Meet Alberto J. Mora.  This hero is a retired General Counsel of the U.S. Navy. He led an effort within the Defense Department to oppose the legal theories of John Yoo* and to try to end coercive interrogation tactics at Guantanamo Bary, which he argued are unlawful.

*Yoo is a right-wing Korean American who contributed to the Patriot Act and who wrote papers and wrote memos in which he advocated the possible legality of torture and that enemy combatants could be denied protection under the Geneva Conventions. Yoo has also worked as a visiting scholar at the conservative think tank American Enterprise Institute since 2003. This is the same right-wing cesspool  that has funded some of Evan Bayah’s  travel expenses for his speeches as well.  They must like what he has to say or they wouldn’t do it–not exactly a shining endorsement for a Democrat.  In fact it should be more like a kiss of death to one’s career as a Democrat.

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In December 2002, Mora received word from David Brant, director of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), that NCIS agents at the naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba had learned that detainees being held there were being subjected to “physical abuse and degrading treatment” by members of the Joint Task Force 179 (JTF-170), and that authorization for this treatment had come from “a ‘high level’ in Washington. Mora reports that he was “disturbed” and felt he had to learn more.

Mora described his reaction to learning of the authorization for coercive interrogation techniques in these words:

“To my mind, there’s no moral or practical distinction [between cruelty and torture]. If cruelty is no longer declared unlawful, but instead is applied as a matter of policy, it alters the fundamental relationship of man to government. It destroys the whole notion of individual rights. The Constitution recognizes that man has an inherent right, not bestowed by the state or laws, to personal dignity, including the right to be free of cruelty. It applies to all human beings, not just in America—even those designated as ‘unlawful enemy combatants.’ If you make this exception, the whole Constitution crumbles. It’s a transformative issue…

“Besides, my mother would have killed me if I hadn’t spoken up. No Hungarian after Communism, or Cuban after Castro, is not aware that human rights are incompatible with cruelty. The debate here isn’t only how to protect the country. It’s how to protect our values.”

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Will Barack Obama really do as he promised and mount an investigation into the Bush Administration’s implementation and use of torture? We know now beyond a shadow of doubt from Congressional testimony that torture was not carried out by low-level people acting out of sync.  We know now that it was systematic, sanctioned program approved at the highest levels of our government.  Back in the summer Obama was quoted as saying that if crimes have been committed, the should be investigated.

I think the “if” part has been removed. Crimes were committed and they are still being committed today under the approval and sanctions of this administration.

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You can count the Queen as one of many who want to see the entire Bush Administration tried for the crimes against humanity that they committed with impunity for the past 7 years. Rumsfeld, Cheney, and Bush would be at the top of the list.

Proclaim the Queen!

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