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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2009
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Holder to Probe CIA Torture Cases: Officials

Special prosecutor will pursue agents who took things 'too far'

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(Newser) – Attorney General Eric Holder is planning to name a special prosecutor to probe cases of alleged CIA torture of terror suspects, the Los Angeles Times reports. Insiders say the narrowly focused inquiry will aim to determine "whether people went beyond the techniques that were authorized" in the so-called torture memos, but will not challenge the legal basis of the interrogation program itself.

Several CIA officials have put off retirement to maintain access to classified files and build their defense cases. "Once you're out, it gets a lot harder," one retiree says. But some Justice and CIA insiders doubt Holder's prosecutor can navigate these untested legal waters: "A number of people could say honestly, correctly, 'I didn't know what was in" the memos, says a former official. Other analysts insist that interrogators knowingly took things too far.

Mike Morice, center, and other members of World Can't Wait group perform a live waterboarding demonstration.
Mike Morice, center, and other members of World Can't Wait group perform a live waterboarding demonstration.   (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
In this June 26, 2008 file photo John Yoo, an author of the Bush interrogation memos, testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington.
In this June 26, 2008 file photo John Yoo, an author of the Bush interrogation memos, testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington.   (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)
Attorney General Eric Holder congratulates the Shawl House program in San Pedro, Calif. on Thursday, July 16, 2009.
Attorney General Eric Holder congratulates the Shawl House program in San Pedro, Calif. on Thursday, July 16, 2009.   (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
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DJM420
Aug 9, 09 6:02 PM CDT
this holder guy sure likes to probe things Reply
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Timinator2K
Aug 9, 09 6:04 PM CDT
Daniel Pearl (October 10, 1963 – February 1, 2002) was an American journalist who was kidnapped and murdered in Karachi, Pakistan. At the time of his kidnapping, Pearl served as the South Asia Bureau Chief of the Wall Street Journal, and was based in Mumbai, India. He went to Pakistan as part of an investigation into the alleged links between Richard Reid, the shoe bomber, and Al Qaeda and Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). He was subsequently beheaded by his captors. In July 2002, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, a British national of Pakistani origin, was sentenced to death by hanging for Pearl's abduction and murder. In March 2007, at a closed military hearing in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed said that he had personally beheaded Pearl. Reply
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easterner
Aug 9, 09 6:08 PM CDT
This is going to get ugly for Holder
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armywife
Aug 9, 09 6:53 PM CDT
tim, i'm not sure what the point of your comment is. unless it is that since one terrorist suspect might have actually been guilty of something, that excuses any torture we might have done on others? did i get your point right? if so, here is my rebuttal - we, as americans, claim to believe that all men, not just americans, are endowed with inalienable rights and supposedly we believe that one of those rights is to a fair and speedy trial. the treatment of the prisoners at gitmo is a violation of everything america claims to stand for. are these just words, or do they actually mean something? this is a test of our principles, and if we jettison them when they going gets tough, then we have shown that they are not our principles at all, you see? the promise of america means so much more if we can hold on to it and be true to it during the face of adversity such as this, no matter how hard that is.
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DeniseVB
Aug 9, 09 6:55 PM CDT
RIP Daniel Pearl.....and all the other victims of terrorism, foriegn and domestic. I honestly feel the CIA are the only hope we have between my having to wear a burka in Virginia. Please Mr. Obama, call your dogs off !
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