wow, i was going to do a posting on roman polanski

because i am so fucking angry. why? everyone is saying HE'S getting a raw deal (as in she 'looked 25'. if i hear that one more time i'm going to burst a vein). what really happened is; he gave a 13 year old drugs and alcohol and fucked her (which is RAPE). that's a crime in this country. plain and simple (although it's NOT plain and simple to me at all. it goes much deeper with me. it's personal with me). no, i don't feel sorry for roman polanski and i never did. you can all cry for him. my tears are saved for all of the 13 year olds who get raped somewhere in the world each and every day.

i came across this just now in the wapo and since eugene robinson and i are on the same page on this subject i'm going to link to his column/story

What Polanski Deserves
By Eugene Robinson

Hasn't Roman Polanski suffered enough? Didn't he endure all those cool, gray, rainy Paris winters? Wasn't he forced -- well, not forced, but strongly enticed -- to subsist all those years on overpriced fare served up by haughty waiters in Michelin-starred restaurants? Didn't he survive for decades having his vacation options limited, essentially, to the grim monotony of the South of France?

I've got a better question: Shouldn't Polanski and his many apologists give us a break?

I'm a huge fan of Polanski's work. "Chinatown" is one of my favorite movies of all time, "Rosemary's Baby" is a masterpiece, and he richly deserved the Oscar he won as best director for "The Pianist." He's a great artist. Maybe his next film will be a prison movie.

Brilliant auteur or no, Polanski has been a fugitive from U.S. justice since 1978. And there was certainly no artistic merit in the crime he acknowledged committing: During a photo shoot at the Los Angeles home of his friend and "Chinatown" star Jack Nicholson, Polanski plied a 13-year-old girl with champagne and drugs and had sex with her........

i respectfully disagree mr president

i think releasing the photographs and condemning those that committed the atrocities and those that ordered the atrocities will SAVE lives. it will show the world, we as americans will NOT tolerate torture. we as americans DO NOT torture. we as americans will PUNISH THOSE RESPONSIBLE FOR TORTURE (and i'm NOT talking the grunts that may have done the physical abuse. i'm talking the big boyz and of course coonnddii as well. make them pay for the disregard they have for america and all she is and all she stands for. make them pay for torture. AMERICA DOES NOT TORTURE)

Obama Shifts on Abuse Photos
Releasing Images of Detainee Mistreatment Would Endanger U.S. Troops, President Says

By Scott Wilson

Washington Post Staff Writer
A month after making public once-classified Justice Department memos detailing the Bush administration's coercive methods of interrogation, President Obama yesterday chose secrecy over disclosure, saying he will seek to block the court-ordered release of photographs depicting the abuse of detainees held by U.S. authorities abroad.
Obama agreed less than three weeks ago not to oppose the photos' release, but he changed his mind after viewing some of the images and hearing warnings from his generals in Iraq and in Afghanistan that such a move would endanger U.S. troops deployed there. .......

why is it when 'THEY' do something wrong

'they' do everything in their power to sleaze out of it. when someone else does something wrong or inappropriate or even something 'they' simply don't like, 'they' yell out for blood. i can hear 'them' saying 'OFF WITH THEIR HEADS' as we speak...............

Bush Officials Try to Alter Ethics Report
Focus Is Approval of Harsh Interrogations

By Carrie Johnson

Washington Post Staff Writer
Former Bush administration officials have launched a behind-the-scenes campaign to urge Justice Department leaders to soften an ethics report criticizing lawyers who blessed harsh detainee interrogation tactics, according to two sources familiar with the efforts.

Representatives for John C. Yoo and Jay S. Bybee, subjects of the ethics probe, have encouraged former Justice Department and White House officials to contact new officials at the department to point out the troubling precedent of imposing sanctions on legal advisers, said the sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the process is not complete.

The effort began in recent weeks, the sources said, and it could not be determined how many former officials had reached out to their new counterparts.....

and an oh shite!!!! moment:

Torture Memos: Inquiry Suggests No Prosecutions
By DAVID JOHNSTON and SCOTT SHANE

WASHINGTON — An internal Justice Department inquiry has concluded that Bush administration lawyers committed serious lapses of judgment in writing secret memorandums authorizing brutal interrogations but that they should not be prosecuted, according to government officials briefed on its findings.

