Gonzales - The Inside Man

While most people are focused on the fact that Bush's pick for Attorney General wrote the rationale for going against the Geneva Conventions, I have not noticed anyone mentioning that he also layed out a defense, back in 2002, for the administration against possible prosecution under US law for violation of the War Crimes Act which can include the death penalty.

Back in May this article caught my eye and I wrote this post: I wonder if Bush will change his stance on the death penalty? and made this comment (abridged edition):

In the lead up to the War in Iraq the Bush Adminstration spent more time seeking US exemption from the International Criminal Court than seeking a consensus of the UN Security Council or building a coalition of countries that count. Well here is a story that will explain that:

In the memo, the White House lawyer focused on a little known 1996 law passed by Congress, known as the War Crimes Act, that banned any Americans from committing war crimes—defined in part as "grave breaches" of the Geneva Conventions. Noting that the law applies to "U.S. officials" and that punishments for violators "include the death penalty," Gonzales told Bush that "it was difficult to predict with confidence" how Justice Department prosecutors might apply the law in the future. This was especially the case given that some of the language in the Geneva Conventions—such as that outlawing "outrages upon personal dignity" and "inhuman treatment" of prisoners—was "undefined."
One key advantage of declaring that Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters did not have Geneva Convention protections is that it "substantially reduces the threat of domestic criminal prosecution under the War Crimes Act," Gonzales wrote.
"It is difficult to predict the motives of prosecutors and independent counsels who may in the future decide to pursue unwarranted charges based on Section 2441 [the War Crimes Act]," Gonzales wrote.

Now it makes perfect sense, if you are in possible violation of a US law with such a penalty wouldn't you want to appoint a friendly prosecutor who also wrote your defense. Sheesh, and some people wonder why anybody would ever want to be President...