used the same methods to obtain intel for a long time. Correct me if I am wrong but is this the "Presidents" first office in goverment or has he been asleep a long time. Why is it only now that this little fact is coming to light.
I served in the Army and, while I believe in the Geneva Conventions for POWs whose countries/militaries signed them, I believe aggressive interrogation techniques should be used against terror suspects and the information gleaned corroborated with other intel before action is taken. While the current ROE may extend the GC rights as a courtesy to 'enemy combatants', terror suspects aren't technically entitled to the rights granted in the Geneva Conventions because their terror organizations aren't signatories to those policies, nor will they abide by them when they capture our soldiers or citizens; need I remind you of what they did to Nick Berg and others early in the years of the Iraq war? Waterboarding, our most aggressive technique, pales in comparison.