Last month the Dept. of Justice filed a brief with the US Court of Appeals which stated:
"The Obama Justice Department further argued that even if such rights were recognized, the Court should rule that the previous administration’s officials who ordered and approved torture and abuse of the plaintiffs should be immune from liability for their actions."
Today the Washington DC US Court of Appeals ruled in an important case on the rights of detainees at Gitmo.
Appeals court rules Gitmo detainees are not 'persons'
They had been ordered by the Supreme Court to reconsider an earlier ruling in the case. What is particularly interesting is the pleading that the DOJ made requesting immunity for the previous administration against charges of torture.
Last Sunday Rham Emanuel went on TV and made a statement that President Obama was not only opposed to prosecution of CIA operatives who had been directed to engage in torture, but was also opposed to prosecution of higher officials who authorized and directed them to do so. Two days later after considerable public outcry, Obama made a rather tentative statement that he might be open to some form of prosecution for higher officials.
Numerous people have claimed that Emanuel had taken it upon himself to make that statement and that he had misrepresented Obama's views on the matter. I find it completely implausible that any president would allow his staff to publicly misrepresent his position. It would not speak well for his management abilities if he did.
Now we see a documented instance of the DOJ taking the same position in formal court papers. I think that we can reasonably conclude that this is indeed the position of the administration. It fits quite tidily will all the talk about moving ahead and avoiding retribution. Obama does not have a secret plan to manipulate the public into forcing him to engage in prosecutions that he deeply desires in his heart.
I think that President Obama has a very potent and difficult issue to deal with. As a political leader he really does have to think about the politics of it all and they are quite complex. I believe that the reality is that he is not sure how to proceed at this point. I don't think that necessarily makes him gravely morally deficient. History's judgment will come as a result of what he ultimately does about it.
I am one of those people who thinks that the nation cannot move forward until we have achieved some form of resolution of the poison of the past 8 years. I hope that Obama ultimately chooses to follow a course of conducting full and deligent criminal investigation and lets the process of justice unfold.