The Bush administration is pushing to take control of the promotions of military lawyers, escalating a conflict over the independence of uniformed attorneys who have repeatedly raised objections to the White House's policies toward prisoners in the war on terrorism.
Just like the Attorney General's office gutted the USA's, BushCo now seeks to do the same with the military attorneys. Gee, he couldn't possibly be worried that they aren't beholden to him and his fuckwitted ways could he? BushCo has proposed a new regulation that would require"coordination with politically appointed Pentagon lawyers before any member of the Judge Advocate General corps”, aka the JAG's, could be promoted. That's 4,000 lawyers to be dismembered by BushCo my dear reader.
If that doesn't smack of bullshittery, I don't know what does. From the Globe writeup:
The former JAG officers say the regulation would end the uniformed lawyers' role as a check-and-balance on presidential power, because politically appointed lawyers could block the promotion of JAGs who they believe would speak up if they think a White House policy is illegal.
The end of checks and balances..gee, where has BushCo used that tactic in the last 7 years? Virtually every office and department in the federal government sports fans.
Retired Major General Thomas Romig, the Army's top JAG from 2001 to 2005, called the proposal an attempt "to control the military JAGs" by sending a message that if they want to be promoted, they should be "team players" who "bow to their political masters on legal advice."
It "would certainly have a chilling effect on the JAGs' advice to commanders," Romig said. "The implication is clear: without [the administration's] approval the officer will not be promoted."
The JAG's have never agreed with BushCo's abuse of the Geneva Conventions and other legal protections for wartime detainees. Seems the Decider-in-Chief wants to stack the deck now. Bush wants to put the JAG's under the control of civilians.
Its bullshit, plain and simple.
