War Crimes Made Easy

asiatimes: How has the Bush administration gotten away with such apparently illegal acts as hiding intelligence reports from Congress, creating secret prisons, establishing death squads, kidnapping people and spiriting them across national borders, and planning unprovoked wars? Part of the answer lies in the administration's deliberate effort, initiated even before September 11, 2001, to tear down any existing legal and institutional means for preventing, exposing or punishing violations of national and international law by American officials.

In 2002, Adriel Bettleheim wrote in the Congressional Quarterly that Vice President Dick Cheney "considers it the responsibility of the current administration to reclaim those lost powers for the institution of the presidency". Indeed, the Bush administration has tried to remove all conceivable restrictions on the "imperial presidency", setting its sights in particular on dismantling the Freedom of Information Act, the Intelligence Oversight Act and the War Powers Resolution.

Restoring limits on the power of the executive branch to conceal information, tell (and hide) lies, make war at its own discretion, or kidnap, torture and kill without interference from Congress, the courts and the public, will be crucial tasks, if future Abu Ghraibs are to be prevented. Read more