Sunday, March 29, 2009

Alberto Gonzales Crosses Out Spain as a Possible Summer Vacation Spot

A Spanish magistrate judge has authorized an investigation into six former Bush administration officials for their role in creating a system that allowed torture at Gitmo. The list of officials includes: Alberto Gonzales, John Yoo, Doug Feith, William J. Hayes II, Jay Bybee, and David Addington. Baltasar Garzon, the investigating magistrate responsible for authorizing the investigation, gave Spanish prosecutors the go ahead to start investigating those accused for violations of international law. Apparently Garzon is famous for starting investigations on high profile figures as he has authorized them in the past against Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, as well as Basques, islamic terrorists, and drug traffickers.

I'm not sure what spurred this action by Garzon, nor am I sure where he gets the power to conduct an investigation on U.S. officials. I'm unaware of any Spanish citizens that were held at Gitmo, but I could be wrong about that. Any result of this investigation would be purely symbolic as I'm sure that the U.S. would never turn those accused over to Spanish authorities if they found that they were guilty. While I don't agree with most of the things Gonzales and gang did during the Bush administration I think that it is a little ridiculous for the Spanish government to be wasting its time conducting an investigation on U.S. officials whom they have no jurisdiction over. That is a role more properly left for the International Criminal Court.

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