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FBI Coerced Confession Deemed "Classified"
Steve Bergstein is one of several who have blogged about a recent court ruling that reads like most any bestselling crime novel. Apparently, when the court originally posted their decision (complete with backstory) it detailed how a coerced confession was obtained by the FBI from Abdallah Higazy in relation to the 9/11 attacks. The details, however, were later removed and deemed "classified". "As I read the opinion I realized it was a 44 page epic, too long for me to print out. I blogged about the opinion while I read it online and then posted the blog as I ate lunch. Then something strange happened: a few minutes after I posted the blog, the opinion vanished from the Court of Appeals website! [...] The next day, the Court of Appeals reissued the Higazy opinion. With a redaction. The court simply omitted from the revised decision facts about how the FBI agent extracted the false confession from Higazy. For some reason, this information is classified."
Yep... is anyone really surprised by this? And they wonder why more people don't vote in this country. Crap like this is why I am a non-voting anarchist. As far as I can tell, this only makes my position look better. Too bad we can't vote the FBI out of a job. The rule of law means absolutely nothing to these people. Nor does basic human rights/treatment. I suspect this is only the tip of an iceberg. Of course, that is only my long jaded self talking.
Everyone in the Executive Branch effectively serves "at the pleasure of the President." So if they continue to serve, then their actions, including torture, must please the President.
And don't overlook that the Bush family has a lineage almost as long as the FBI, with Bush the Elder running the CIA (drugs, assassinations, coups, wars), and Prescott Bush and George Herbert Walker collaborating with the Nazis.
Or that as Governor Dubya personally oversaw the execution of over 150 human beings, any of whose lives he could have spared, going so far as to sneeringly mock Karla Faye Tucker's request to spare her life: "'Please,' Bush whimpered, his lips pursed in mock desperation, 'please, don't kill me.'"
(Paging Congressman Stark...Congressman Stark, white courtesy phone.)
Suggesting the FBI taught Dubya about corruption is like suggesting the Generals taught the Globetrotters about basketball.
It's really very simple: Dubya claims the authority of the Presidency, he gets the responsibility along with it. They're not separable - or even separate.