John Ashcroft

y Dave Lindorff

When it comes to justice in America, the scales definitely badly need a visit by an inspector from the Department of Weights and Standards.

Consider the recent decision by Federal Judge Ricardo Urbina tossing out the federal indictment of five Blackwater (Now Xe) mercenaries for the 2007 slaughter of 14 innocent Iraqis in Baghdad.

The judge found that federal prosecutors had improperly used incriminating statements which he said had been “compelled” from the Blackwater personnel under “threat of job loss.”

On April 27, MSNBC's Dan Abrams interviewed former AG's John Ashcroft and Alberto Gonzales before a cheering rightwing audience at American Jewish University. Both Ashcroft and Gonzales continue to insist waterboarding was legal when authorized by DoJ lawyers under their supervision. (Full transcript.) Will their hyper-legal defenses keep them out of jail? Stay tuned...

Abrams: Judge Gonzales, I’m going to ask you a very direct question. And it relates to something you just said. Do you believe waterboarding is torture?

Now that the Busheviks' evil torture regime has been exposed, it's every (wo)man for him/herself! AP's Pamela Hess has the scoop:

Release of Bush-era documents that shed more light on the origins of the CIA's use of harsh interrogation tactics has ignited a backstage battle between former Bush officials over a crucial May 2002 meeting that paved the way for use of waterboarding on a suspected al-Qaida leader.

A "backstage battle?" Do tell!

Some former Bush officials argue that they were not properly warned by CIA officials about the potential perils of the severe methods, while others insist there were explicit cautions.

Gee, I wonder who says they weren't "properly warned"?