Release of Memos Fuels Push for Inquiry Into Bush’s Terror-Fighting Policies

[groovedaddy]

WASHINGTON — A day after releasing a set of Bush administration opinions that claimed sweeping presidential powers in fighting terrorism, the Obama administration faced new pressure on Tuesday to support a broad inquiry into interrogation, detention, surveillance and other practices under President George W. Bush.

Justice Department officials said they might soon release additional opinions on those subjects. But the disclosure of the nine formerly secret documents fueled calls by lawmakers for an independent commission to investigate and make public what the Bush administration did in the global campaign against terrorism.

The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Representative John Conyers Jr., Democrat of Michigan, said the revelations, together with the release of new information about the Central Intelligence Agency’s destruction of 92 interrogation videotapes, had underscored the need for a commission that would have the power to subpoena documents and testimony.

Officials who discussed the process spoke on the condition of anonymity because memorandums still under review might involve classified information. Among those that have not been disclosed but are believed to exist are a memorandum from the fall of 2001 justifying the National Security Agency’s program of domestic surveillance without warrants and one from the summer of 2002 that listed specific harsh interrogation techniques, including waterboarding, that the C.I.A. was authorized to use.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/04/washington/04legal.html?th&emc=th

[CanonRay]

1. A Grand Jury, not a special commission

which would be more whitewashed bullshit (see Commission, Warren; Commission, 9-11 etc)

[groovedaddy]

2. I absolutely agree...It's prosecution time! n.t

[Vini_Vidivici]

3. So silly...............

...........that there would be an "inquiry" on how we treat the enemy. Absurd.

Waterboarding? Please...........It's a far cry from the use of fire, sharp tools...........no blood is spilled........how very weak that people are so concerned with how the enemy is treated.

I do agree that broad, unchecked surveillance, domestically, is somewhat of an infringement on 4th Amendment rights, and a general right to privacy.

Then again, I'm not a terrorist........so on one side of the coin, they can watch me if they want........they aren't gonna see anything of interest.