Submitted by Nick Jackson, Oct 30, 2007 14:37

It is distressing that Michael Mukasey, a former federal judge, cannot instantly identify waterboarding as torture. His wavering and waffling on this well-known form of torture signals a continuation of odious human rights lapses from the Bush administration. Judge Mukasey apparently gave promising reassurances to Senator Patrick Leahy prior to his confirmation hearings, but has irretrievably destroyed his credibility by subsequently failing to give immediate and full answers regarding waterboarding.

Spokesmen from the Bush administration claim Judge Mukasey cannot give a complete answer on the waterboarding question because he has not been shown all the secret documents necessary for him to make an informed opinion. President Bush's spokespersons also are hinting that a Mukasey opinion declaring explicitly declaring waterboarding an illegal form of torture will place interrogators from U.S. military and intelligence agencies in criminal jeopardy.

The fact is that Section 1004 of the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005 gives legal cover to U.S. government personnel who relied, in good faith, on advice of counsel as to the legality of various interrogation techniques. The only people now facing criminal liability are those who conspired to offer corrupted advice of counsel as to the purported legality of waterboarding and other "enhanced interrogation techniques." The high-level Justice Department and White House lawyers who knowingly misled well-meaning intelligence interrogators with such false legal advice do not deserve immunity from their criminal acts.

If the Senate confirms Michael Mukasey after his unconscionable answers on waterboarding such confirmation will signal that the Bush administration, and future administrations, can violate clear human rights standards with impunity. Judge Mukasey's nomination should be rejected to send a different signal. The United States must reaffirm that it will not torture – no matter how the term was redefined by a few secretive and unethical government lawyers.

If the Senate confirms any Attorney General nominee, who cannot take an immediate and clear stand supporting the laws Congress passed prohibiting torture, the Senate will be abdicating its clear duties as part of a co-equal branch under the Constitution. Moreover, it will not be good enough for those in Congress to somehow claim Michael Mukasey was confirmed by tricky parliamentary maneuvers engineered by Bush supporters in the Senate. This is a time when President Bush's Senate parliamentary technicians should receive reciprocal treatment and be on the losing end of parliamentary maneuvering regarding the Mukasey nomination.

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