Holder: Gitmo Detainees Not A Threat To U.S. Or Allies

By Mickael Combier-Talk Radio News Service

U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder told the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday that the Department of Justice is working with U.S. allies to assure them that there is no risk in accepting Guantanamo Bay detainees.

“By sharing information about who [the detainees] are, responding to the questions that are posed by our allies...we can ensure them that they will not pose a danger to their countries and will not pose a threat to us. I think we will be successful,” Holder stated.

Holder said that these detainees will be judged “with due process consistent with the laws of war..and with the assurance that what we are doing is consistent with our values and with our commitment to due process.”

Holder made it clear during his testimony that our allies will not be able to host all of the detainees and that, therefore, the U.S. will have to take its share of the task.

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Chair of the Committee noted “our criminal justice system handles extremely dangerous criminals, and more than a few terrorists, and it does so safely and effectively. We are the most powerful nation on hearth, we got to be able to handle the worst criminals.”

The hearing was held in front of a full audience. There were two protestors who accused the U.S. of torture and called for the closing of Guantanamo Bay.

Justice at the Price of Safety

By Courtney Ann Jackson-Talk Radio News Service

A unified approach to closing the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay will be crucial in order to meet the one-year deadline signed into law in January by President Obama, according to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, who testified before the House Judiciary Committee Thursday.

Holder said the Department has "no choice but to release" some of the detainees. He said they must be released because otherwise an order from the In terms of release, we have to release them or an order from the U.S. courts would be defied.

The Department of Justice is taking the lead from the work set out by President Barack Obama to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay and ensure that the policies going forward “live up to our nation’s value,” said Holder.

The Guantanamo Review Task Force will make decisions about where detainees will be housed on an individual basis. Holder said that Task Force's decisions will be guided by “what is in the interest of national security, the foreign policy interests of the United States and the interests of justice.”

Ranking Member U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) said “the President has announced the closure of Guantanamo Bay without any plan for the terrorists detained there and has admitted that he cannot guarantee that those detainees who are released will not seek to attack our country again.”

In response, Holder reiterated that the Department isn’t going “to do anything, anything that would put the American people at risk. Nothing.”

Holder: No Jail Time For Torturers

Jonathan Bronstein, Talk Radio News Service

The Obama Administration's release of formally classified memos detailing alleged pre-meditated torture techniques approved by Bush Administration officials has placed many lawmakers at a crossroads. President Obama recently delegated the monumental task of deciding whether to prosecute any formal high ranking officials who knowingly allowed for the use of torture against so-called enemy combatants to Attorney General Eric Holder.

Today while testifying in front of the House Appropriation Committee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies, Holder stated "With regard to those members of the intelligence community who acted in good faith and on the reliance of Justice Department opinions that were shared with them, it is not our intention to prosecute those individuals."

Holder's comments were nearly identical to Obama's recent remarks at CIA Headquarters in Langley, Virginia, where he pledged his support to those officials who followed the orders of their superiors.

But U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA) said that he wanted ensure that Americans understood all the facts behind the use of torture as a means of getting vital intelligence information for enemy combatants. Wold asked Holder if anymore memos existed, like those alluding to unreleased memos referenced to by former Vice President Dick Cheney which he says prove that the harsh tactics yielded positive results, Wolf asked Holder if any such memos existed.

"In fairness to the American people, once you (the Obama administration) made a decision to release the existing memos that you put out then you have an obligation to release the rest of the memos," said Wolf

Holder responded forcefully. "I am the Attorney General and I do not control many of these memos that you are referring to."

Yet, at the conclusion of the hearing, Committee Chairman David Obey (D-WI) stated his hope, "At the Justice Department politics is out and justice is back," he said.

Holder pledges to end water-boarding, close Guantanamo

Eric Holder, President Elect Barack Obama's nominee for Attorney General, testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee and touched upon how he intends to move the Justice Department away from the Bush administration's style of management.

"I will work to restore the credibility of a department badly shaken by allegations of improper political interference...under the stewardship the Department of Justice will serve justice, not the fleeting interest of any political party," said Holder.

"Attorney General Michael Mukasey and Deputy Attorney General Mark Filip have done much to stabilize the department...but there is more work to do."

The nominee pledged to balance combating terrorism with the Department's traditional duties of guarding the civil rights, preserving fairness in the free market, and providing consumer protection.

Upon questioning, Holder confirmed that he believed water-boarding, which has been a controversial interrogation technique, is torture.

Holder went on to state that the Justice Department will move to shut down the prison facility in Guantanamo Bay.

The nominee noted that he had made a number of mistakes in his career, citing as an example his involvement as Assistant Deputy Attorney General with the pardoning of fugitive financier Marc Rich during the final Clinton term.

Ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), took Holder to task on the use of the word 'mistake'.

"It's hard to brush it off, it seems to me, as a mistake," said Spector.

"If this was some underling," Spector continued, "or some guy who wasn't too bright or wasn't too experienced I'd brush it off as a mistake, but given your experience, and your background, and your competency, and the surrounding circumstances of President Clinton looking for a cover, how do you explain it?"

Holder responded that the House report that firmly linked him to the pardoning had inaccuracies, including an entry that Holder contends falsely linked him to Rich's lawyer.

The hearing had a moment of levity when Senator Herb Kohl (D-Wisc.) brought up Holder's basketball skills, inquiring how a match up between the President Elect and Holder would play out.

"In the event, Mr. Holder, that he invites you to the gym for a little one on one, will you promise us and the American people that you will do everything in your power to defeat him as badly as you can?" Kohl asked.

The nominee responded, "He's 10 years younger than me, he plays a lot more frequently than I do. Having said that, I have a New York city game...if you give me a little time and little space to get back in shape, I think I could hang with him, but I don't think I would ever be in a position to beat him, nor do I think that would be a wise thing to do."