The report by the Office of Professional Responsibility, an internal ethics unit within the Justice Department, is also likely to ask state bar associations to consider possible disciplinary action, which could include reprimands or even disbarment, for some of the lawyers involved in writing the legal opinions, the officials said.

The conclusions of the 220-page draft report are not final and have not yet been approved by Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. The officials said that it is possible that the final report might be subject to further revision but that they did not expect major alterations in its main findings or recommendations........

(because the united states DOES NOT torture. and if we DO torture, those that ordered it and committed it and knew about it and loved it should get medals instead of the time in the slammer they deserve)

ummmmmmmm duh

i personally would not refer to them as 'errors'. i'd refer to them as outright dirty doings (well worse of course. lives were at stake. torture was involved and so very much more). i don't understand how the rethugs are all up in arms after obama being president a mere 40+ days after each and every one of us knows about king george and his band of merry whiteboyz' crimes against humanity (AND the american people).


Post-9/11 Memos Show More Bush-Era Legal Errors

By R. Jeffrey Smith and Dan Eggen

Washington Post Staff Writers
The number of major legal errors committed by Bush administration lawyers during the formulation of its early counterterrorism policies was far greater than previously known, according to internal Bush administration documents released for the first time by the Justice Department yesterday. Those policies were based on at least 10 legal opinions conferring broad powers on the president that the Justice Department later deemed flawed and ordered withdrawn, including several approving the military's search, detention or trial of civilians in the United States without congressional input, according to the documents..........

not only did we have NO right

to invade and destroy iraq, we promised to rebuild it. did we? what do YOU think?

and who will be held accountable for this? for years and years and years, king george and his bunch o' good ol' whiteboyz literally THREW OUR money into the abyss that is iraq (we made it that way). while i would have NO problems if the money was spent on the care and protection of our service members, the majority was NOT. it is in someone's pocket. that someone is NOT you or i

Missing Iraq billions could be 'greatest fraud in US history'
Stephen C. Webster
The US Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, the Army's criminal Investigation Command and the Justice Department are investigating US soldiers and officials in the alleged misuse of a portion of the $125 billion initially sent to Iraq for reconstruction shortly after the fall of Saddam.

Monday, The Independent's Iraq correspondent Patrick Cockburn reported the inspectors believe misuse may account for over $50 billion, exceeding the scope of Bernie Madoff's massive Ponzi scheme and making it potentially the "greatest fraud in US history."

"In one case, auditors working for SIGIR discovered that $57.8m was sent in 'pallet upon pallet of hundred-dollar bills' to the US comptroller for south-central Iraq, Robert J Stein Jr, who had himself photographed standing with the mound of money," wrote Cockburn. "He is among the few US officials who were in Iraq to be convicted of fraud and money-laundering.
............

this is rich

(as in smooth creamy RICH peanut butter)

the FDA is investigating the peanut company?????? turns out the FDA knew about problems a WHILE AGO AND DID NOTHING ABOUT IT. who the fuck is going to investigate the FDA? this is absolutely a farce

FDA Investigating Peanut Company Behind Recall
Firm Could Face Criminal Charges
By Rob Stein
Washington Post Staff Writer
The federal government has begun a criminal investigation of the peanut company responsible for an outbreak of salmonella illness that has sickened hundreds of people, killed at least eight and prompted one of the largest food recalls in U.S. history.

The Food and Drug Administration is working with the Justice Department to explore possible criminal charges against the Peanut Corporation of America of Lynchburg, Va., which shipped contaminated products made in its plant in Blakely, Ga., officials said yesterday.

"There is a criminal investigation that has been initiated through our office of criminal investigation at the FDA. They have to work through the Department of Justice to develop a case and prosecute, if that's what it comes to," said Stephen Sundlof, director of the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. "It's an open investigation." ...........

this cost us an additional

TEN MILLION DOLLARS

we should DEMAND five million each from king george and the big dick. no, make that ten million each - to cover punitive damages

it's like our country has money to burn or something, isn't it?

Missing White House E-Mails Traced, Justice Aide Says
By R. Jeffrey Smith
Washington Post Staff Writer
A Justice Department lawyer told a federal judge yesterday that the Bush administration will meet its legal requirement to transfer e-mails to the National Archives after spending more than $10 million to locate 14 million e-mails reported missing four years ago from White House computer files.

