July 16, 2009 - New York Times editorialized (HERE) about accountability for rendition, torture and other Bush-era war crimes:
"Once the Bush team got into the habit of breaking the law, it became their operating procedure that any means are justified: ordering the nation’s intelligence agents to torture prisoners; sending innocents to be tortured in foreign countries; creating secret prisons where detainees were held illegally without charge."July 16, 2009 - CIA ASSASSINATION PROGRAM STILL ACTIVE IN JUNE 2009 -The Washington Post reported that the Assassination Program would operate with "no geographical limitations on the agency's action" (HERE)
"The finding imposed no geographical limitations on the agency's actions, and intelligence officials have said that they were not obliged to notify Congress of each operation envisaged under the directive."
and HERE
"No geographical limitations" presumably means that operations could potentially be carried out in countries, friendly or unfriendly, that are far from any war zone -- including even the US itself. And it seems likely that they would be carried out without notifying the foreign country in question"
AS BUSH's LAWYERS ARE ALSO BEING CALLED INTO ACCOUNT, HOPEFULLY, THESE ACTIONS IN UNITED STATES WILL ALSO STIMULATE BUSH ERA ACCOMPLICES TO START LOOKING INTO THEIR OWN WRONGDOINGS AND STOP CLAIMING THE NEED FOR SECRECY TO "PROTECT ALLIES".
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More on recent actions:
July 17, 2009 - Rep. Silvestre Reyes, Chair of the House Intelligence committee, has announced an investigation into this secret CIA assassination program that Leon Panetta says he recently ended, and which Dick Cheney reportedly ordered kept secret from Congress. From Reyes's statement:
"After careful consideration and consultation with the Ranking Minority Member and other members of the Committee, I am announcing an official Committee investigation into possible violations of federal law, including the National Security Act of 1974.
This investigation will focus on the core issues of how the congressional intelligence committees and Congress are kept fully and currently informed. To this end, the investigation will examine several issues, including the program discussed during Director Panetta's June 24th notification and whether there was any official decision or direction to withold (sic) information from the Committee."
More at "Congress to Probe CIA Program" - July 17, 2009 - HERE
July 11, 2009 - Newsweek Magazine reported that Attorney General Eric Holder is considering appointing a prosecutor to investigate these crimes. (HERE)
While this, the United Nations takes action on the international stage and the UN Working Group on the use of mercenaries as a means of violating human rights and impeding the exercise of the rights of peoples to self-determination will carry out an official visit to the United States of America from 20 July to 3 August 2009. From a statement released by the U.N. (HERE)
The Working Group will in particular focus on questions of transparency and accountability of PMSCs and their personnel, instances and circumstances which may give rise to impunity of contractors for violations of human rights as well as guarantees for ensuring that victims of violations have access to effective remedies. It will also look into the general trend towards the privatization of war and its consequences.
More information HERE
