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Obama releases secret Bush anti-terror memos

dirtpoorchris

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Obama releases secret Bush anti-terror memos
WASHINGTON – The Obama administration threw open the curtain on years of Bush-era secrets Monday, revealing anti-terror memos that claimed exceptional search-and-seizure powers and divulging that the CIA destroyed nearly 100 videotapes of interrogations and other treatment of terror suspects.

The Justice Department released nine legal opinions showing that, following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the Bush administration determined that certain constitutional rights would not apply during the coming fight. Within two weeks, government lawyers were already discussing ways to wiretap U.S. conversations without warrants.

I think this is related.
http://www.debatepolitics.com/us-po...-admits-destroyed-92-interrogation-tapes.html
 
This is one of those situations where you hope that such broad reaching powers curtailed the right "wrong" people and didn't erroneously expose the innocent to undue interrogations.

For the sake of combating global and domestic terrorism, you hope such a policy succeeds w/o it turning into panic-stricking assaults that infringe on the rights of innocent Americans or foreignors for that matter.

Still, in the wake of 9/11, I can understand how the initial primus of "exceptional search-and-seizure powers" seemed sound. Nonetheless, one can only hope that no American citizen's 4th Amendment rights have been violated. The justification to do so in the name of "national security" is clearly there.
 
According to this Newsweek article, it would seem that the GW Bush administration was willing to go alot farther than most Americans thought in an effort to combat terror.

Per the article, "In the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, the Justice Department secretly gave the green light for the U.S. military to attack apartment buildings and office complexes inside the United States, deploy high-tech surveillance against U.S. citizens and potentially suspend First Amendment freedom-of-the-press rights in order to combat the terror threat..."

There's even discussion about imposing martial law if it came to that. All I can say is...WOW! And Conservatives are up in arms about what they believe Pres. Obama may do when one of their own was conspiring to take away (or at the very least subvert) our 1st Amendment rights right under our very noses.

Wow!!!

There's also a link to a 37 page memo from the Dept. of Justice from the Newsweek article that addresses the GW Bush administration's attempt to skirt the 4th Amendment rights of suspected domestic terrorist. Now, granted, if such individuals are not U.S. citizens, I could care less what happens to them. But if they are U.S. citizens, then regardless of their betrayel to their country they still have rights under the law. (Granted, I say they forfeited those rights when they became traitors, but the U.S. Constitution says otherwise...)

Again, all I can say is...WOW!!!
 
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According to this Newsweek article, it would seem that the GW Bush administration was willing to go alot farther than most Americans thought in an effort to combat terror.

Per the article, "In the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, the Justice Department secretly gave the green light for the U.S. military to attack apartment buildings and office complexes inside the United States, deploy high-tech surveillance against U.S. citizens and potentially suspend First Amendment freedom-of-the-press rights in order to combat the terror threat..."

There's even discussion about imposing martial law if it came to that. All I can say is...WOW! And Conservatives are up in arms about what they believe Pres. Obama may do when one of their own was conspiring to take away (or at the very least subvert) our 1st Amendment rights right under our very noses.

Wow!!!

There's also a link to a 37 page memo from the Dept. of Justice from the Newsweek article that addresses the GW Bush administration's attempt to skirt the 4th Amendment rights of suspected domestic terrorist. Now, granted, if such individuals are not U.S. citizens, I could care less what happens to them. But if they are U.S. citizens, then regardless of their betrayel to their country they still have rights under the law. (Granted, I say they forfeited those rights when they became traitors, but the U.S. Constitution says otherwise...)

Again, all I can say is...WOW!!!

I remember finding videos of helicopter raids on civilian buildings with HS. They said it was training and burned everything inside and boarded up n painted the outside the next day. Seemed odd.
 
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/03/us/politics/03legal.html?_r=1&ref=politics
WASHINGTON — The secret legal opinions issued by Bush administration lawyers after the Sept. 11 attacks included assertions that the president could use the nation’s military within the United States to combat terrorism suspects and to conduct raids without obtaining search warrants.

That opinion was among nine that were disclosed publicly for the first time Monday by the Justice Department, in what the Obama administration portrayed as a step toward greater transparency. The opinions reflected a broad interpretation of presidential authority, asserting as well that the president could unilaterally abrogate foreign treaties, ignore any guidance from Congress in dealing with detainees suspected of terrorism, and conduct a program of domestic eavesdropping without warrants.
 
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