Civil division trial lawyer Helen H. Hong made the disclosure at a court hearing provoked by a 2007 lawsuit filed by outside groups to ensure that politically significant records created by the White House are not destroyed or removed before President Bush leaves office at noon on Tuesday. She said the department plans to argue in a court filing this week that the administration's successful recent search renders the lawsuit moot. ..........

hmmmm

are we shocked and/or surprised? goddess no!

i'd be shocked and surprised if someone was actually PUNISHED for this or for ANY effing illegal, immoral or evil thing this administration is responsible for

Study Finds Ideology Fueled Justice Dept. Hirings
By Carrie Johnson
Washington Post Staff Writer

Ideological considerations permeated the hiring process at the Justice Department's civil rights division, where a politically appointed official sought to hire "real Americans" and Republicans for career posts and prominent case assignments, according to a long awaited report released this morning by the department's inspector general.

The extensive study of hiring practices between 2001 and 2007 concluded that a former department official improperly weeded out candidates based on their perceived ties to liberal organizations. Two other senior managers failed to oversee the process, authorities said.

The key official, former Deputy Assistant Attorney General Bradley Schlozman, favored employees who shared his political views and derided others as "libs" and "pinkos," the report said. .....

for those of you that continue to insist

king george and his band of merry thugs is fighting the great fight on the 'war on terror' (which is THE lousiest name they could have picked mind you. it's incites our 'enemies' is the ONLY thing it does), here's how they're fighting it (by selling weapons to iran and goddess only knows where else)

Iran Using Fronts to Get Bomb Parts From U.S.
By Joby Warrick
Washington Post Staff Writer
The Iranian businessman was looking for high-quality American electronics, but he had to act stealthily: The special parts he coveted were denied to Iranians, especially those seeking to make roadside bombs to kill U.S. troops in Iraq.

With a few e-mails, the problem was solved. A friendly Malaysian importer would buy the parts from a company in Linden, N.J., and forward them to Iran. All that was left was coming up with a fake name for the invoice. Perhaps a Malaysian engineering school? "Of course, you can use any other company as end-user that you think is better than this," the Iranian businessman, Ahmad Rahzad, wrote in an e-mail dated March 8, 2007.

The ruse succeeded in delivering nine sensors called inclinometers to Iran, the first of several such shipments that year and the latest example of what U.S. officials and weapons experts describe as Iran's skillful flouting of export laws intended to stop lethal technology from reaching the Islamic republic. ...........

and you wonder

why this great nation is falling apart. i don't. although i wonder WHY we allowed this shite to go on for so long.

we allowed our country to be stolen. our laws to be broken. our constitution to be torn apart and spit upon.
we allowed a madman and his good ol' whiteboy network to send 4,204 of our men and women to their deaths for NO reason

we should be ashamed of ourselves. then we should pull on our (vegan of course) boots, stand up and shout NO F**KING MORE.

no, i don't want to pay for this pile's attorneys. let him pay for his own. this country needs the money for OTHER things (like tossing at chairmen of failing companies who go to spas in california while rome new york (and the rest) is burning
Lawmakers ask: Why are taxpayers footing Gonzales's legal bills?
Nick Juliano
Two members of Congress are demanding answers following revelations that taxpayers are paying up to $24,000 per month to foot former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales's legal bills.

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), who chair the Judiciary committees in their respective chambers, wrote to Attorney General Michael Mukasey on Monday demanding to know the details of the arrangement.

At issue is a lawsuit filed against Gonzales alleging that he oversaw discrimination in two Justice Department programs aimed at recruiting law students into federal service. During his time in office, department officials systematically denied entry to liberal applicants and only admitted Republican supporters.

Administration of the Department of Justice Honor Program and Summer Law Intern Program were two of the many areas in which Gonzales is alleged to have politicized the Department..............

accountability

there is very little to none. we think we're kings of the hill especially in places like some of the south american countries (yes, i personally know that is a continent consisting of countries). we've backed all sorts of mercenaries, terrorists, killers and 'defenders of justice' (who were nothing more than murderers themselves) for a long long long time. don't be fooled if you think we've stopped this kind of shite. we haven't. it's going on ALL over the world

links to the six stories i've posted on chiquita as an example

CIA Withheld Details On Downing, IG Says
Shooting in Peru Killed Missionary, Infant

By Joby Warrick

Washington Post Staff Writer

An internal CIA probe has concluded that agency officials deliberately misled Congress, the White House and federal prosecutors about key details of the 2001 downing of an airplane carrying U.S. missionaries in Peru, according to a senior lawmaker who called yesterday for a new criminal inquiry into the case.

