Bush's Attempt To "Banana Republic" JAG

And Bush continues to try and complete his insane Banana Repubicking of the United States by making the military's JAG (Judge Advocate General) answerable to politcs, not the law.

One of Haynes' allies on the Bush administration legal team, former Justice Department lawyer John Yoo, recently coauthored a law review article sharply critical of the JAGs' unwillingness to endorse the legality of the administration's treatment of wartime detainees.

Yoo, who wrote a series of controversial legal opinions about the president's power to bypass the Geneva Conventions and antitorture laws before leaving government in 2003, called for some kind of "corrective measures" that would "punish" JAGs who undermine the president's policy preferences.

Read that las part again, "called for some kind of "corrective measures" that would "punish" JAGs who undermine the president's policy preferences."

Basically, the Bushies put policy above law, and anyone that gets in the way of Bush's policy by, gasp, following the law, will be punished. Sickening.

and...

"The message would be clear to every JAG, which is that when you have been told that the general counsel has a view on the law, any time you dare disagree with it, don't expect a promotion," Saltzburg said, adding "I don't think that would be in the best interest of the country. We've seen how important it can be to have the JAGs give their honest opinions when you look at the debates on interrogation techniques and the like."

via The Boston Globe