Spain takes point on torture

There is one issue I disagree heartily with President Obama about and that's the need to investigate and prosecute former President Bush, former Vice President Cheney and their minions for instigating, commending, furthering and then justifying the use of torture.

I'm not sure we need an investigation: Both Cheney (just recently again) and Chimpy have said straight out they ordered and approved the torturing of our enemies.

At any rate, nothing has happened to bring these criminals to justice so far, and it seems unlikely that anyone in Congress has enough backbone to do the job, so...


Spain has taken point on this issue.

Liliana Segura, writing for AlterNet, notes that "a Spanish court has launched a criminal probe into six Bush administration attorneys who created the legal architecture for the [use] of torture at Guantanamo Bay."

Well, that particular net doesn't sweep up Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld, but it's a start.

The people being probed are: John Yoo, William J. Haynes, David Addington, Alberto Gonzales, Jay Bybee and Douglas Feith.

Segura says this probe "is not symbolic." She quotes Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights: "If you're any of those six at this point, you don't want to go to the twenty-five countries that make up the European Union, because you may be subject to immediate arrest."

Yes!

Even better is the fact that this probe is just the beginning, and it may well lead all the way up the chain of command to Chimpy and his side-kick, Numbnuts Cheney and others!

It is also possible, as Ratner points out, that this probe will bring additional pressure for the U.S. to set up it's own criminal investigation.


How can Spain do this? you ask. Well, Democracy Now explains: "Spain's law allows it to claim jurisdiction in the case because five Spanish citizens or residents who were prisoners at Guantanamo Bay say they were tortured there."


Segura's full article here.