The agency's inspector general said CIA officers repeatedly ignored rules of engagement in a joint U.S.-Peruvian campaign to halt airborne drug smugglers, resulting in the downing of at least 10 other aircraft without proper warnings. Afterward, CIA managers concealed the problems from lawmakers and the Justice Department, the agency watchdog said.............

larisa

has the latest (and most detailed) scoop on the siegelman fiasco. justice must be served here (as well as with the entire king george administration AND entities like blackwater too!). may them ALL accountable. don siegelman was framed and even a 3 year old can see that

The Siegelman nail in the Bush administration coffin...

Or as they say, time to pay the piper:

Next month in Atlanta, a federal court will hear the high-profile appeal of former Alabama governor Don E. Siegelman, whose conviction on corruption charges in 2006 became one of the most publicly debated cases to emerge from eight years of controversy at the Bush Justice Department. Now new documents highlight alleged misconduct by the Bush-appointed U.S. attorney and other prosecutors in the case, including what appears to be extensive and unusual contact between the prosecution and the jury.

Remember, we knew about this, but Time has gotten the documents. Remember too, that the Bush appointed-Karl Rove-friend-judge on the case, Mark Fuller, knew about the jury tampering and discounted it. Onwards:

The documents, obtained by TIME, include internal prosecution e-mails given to the Justice Department and Congress by a whistle-blower during the last 18 months. John Conyers, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, which investigated the Siegelman case as part of a broader inquiry into alleged political interference in the hiring and firing of U.S. attorneys by the Bush Justice Department, last week sent an eight-page letter to Attorney General Michael Mukasey citing the new material.

Conyers says the evidence raises "serious questions" about the U.S. Attorney in the Siegelman case, who, documents show, continued to involve herself in the politically charged prosecution long after she had publicly withdrawn to avoid an alleged conflict of interest relating to her husband, a top GOP operative and close associate of Bush adviser Karl Rove. Conyers' letter also cites evidence of numerous contacts between jurors and members of the Siegelman prosecution team that were never disclosed to the trial judge or defense counsel.

Remember too, that the DOJ lied to me when I demanded to know if Leura Canary had recused herself from the case. I was told that she had. When I demanded documentation, they told me that the documents were not public (really? a federal prosecutor's rescusal documentation are private?). And the cover-up continued:

When the House Judiciary Committee looked into the Siegelman affair earlier this year, DoJ issued statements, placed in the Congressional record, maintaining that the case had been handled only by career prosecutors, not political appointees, and that Canary had recused herself in 2002, "before any significant decisions ... were made."........

if i've said it once,

i've said it a thousand times. WE DO NOT TORTURE. except of course when we DO torture. how can we NOT punish those responsible? how can we allow this to go, at the very LEAST, unchallanged? how can we sleep at night? (i can't)

CIA Tactics Endorsed In Secret Memos

Waterboarding Got White House Nod

By Joby Warrick

Washington Post Staff Writer

The Bush administration issued a pair of secret memos to the CIA in 2003 and 2004 that explicitly endorsed the agency's use of interrogation techniques such as waterboarding against al-Qaeda suspects -- documents prompted by worries among intelligence officials about a possible backlash if details of the program became public.

The classified memos, which have not been previously disclosed, were requested by then-CIA Director George J. Tenet more than a year after the start of the secret interrogations, according to four administration and intelligence officials familiar with the documents. Although Justice Department lawyers, beginning in 2002, had signed off on the agency's interrogation methods, senior CIA officials were troubled that White House policymakers had never endorsed the program in writing..........

oh no!

corruption, lies, bribes, illicit sex, lions and tigers and bears oh my....in the OIL INDUSTRY and those that are in charge to oversee it??????????

oh it's SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO hard to believe.

