We now know that five lawyers, calling themselves the “War Council,” in compliance with orders from the President and Vice President,
drafted legal opinions that circumvented the military’s code of justice, the federal court system and America’s international treaties in order to prevent anyone — from soldiers on the ground to the president — from being held accountable for activities that at other times have been considered war crimes.
The idea for military commissions was actually resurrected by John Yoo from procedures used during the Indian wars:
The military commissions that the U.S. used against Native Americans during the mid-19th century were often ad hoc and frequently resulted in natives being hanged or shot.
Read the rest of this report at:
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/detainees/story/38886.html
The report is part of a series by McClatchy journalist Tom Lasseter, who carried out an eight-month investigation on the detention and abuse of detainees in Afghanistan and Guantánamo:
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/detainees/story/38773.html
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