DoJ to Release Torture Memos; but Obama Won't Prosecute

by Damozel | Greenwald said, "Today is the most significant test yet determining the sincerity of Barack Obama's commitment to restore the Constitution, transparency and the rule of law...Today, Obama will either (a) disclose these documents to the public or (b) continue to suppress them -- either by claiming the right to keep them concealed entirely or, more likely, redacting the most significant parts before releasing them.".

Apparently, the Constitution, [some degree of] transparency, and the rule of law won. 

After a tense internal debate, the Obama administration this afternoon will make public a number of detailed memos describing the harsh interrogation techniques used by the Central Intelligence Agency against al Qaeda suspects in secret overseas prisons.

The interrogation methods were among the Bush administration’s most closely guarded secrets, and today’s release will be the most comprehensive public accounting to date of the interrogation program that some senior Obama administration officials have said used illegal torture.

The documents are expected to include Justice Department memos from 2002 and 2005 authorizing the C.I.A. to employ a number of aggressive techniques- including sleep deprivation, exposure to extreme temperatures and “waterboarding,” the near-drowning technique.

Among the anticipated documents are detailed 2005 memos by Stephen G. Bradbury, who as acting head of the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel authorized the C.I.A. techniques. The documents have never before been made public, but an article in The New York Times in October 2007 said that the memos gave legal support for using a combination of coercive techniques at the same time and concluded that the C.I.A.’s methods were not “cruel, inhuman or degrading” under international law.  (The Caucus)

As one of Benen's commenters said, finding out the level of redaction is going to be interesting.   There will be redaction it seems.  Or, as dday put it, and man, is this on the money:

As is typical for Obama, he split the difference in the debate and went right down the middle. He will release the memos with some operational details, but will redact others as well as "the way techniques were applied to particular prisoners."

Till we know that, we can't gloat too much about transparency.

Speaking of transparent, there are some other things we're still waiting to find out.

Of particular interest will be the response from Senate Republicans, who recently vowed to derail administration nominees for key legal positions unless the White House agreed to suppress the torture memos. As Scott Horton reported, "It now appears that Republicans are seeking an Obama commitment to safeguard the Bush administration's darkest secrets in exchange for letting these nominations go forward."  (Benen)

more here...

UPDATE:  From HuffPost:

The Obama administration is telling CIA officials who used waterboarding and other harsh interrogation tactics on terror suspects that they won't be prosecuted by the Justice Department.

Senior administration officials told The Associated Press that Attorney General Eric Holder will release a statement Thursday giving the first definitive assurance to the CIA officials that they are legally in the clear....

Even before President Barack Obama took office, aides signaled his administration was not likely to bring criminal charges against CIA employees for their roles in the secret, coercive terrorist interrogation program. They noted the program had been deemed legal at the time through opinions issued by the Justice Department under the Bush administration.

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