Unchained Melody

Beware of pretty faces that you find
A pretty face can hide an evil mind
--Secret Agent Man, Johnny Rivers

Bond: I thought one less bomb maker in the world would be a good thing.
M: Oh, one bomb maker.
We're trying to figure out an entire network
of terrorists I financed and you give us one bomb maker.
Hardly the big picture, wouldn't you say?
--Casino Royale (2006)
_____________

The system of checks and balances built into the U.S. system of governance is supposed to insure that no branch will become so powerful as to subdue the others.

A federal judge recently excused the Central Intelligence Agency from releasing documents relating to their destruction of videotapes of the 9-11 detainee interrogations (Ruling on Interrogation Documents). Is the C.I.A. a member of one of the governmental branches? Is the military? What exactly are these agencies when looking at the constitutionally?

They must be executive since they're clearly not judicial or legislative. If they are anything but executive, then how will legal proceedings affect their actions? If the director of the C.I.A. can make national security decisions that are exclusive of judicial action, then the C.I.A. director has achieved a mini-dictator status.

When a federal judge places national security issues beyond the rule of law, then we find our nation beyond the law. No governmental agency should be sacrosanct -- even when invoking national security interests.

National security is not a legal construct and criminal behavior should not be allowed to hide behind this hollow concept. If we accept criminal behavior as a national security issue then the concept of law is irrelevant.

It was once a national motto that no one is above the law. In USA 2009, this has been superseded. As with the individual, so it was with the agencies of law, but with this ruling the old ways are overcome by events.

The C.I.A. is now officially and judicially above the law. Even if Attorney General Holder goes ahead with torture inquiries, there is now a precedent behind which torture can hide. Not one of Lady Liberty's finest hours.

However, as we see our greatness flicker, across the pond there are still people who are not seeking the clever technical out.

"An Italian prosecutor on Wednesday urged a court in Milan to sentence 26 Americans to 10 to 13 years in prison each for the 2003 kidnapping of an Egyptian cleric in a rendition operation by the C.I.A."

"The Americans, all but one identified by prosecutors as C.I.A. operatives, are being tried in absentia and are considered fugitives by the Italian court. The defense must still make its final arguments; a verdict is expected by the end of the year (Italy: Prosecution Rests in CIA Rendition Case.)

So there are still western civilized nations that place legality above security. The Italians obviously know how to deal with fascistic behavior. When courts allow the C.I.A. to get away with their criminal behavior, we are one step closer to becoming a fascistic society.