|
Terror Memos Reveal Total Destruction Of U.S.
Constitutional Freedoms
No official reversal, illegal practices can continue
|
|
|
By releasing internal Justice Department memos showing how the
Bush fronted Neocons systematically destroyed civil liberties
in America after 9/11, the Obama administration has sought to
distance itself from such practices. However, closer inspection
of the actions of the new regime, reveal no deviation from such
policies in the war on terror.
Nine
memos/opinions, said by the Bush administration
to give legal grounding to detention and torture of terror suspects,
were released yesterday.
They reveal how the rights of all American citizens
have been effectively stripped away under the auspices of the
so called "war on terror".
A 2002 opinion written by then-assistant attorney
general John Yoo, stated that the rights of any suspect could
be rescinded.
"The power to dispose of the liberty of individuals
captured ... remain in the hands of the president alone,"
Yoo wrote.
Another 2003 opinion written for Alberto Gonzales,
then counsel for Bush, stated:
"Congress can no longer regulate the president's
ability to detain and interrogate enemy combatants than it may
regulate his ability to direct troop movements."
Another memo intended for John Bellinger, who
was then legal advisor to the National Security Council, suggested
that the president's "power to suspend treaties is wholly
discretionary," indicating that international laws could
be ignored if necessary.
Perhaps the most despicable of the memos dated
from October 23rd 2001, Just weeks after 9/11. As reported
by AP, it effectively stated that constitutional
free-speech protections and a prohibition on unreasonable search
and seizure could take a back seat to military needs in fighting
terrorism inside the country.
"The government's compelling interests in
wartime justify restrictions on the scope of individual liberty,"
it said.
"The current campaign against terrorism may
require even broader exercises of federal power domestically,"
John Yoo and Justice Department official Robert Delahunty wrote.
"The president has the legal and constitutional
authority to use military force within the United States to
respond to and combat future acts of terrorism... the Posse
Comitatus Act does not bar deployment." it continues.
"We do not think that a military commander
carrying out a raid on a terrorist cell would be required to
demonstrate probable cause or to obtain a (search) warrant,"
the memo reads, also stating that the Fourth Amendment laws
"are unsuited to the demands of wartime."
Effectively the Justice Department gave the green
light for military forces within the U.S. to smash in people's
doors, search their homes without probable cause, drag them
away without charge and detain and torture them for as long
as they like at the behest of the president.
Furthermore, the memo states, "First Amendment
speech and press rights may also be subordinated to the overriding
need to wage war successfully," envisioning the possibility
of censorship restrictions on newspapers and the Internet.
A September 25 2001 memo previews what would become
an extensive debate over the National Security Administration's
warrantless surveillance program, saying "the president
must be able to use whatever means necessary to prevent attacks
on the United States; this power, by implication, includes the
authority to collect information necessary for its effective
exercise."
All nine memos can be read at
The Department of Justice website.
In effect, the DoJ Ok'd a total suspension of
the U.S. Constitution after 9/11.
(Article continues below)
Though, the Obama administration has tentatively
stated that the memos are invalid, the new president's actions
do not reflect such an assertion.
As reported last month, one of Obama's first actions
in office was to sign an executive order securing the continued
practice of secretly capturing, transporting and imprisoning
so called "enemy combatants".
Under executive
orders issued by Obama just two days into his tenure,
the CIA still has authority to carry out what are known as renditions,
secret abductions and transfers of prisoners to countries that
cooperate with the United States, the Los
Angeles Times reported.
"The Obama administration appears to have determined that
the rendition program was one component of the Bush administration's
war on terrorism that it could not afford to discard."
Greg Miller noted.
A minor provision within one executive order states that instructions
to close the CIA's secret prisons "do not refer to facilities
used only to hold people on a short-term, transitory basis",
meaning that some "black
sites" can remain open.
Though former CIA officials have admitted that rendition is
mostly unproductive, an administration official told the LA
Times anonymously: "Obviously you need to preserve some
tools -- you still have to go after the bad guys. The legal
advisors working on this looked at rendition. It is controversial
in some circles and kicked up a big storm in Europe. But if
done within certain parameters, it is an acceptable practice."
As we further illuminated in our
previous report, Obama's much lauded declaration
to "ban" torture and his "commitment" to
close down detention facilities is full of loopholes
and hidden
clauses designed to allow such practices and premises
to be continued, albeit with renewed secrecy.
If Obama were truly committed to ending the legacy of torture
and secret detention, he would authorize the prosecution of
those officials responsible, all the way up to the top. Instead,
he , along with his CIA Director Leon Panetta, has said he will
do no
such thing.
Indeed, the latest sign of allowing such crimes to go unpunished
comes in the form of federal prosecutor John Durham signaling
that even though he has yet to complete his investigation, he
is unlikely
to indict any CIA employees for incinerating 92
secret interrogation tapes that purportedly show suspects being
waterboarded.
Furthermore, we have not seen Obama repeal Patriot Acts I and
II, nor have we seen a reversal of Bush's signing statement
that would effectively repeal the John
Warner Defense Authorization Act.
We have not seen any evidence to suggest that the NSA will
cease warrantless secret surveillance and phone-taps of American
citizens.
We have not seen any deviation from the Bush-era war on terror
policies.
We have not seen any CHANGE.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alex
Jones LIVE, A Fourth Hour Of Streaming TV Now Added To The Infowars
Radio Show
Click here to get your subscription today!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
INFOWARS:
BECAUSE THERE'S A WAR ON FOR YOUR MIND
|
|
