(emphasis my own)

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Justice Department has recommended reopening nearly a dozen prisoner-abuse cases, which could expose CIA employees and contractors to prosecution for their treatment of terrorism suspects, The New York Times said on Monday.

The recommendation, reversing the Bush administration, came from the Justice Department’s ethics office and has been presented to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.

The department is due to disclose later on Monday details of prisoner abuse that were gathered in 2004 by the CIA’s inspector general but have never been released, according to the Times report, which cited an unnamed person officially briefed on matter.

When the CIA first referred its inspector general’s findings, it decided that none of the cases merited prosecution.

But when Holder took office and saw the allegations included deaths of people in custody and other cases of physical or mental torment, he reconsidered, the newspaper said.

“With the release of the details on Monday and the formal advice that at least some cases be reopened, it now seems all but certain that the appointment of a prosecutor or other concrete steps will follow, posing significant new problems for the CIA,” the Times said.

The recommendation to review the cases centres mainly on allegations of detainee abuse in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In some examples of abuse that have just been publicized, the CIA report describes how its officers carried out mock executions and threatened at least one prisoner with a gun and a power drill — possible violations of a federal torture statute.

Just more cognitive dissonance accepted for expedient political reasons. Say “his wife works for the CIA” and you get a prison sentence. Reveal the location of secret prisons and get crickets. Now just drag CIA agents into the spotlight for scaring terrorists with power tools, and threaten prosecution.

When you get me a film of a CIA agent delighting in slowly sawing off the head of an innocent victim then I’ll say there’s a case, but for now any fool knows this is all about who’s on what side of the political aisle in a “post-partisan” administration.

I’ve gotten used to the dishonesty, the hypocrisy, and the pandering, but I can’t stomach the violent consequences that occur when our leaders play these petty political games. Anybody doubt why there’s this sudden escalation in Iraq and Afghanistan? Are any of these guys conscious of neglect as a form of abuse?  The cup has been passed to the left and it’s starting to overflow with human blood.  And they seem pretty happy to fill their own mouths with it as long as they can somehow find a right-winger to spew it on.

You really don’t have to read the whole thing. You might fail to remember what a pain in the ass drywall repair is before you react.

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