Sunday, December 19, 2004
2001 Memo Shows Bush Push for Dictatorial Power
The only surprise over this little ditty is that we now know about it -- albeit only via TruthOut and a Newsweek "Web Exclusive" (translation: We don't dare run it in the print version, where far more people can see it):
Just two weeks after the September 11 attacks, a secret memo to White House counsel Alberto Gonzales' office concluded that President Bush had the power to deploy military force "preemptively" against any terrorist groups or countries that supported them - regardless of whether they had any connection to the attacks on the World Trade Towers or the Pentagon. The memo, written by Justice Department lawyer John Yoo, argues that there are effectively "no limits" on the president's authority to wage war - a sweeping assertion of executive power that some constitutional scholars say goes considerably beyond any that had previously been articulated by the department."Some constitutional scholars"? Make that "anyone who's actually studied the goddamn Constitution and who isn't in the pay of some right-wing dipshit-coddling troll hatchery". But I digress.
Although it makes no reference to Saddam Hussein's government, the 15-page memo also seems to lay a legal groundwork for the president to invade Iraq - without approval of Congress - long before the White House had publicly expressed any intent to do so.The magic word here is "publicly". As we all know, Bush's neocon buddies in the PNAC Platoon -- most importantly Dick Cheney and his ideological mentor Don Rumsfeld -- had been, at Ahmad Chalabi's behest, pushing to invade Iraq since 1997. 9/11 merely provided a convenient pretext. Just look and see how eager Rumsfeld was, as the Pentagon was still smoking, to pin it all on Saddam -- "things related and not". Speaking of "things related and not":
"The President may deploy military force preemptively against terrorist organizations or the States that harbor or support them, whether or not they can be linked to the specific terrorist incidents of Sept. 11," the memo states.Uh-huh. So much for Congress being the branch of government with the power to declare war. Though, what with the Executive Branch's growing fondness for "police actions" and the like, we've been moving towards this for over fifty years now. But here's what's really interesting:
The existence of the memo, titled "The President's Constitutional Authority to Conduct Military Operations against Terrorists and Nations Supporting Them," was first reported by NEWSWEEK in the fall of 2001. But its contents - including the conclusion that Bush could order attacks against countries unrelated to the 9/11 attacks - were not publicly available until late this week when, with no notice to the public or the news media, the memo was posted on an obscure portion of the Web site of the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel. (There is nothing on the site calling attention to the memo. It is was simply added to a list of previously published memos posted for the calendar year 2001.) A senior White House official alerted a NEWSWEEK reporter to the memo's posting after mentioning that a copy was also being sent to Sen. Patrick Leahy, ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, who has been pressing the White House to release this and other memos in time for Gonzales' confirmation hearings next month to be attorney general.Okay. So who among the Bushistas has it in for Gonzales? And would this be in any way connected with the efforts to throw Rumsfeld over the side? Has Karl Rove finally decided that invading Iraq was a Bad Move, and does he now want to eliminate all those who either pushed most strongly for it, or were instrumental in making it possible? Rove can't get rid of Cheney -- yet. But if Rumsfeld goes and Gonzales goes down, expect Cheney, after a discreet interval of a few weeks or months, to suddenly step down due to "health and family matters".
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"There are no orders or directives...signed by the President, with respect to the interrogation of detainees, prisoners or combatants."
As Bybee has been withdrawn and replaced, not sending it.
Leahy Presses Gonzales on Accountability, Documents: January 4, http://leahy.senate.gov/press/200501/010405.html
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As Bybee has been withdrawn and replaced, not sending it.
Leahy Presses Gonzales on Accountability, Documents: January 4, http://leahy.senate.gov/press/200501/010405.html
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