When lawyer authorize war crimes

Names to remember:

"[Former Attorney General Alberto] Gonzales, Federal Appeals Court Judge and former Assistant Attorney General Jay Bybee, University of California law professor and former Deputy Assistant Attorney General John Yoo, former Defense Department general counsel and current Chevron lawyer William J. Haynes II, Vice President Cheney’s former chief of staff David Addington, and former Undersecretary of Defense Douglas J. Feith"

That quote from the Daily Beast describing the proceeding indictments in Spain (Via Yglesias). Judge Garzon, who had indicted Pinochet, will be asked by prosecutors to recuse himself due to past involvement with the case.  That seems appropriate, it makes all the more clear that this isn't about a single figure in Spain but has the backing of the Spanish justice system at large.  The six above are being indicted for their involvment with the toture of Spanish citizens. Torture violates customary international law in addition to treaties the U.S. has ratified, so Spain is an odd place for the indictments but they have jurisdiction.  As a key side note, the Geneva conventions ban not just torture but cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment.  The later catches many of the the more borderline methods.

The Obama administration today released the rest of the torture memos authored by Bybee, his replacement Bradbury, and the CIA legal counsel Rizzo (rundown via Ackerman).  Yoo had also written memos, but his aren't the four that people are mainly talking about. Ackerman has letters written by the administration to the intelligence community.  The President has said that we will not prosecute those that followed the twisted legal guidence.  My instinct would be to condition that amnesty on accurate testimony, but I can accept that.  Director of National Intelligence Blair asks that we treat the interogators with respect.  That I will not do.  Those that directly abused prisoners should have known better and their lives and families were not in danger if they rejected those orders.  Many a villain throughout history has believed they acted in the best interest of their nation.  I don't doubt that the Japanese soldiers convicted for waterboarding Americans, or Americans convicted of that crime in the past believed that as well.  I do believe in forgiveness, but it should be preceded by atonement.

Ackerman notes that the back and forth between the Office of Legal Counsel and the CIA's Counselor  leaves ambigious which side was the driving force.  I have no special insight there, we'll likely have to wait for further investigations and backstabbing to learn more.

You can read the torture memos themselves via the ACLU.  I haven't read them in detail yet myself, but on a quick scan it seems like less than 5% of the content was redacted.  Mostly it seems to be names and whatever codeword is in the header/footer.  The 46 page Bradbury memo has the largest chunks missing.  If you want key quotes, I'd recommend seeing Glenn Greenwald.

After the cut, the section that Kevin Drum reasonably argues is most definitive.

Necessity is not allowed as a justification for torture under international law.  How could it be?  Who wouldn't claim that their torture was necessary.  The thing is, it isn't necessary.  Torture gets confessions, not reliable information.  Of course, as with most crimes, defendents may argue that there were some special circumstances involved.  I believe that the Gonzales, Bybee, Yoo, Haynes, Addington, and Feith as well as Bradbury and RIzzo are all entitled to their day in court.  I hope that day comes sooner rather than later.