Do you honestly believe that any of these criminals will suffer the slightest discomfort?!?! Hell, man, the pardons and the think tank sinecures are already on some PERT chart somewhere, all lined up.

Look, just for starters -- doesn't it strike you as a bit odd that at a time when practically all digital recording is done on cheap, easily duplicated CD's or DVD's, Congressional yahoos are looking for "tapes" that were somehow "destroyed"? Christ, why not razz them all the way, claim that all the damning info was stashed on microfilm?

The "opposition" party has already made it as clear as can be that they aren't interested in any real reversal of the Bush years. They made that clear the moment that disgrace Pelosi foreswore the NECESSARY remedy -- impeachment. And if you think anybody associated with the 9/11 commission is going to be an instrument of justice, you REALLY missed the whole point of that little diversion.

I'm afraid you still refuse to accept where we're really at. You're going to be in for lots more disappointment if you persist in the nostalgia that we're a republic, and a nation of laws. We're another oligarchy, nothing more.

Posted by: sglover at January 3, 2008 12:37 AM | Permalink to this comment

But this isn't just about the destruction of a few tapes now is it? It's really about what the tapes showed, of course, otherwise why go the trouble of destroying them? Yes, it's high time we start getting to the bottom of who specifically in this Administration has been guilty of covering up likely war crimes.

unfortunately, the question of whether Durham is authorized to investigate anything but the destruction of the tapes does not appear to have been resolved --- certainly, Mukasey's announcement focuses solely on the destruction of the tapes, with no suggestion that Durham will be allowed to expand his investigation.

And the fact is that one can fully expect that any effort on Durham's part to expand the investigation will be vigorously resisted. From his resume, there is no evidence that Durham has ever received the kind of super-high-level security clearance that will be required for him to do a full investigation, and we've already seen this administration block DoJ investigations through the denial of security clearances. Restricting the investigation solely to the issue of the destruction of the tapes would mean that Durham would not get to examine the "sources and methods" issues that can be used to restrict the investigation.

Its not hard to imagine the administration pulling another "Rosenberg" manoevre. EDVA USA Rosenberg recently announced that he'd seen some tapes, and acknowledged that the CIA prior claims in court that it had no such tapes was false -- but then went on to say that the tapes themselves had no bearing on the case in question. Bush and his cronies will likely try to avoid a full investigation by "stipulation" of sufficient facts regarding the tapes to prevent Durham from expanding his investigation.

I'm also somewhat concerned with the fact that Durham will be acting under the authority of the Eastern District of Virginia, rather than his home office in Connecticut. EDVA is notorious as a place where "loyal Bushies" were given short term assignments to pad their resumes with "prosecutorial" experience (Monica Goodling jumps to mind immediately). Durham needs to be able to put together his own team of people he has full confidence in --- but this itself can be used to delay the investigation through the imposition of "security clearance" considerations.

Posted by: p_lukasiak at January 3, 2008 09:01 AM | Permalink to this comment

How quickly we forget the Scooter Libby trial and that attendant mess. Wasn't the fault of the prosecutor...

Posted by: Azael at January 3, 2008 10:59 AM | Permalink to this comment

Kean & Hamilton relied on KSM's waterboarded testimony to establish the timeline of 9/11. Including the premise that the
bombing on Quana in 1996, was the prime motivator. When the accounts of Akbar Murad; the Oklahoma trained pilot who gave up the eventual likely targets (including the Capitol and the Pentagon
suggested an earlier decision. They also relied on KSM to furnish details of the Madrid part of the plot; which critics like E. J. Epstein
have found incomplete. Much as they accepted the assurances of
Farouk Hijazi and Al Ani that they had nothing to do with terrorism in Prague, et al. Then again, Kean was very trusting when it came to partnering with one of the Al Amoudis for oil explorations in Azerbaijan, through his directorship with Amerada Hess. Didn't Tenet previously work for Hamilton's committee as staff director.
Didn't the CIA's IG report make short work of the wonderful work
of the Bin Laden task force; headed by Ron Paul fan Michael Scheur.

Posted by: narciso at January 3, 2008 12:23 PM | Permalink to this comment

I am too dimwitted to know how the destruction of the tapes can be investigated w/out exploring the rationale for the obstruction-of-justice theory ... namely, that the tapes had evidence of illegal activities and were destroyed w/ the purpose of shielding the CIA torturers from possible prosecution.

Posted by: Anderson at January 3, 2008 04:27 PM | Permalink to this comment

I am too dimwitted to know how the destruction of the tapes can be investigated w/out exploring the rationale for the obstruction-of-justice theory ... namely, that the tapes had evidence of illegal activities and were destroyed w/ the purpose of shielding the CIA torturers from possible prosecution.

try this "theory" (one that has already been advanced). The tapes were destroyed because the "interrogations" took place in secret CIA prisons overseas, and that it would prove highly embarrassing to acknowledge that Poland and other nations permitted detainees who were denied rights under the Geneva Conventions to be held and interrogated on their soil.

In other words, its not that anything was done that US Courts have said is "criminal"... its that other countries have different standards...

Posted by: p_lukasiak at January 3, 2008 06:38 PM | Permalink to this comment

"Do you honestly believe that any of these criminals will suffer the slightest discomfort?!?! Hell, man, the pardons and the think tank sinecures are already on some PERT chart somewhere, all lined up. " Maybe Cheney gets an op-ed gig at nyt...opposite days of Kristol?

Posted by: centrist at January 7, 2008 11:35 PM | Permalink to this comment