25 April 2009

Connect the Dots

What if there really is a request from the UN to hold those accountable for torture, highest to lowest, to an "independent criminal court and be held accountable". This is what the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture has to say over at Glenn Greenwald's place. What would you do as POTUS?

Given Obama already stated that the low-level agents won't be prosecuted, what do you think Obama will do?

My own stance is probably pretty clear by now. President Reagan signed the UN Convention Against Torture back in 1984. So we have no choice as a nation then to send Bush on down the line to face a UN sanctioned, independent court. Plus, its the right thing to do even without the contractual obligation.

Luckily for Obama, it was Saint Reagan who signed it. He can claim that he had no authority to state that anyone would not be prosecuted. The way out is for Obama to convince the UN to let a US Federal Court do the prosecution and be as brutally just and transparent as possible. That would be what I expect from a constitutional law professor. Transparency and the Blessings of Saint Reagan are the only things that may save him if the UN really does push for it.

Then again, what power does the UN have?

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