Interior Dept. Officials Embroiled in Energy Ethics Scandal

By Derek Kravitz and Mary Pat Flaherty

Washington Post Staff Writers
Government officials in charge of collecting billions of dollars worth of royalties from oil and gas companies accepted lavish gifts, steered contracts to favored firms and engaged in illicit sex with employees of the energy companies, federal investigators reported today.
Investigators from the Interior Department's inspector general's office said more than a dozen employees, including the former director of the oil royalty program, accepted gifts including ski trips, sports tickets and golf outings. The report alleges that the former director, Gregory W. Smith, also arranged side deals that personally netted him more than $30,000. ...........

i am blathering now

there is only so much i can say. there is only so much i can rant. there is only so much i, a rose is a rose, can personally handle. this is insulting to my intelligence. this is incredulous. why isn't this man and his boss (ex, the king of america) in jail right this second? at the least, why aren't they CHARGED with something?

Report Describes Careless Handling of U.S. Secrets

Gonzales Says He Does Not Recall

By Carrie Johnson

Washington Post Staff Writer

Former attorney general Alberto R. Gonzales told investigators that he could not recall whether he took home notes regarding the government's most sensitive national security program and that he did not know they contained classified information, despite his own markings that they were "top secret -- eyes only,"(WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTTTT????????? and we're just going to sit here and take THAT shite?) according to a Justice Department report released yesterday.

Gonzales improperly carried notes about the warrantless wiretapping program in an unlocked briefcase and failed to keep them in a safe at his Northern Virginia home three years ago because he "could not remember the combination," the department's inspector general reported...........

but mommy WHY would you open an investigation

into someone when there is NO clear basis of support?

wouldn't that cost money? wouldn't it be against our constitution?

why mommy why?

New Guidelines Would Give F.B.I. Broader Powers

By ERIC LICHTBLAU

WASHINGTON — A Justice Department plan would loosen restrictions on the Federal Bureau of Investigation to allow agents to open a national security or criminal investigation against someone without any clear basis for suspicion, Democratic lawmakers briefed on the details said Wednesday.

The plan, which could be made public next month, has already generated intense interest and speculation. Little is known about its precise language, but civil liberties advocates say they fear it could give the government even broader license to open terrorism investigations.

Congressional staff members got a glimpse of some of the details in closed briefings this month, and four Democratic senators told Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey in a letter on Wednesday that they were troubled by what they heard.

The senators said the new guidelines would allow the F.B.I. to open an investigation of an American, conduct surveillance, pry into private records and take other investigative steps “without any basis for suspicion.” The plan “might permit an innocent American to be subjected to such intrusive surveillance based in part on race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, or on protected First Amendment activities,” the letter said. It was signed by Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island.

As the end of the Bush administration nears, the White House has been seeking to formalize in law and regulation some of the aggressive counterterrorism steps it has already taken in practice since the Sept. 11 attacks.............

hey peeps what happens when a more liberal administration gets in office. eventually a democrat (or 'worse') WILL get there (i think it will happen this november actually). don't you think this kind of thing will backfire on y'all? what if this kind of thing is used against conservatives? to spy unjustly on the good ol' white boy network? will you lay back down peacefully if that happens? i know the answer to that already.

blackwater, halliburton, kbr

they have all been accused of horrible crimes. from rape to murder to NOT PROTECTING our troops (by allowing things such as shoddy electrical work to occur in iraq --where some of our troops have been electrocuted) to overcharging for services provided in iraq (water, food, etc).

six letters to six of the men who (allegedly) MURDERED (i think i have to say allegedly although there is a great deal of evidence in this case. no one has been brought to trial so i must say allegedly. same with the rapes and shoddy construction). it's a start. it's the same thing with lynndie england though. sure the subhumans who (allegedly) committed these crimes may indeed be guilty but the people who are REALLY guilty and who will NEVER BE BROUGHT TO TRIAL OR NEVER MADE TO PAY are the people RUNNING HALLIBURTON, KBR AND BLACKWATER AND OUR KING AND HIS COURT. they are the ones who really should be brought to trial and made accountable.

Justice Dept. Moves Toward Charges Against Contractors in Iraq Shooting

By Del Quentin Wilber and Karen DeYoung

Washington Post Staff Writers

Federal prosecutors have sent target letters to six Blackwater Worldwide security guards involved in a September shooting that left 17 Iraqi civilians dead, indicating a high likelihood the Justice Department will seek to indict at least some of the men, according to three sources close to the case.

