Paging Dr. Stuckart

7 January 2005



Gonzales Grilled over Torture Policy

While there was a collective sigh of relief from civil libertarians and American patriots at the news John Aschroft was bowing out as Attorney-General, a gasp of horror arose with the nomination of Alberto Gonzales to replace him. Mr. Gonzales, as White House counsel, is the legal mind behind the memos that permit torture of terror suspects and the fellow who dubbed the Geneva Convention as “quaint.” Yesterday’s hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee did nothing to calm those who thought (wrongly?) that no one could be worse than Mr. Ashcroft.

Mr. Gonzales started off by damaging himself by saying, "I will no longer represent only the White House. I will represent the United States of America and its people. I understand the difference between the two roles." It is mind boggling that anyone who is a member of the bar in the United States would believe for an instant that there can be a meaningful difference between the two. The president is, constitutionally, the chief executive charged with protecting the interests of the people. Suggesting that the interests of the president could diverge from those of the country and the people undoes the democratic foundation of the nation.

Senator John Cronyn (R-TX) introduced Mr. Gonzales by saying, “Now, I hate to ruin a good story for the president's political opponents. But there is one important problem with this criticism: Judge Gonzales is right” that the Geneva Conventions don’t apply in the war on terror. At least, he didn’t’ sugar coat it. He believes the US needn’t act like a civilized nation. Senator Arlen Spector, (R-PA) asked “"Do you approve of torture?” Mr. Gonzales replied, “Absolutely not.” The worst condemnation of American policy imaginable stems from the fact that the question even needed asking.

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) took a different approach. While saying that he would vote for the nominee, Senator Graham also said, "When you start looking at torture statutes and you look at ways around the spirit of the law ... you are losing the moral high ground." This is the same man who said of Abu Ghraib “If you’re going to be the good guys, you have to act like the good guys.” One only wishes that the senator would vote his conscience because clearly he has one.

The Democrats were more direct than Mr. Graham. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) said “The issue of your commitment to the rule of law is what most concerns us. Unfortunately, there is increasing and disturbing evidence that, with the approval of our highest officials, the administration has undermined respect for law and for international standards of civilized behavior." Pat Leahy (D-VT) said, “Those abuses [at Abu Ghraib] serve as recruiting posters for the terrorists. America's troops and citizens are at greater risk because of those actions" that stem from Mr. Gonzales legal memos to the president.

Dr. Wilhelm Stuckart was a German lawyer, a fellow who believed in the rule of law. A member of the National Socialist German Workers’ Party since 1992, he helped write the Nuremberg Laws that stripped Jews of their German citizenship, arguing that a legal framework was necessary to implement Nazi policy. Some lawyers forget that the purpose of the law is to establish justice, not to get a desired political result.

© Copyright 2005 by The Kensington Review, J. Myhre, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent.

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