investigate Bush’s complicity in torture

April 16th, 2008 · No Comments

In case you missed it, ABC News has recently reported on meetings by high-level Bush administration officials, in the White House, that officially and explicitly sanctioned the use of torture by the CIA.

In an interview with ABC’s Martha Raddatz the day after the original report aired, President Bush acknowledged that “yes, I’m aware our national security team met on this issue. And I approved.”

John Amato at Crooks and Liars has joined forces with the ACLU to start a letter-writing campaign to members of Congress requesting an independent prosector to investigate the possibility that the Bush Administration’s awareness and approval of torture techniques employed by the CIA were in violation of several laws (including the War Crimes Act, the federal Anti-Torture statute, and federal assault laws.)

In a stunning admission to ABC news Friday night, President Bush declared that he knew his top national security advisers discussed and approved specific details of the CIA’s use of torture. Bush reportedly told ABC, “I’m aware our national security team met on this issue. And I approved.” Bush also defended the use of waterboarding.

“We have always known that the CIA’s use of torture was approved from the very top levels of the U.S. government, yet the latest revelations about knowledge from the president himself and authorization from his top advisers only confirms our worst fears,” said Anthony D. Romero, Executive Director of the ACLU. “It is a very sad day when the president of the United States subverts the Constitution, the rule of law, and American values of justice.”

More than 80,000 people have sent letters via the ACLU site. They’re hoping for at least 100,000.

Sign here.

Original C&L post here. Follow-up post here.

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