The guards, all former U.S. military personnel, were working as security contractors for the State Department, assigned to protect U.S. diplomats and other non-military officials in Iraq. The shooting occurred when their convoy arrived at a busy square in central Baghdad and guards tried to stop traffic.

An Iraqi government investigation concluded that the security contractors fired without provocation. Blackwater has said its personnel acted in self-defense.............

an AHA! moment

now it makes sense to me. i had read kbr BANNED CELLPHONES (for their 'deployed' employees). i sure didn't know why. they had some bullshite nonsense out there about safety. i can only wonder WHOSE safety

KBR Bans Cell Phones and Silences Rape Victims

Posted by: Cara

KBR, the defense contractor doing a lot of heavy lifting in the upholding of our occupation of Iraq, has banned the use of personal cell phones by its employees. KBR and its previous parent company Halliburton are notorious for many things. One of those things is the rape and cover up of rape committed by its male employees against its female employees.

How are the two related? Well, the first and most widely-known woman to come forward with an allegation of rape and cover up is Jamie Leigh Jones. Jones was gang raped by her coworkers, then locked inside of a shipping container for days in order to prevent her from reporting the attack. The Justice Department never brought charges against her assailants, and extremely important evidence in the case was “lost” by KBR. But the relevant part is how Jones escaped: through the use of a cell phone. A “sympathetic guard” loaned the phone to her, which she used to call her father in the United States. Her father subsequently called his congressperson, who ended up securing Jones’ release. If that “sympathetic guard” (you know, the one who didn’t set her free) hadn’t handed her that cell phone, god only knows where Jamie Leigh Jones would be today. But it just might not be alive, let alone acting as a major anti-rape and anti-KBR activist..........

the 'apology' just brings up

way more questions and concerns for me. so you cannot even work for a large respected newspaper and write about terrorism WITHOUT BEING A SUSPECT yourself? i can only imagine if one worked for a SMALLER news outlet

FBI Apologizes to Post, Times

Phone Records Were Breached

By Carrie Johnson

Washington Post Staff Writer
FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III apologized to two newspaper editors yesterday for what he said was a recently uncovered breach of their reporters' phone records in the course of a national security investigation nearly four years ago. .....

...........

The Justice Department's inspector general, who is reviewing the bureau's procedures in such cases, uncovered lapses that allowed FBI agents in 2004 to obtain telephone records of Post staff writer Ellen Nakashima, who was based in Jakarta, Indonesia, at the time. The FBI also obtained telephone records of an Indonesian researcher in the paper's Jakarta bureau, Natasha Tampubolon.

Records of New York Times reporters Raymond Bonner and Jane Perlez, who worked in Jakarta in 2004, also were compromised, the Times confirmed yesterday.....

............At the time, the reporters were writing articles about Islamic terrorism in Southeast Asia.........

on the history channel the other day

i saw a listing for a documentary on torture (i think it was the history channel). i thought i'd give it a whirl. it had already started so i didn't see it from the beginning. i actually didn't see more than about 12 or 13 minutes of it actually. was that because it was such a poorly presented show? hell no. it was BECAUSE IT WAS ABOUT TORTURE. the part i hit upon was wwii and some khmer rouge cambodian stuff. my hair stood on end. what they were presenting wasn't new to me. it just hurts more each time i hear, read about it or see it. TORTURE IS WRONG. torture is against humanity as a whole. i'm not skilled enough at writing to say it any deeper than i just did. torture is wrong. period

ACLU: Memos authorized CIA torture
Nick Juliano
As long as CIA agents could convince themselves they were not deliberately inflicting severe pain or suffering on detainees, they were free to do virtually anything in their questioning of suspected terrorists, including waterboarding. Furthermore, the agents' belief they weren't in fact torturing their captives didn't even need to be "reasonable."

These are the implications of a controversial August 2002 memo from the Justice Department to the CIA that was released Thursday. The American Civil Liberties Union obtained several internal Bush administration documents it says authorizes the CIA to torture detainees.

“These documents supply further evidence, if any were needed, that the Justice Department authorized the CIA to torture prisoners in its custody,” Jameel Jaffer, Director of the ACLU National Security Project, said in a news release. “The Justice Department twisted the law, and in some cases ignored it altogether, in order to permit interrogators to use barbaric methods that the U.S. once prosecuted as war crimes.”.........