The language about advance declination is imprecise, but the context of events discussed puts it in the 2002 framework, of the first torture memo. I was thinking it might be the second because one of the differences between the first and second is the extensive language about potential defenses to criminal charges. It seemed likely that as the extent of the problems from torture became more clear, agents and their superiors began to press harder for protection, and the best solution would be an advance declination. When that was not forthcoming, the second memo was drafted with more pointed language to provide more comfort.

I expect that this speculation may not be particularly popular but still there is drumbeat of conscience arising in the fourth estate and forwarded by some kind of pressure of oversight that is moving the points of disclosure forward.

The attempt to insinuate methods of foreign intelligence checked by the risk of exposure into the provenance of domestic law enforcement surely will ultimately have consequences, but that’s just my attitude. The jury is still out on FISA after all. I suppose what I am suggesting is that a prosecutorial gesture needs to be made as a practical matter and as an acknowledgment that there are limits and costs to executive action and that any exceptional powers arising in the executive particularly of 9/11 are now setting.

Plus, Congress went that next step and made it irrebuttable that someone IS an enemy combatant as long as a CSRT found them to be. That includes the old, Kangaroo court CSRTs.

And if folks really want to see what Mary means by the Kangarooism of the CSRTs, you only have to read this poor Kuwaiti charity worker detainee’s sad story (Pages 5 through 28) in this Combatant Status Review Tribunal process.

And if you really want to read more of these tragedies, you can go to the DoD’s Reading Room for their collection of Combatant Status Review Tribunal (CSRT) and Administrative Review Board (ARB) Documents.

But who among us has the time to read thousands and thousands of pages of thousands of documents?

So instead, real flesh and blood human beings, just like you and I, are held captive for years by our very own government, interrogated by uncivilised cretins, tortured just because Junya and Deadeye and their criminal cabal have lifelong issues of inferiority, and then to read this poor Kuwaiti’s story, it is almost miraculous that he somehow, someway still believes in a “City on the Hill” America where one is “Innocent until proven Guilty.”

But of course, that can’t be true! If one has been labelel an “unlawful enemy combatant”, then that must be true. We’d never make any mistakes, would we?

In our fookin’ names!!!

No, on MCA I’m totally with you. It was the 2002 war vote all over again, with my Senator (Stabenow) leading the way.