Crossposted at the Huffington Post

We learned this week that the CIA destroyed tapes of American officials committing torture. The American people deserve to know whether laws were violated and whether the President was directly involved in illegal activities. Torture is a black and white moral issue. A failure to act decisively in this case will be an unacceptable failure of leadership.

Torture is un-American, it violates international law, and it is wrong. And when I am President, I will make sure that those who are responsible for torture are held accountable for their actions.

When I have secured the release of people held in captivity overseas, I have seen the fear in the eyes of captured men and women, and I have spoken with their scared families. To them, the Geneva Convention is not "quaint" or outdated; it is the bedrock institution guaranteeing that no one -- no matter how powerful -- is above the law.

And yet, in the thirteen months since winning back the House and Senate, Democrats in Congress have done too little to force this administration to stop torturing.

Perhaps one reason that Bush and Cheney have been so comfortable with torture is that they feel they will never be held accountable for their actions.

Indeed, despite consistently stating that they can't accomplish anything because they lack a filibuster-proof majority, Senate Democrats failed even to block an Attorney General who equivocated on torture.

They have taken no action on the International Criminal Court.

They have failed to appoint a Special Prosecutor to provide for high-level accountability.

They failed to restore habeas corpus.

They have done nothing to enforce the Constitution or any of our laws against torture.

This must change. If Congress won't act, then our next President must.

The next President must be clearly and unequivocally committed to changing our country's stand on torture, and that is exactly what I pledge to do. Strong leaders are not afraid to be held accountable, nor are they afraid to hold others accountable for acts that we all know are wrong.

As soon I am inaugurated, I will order investigations to find out who is responsible for torture -- those who allowed it, those who sanctioned it, and those who carried it out. We can and will find out who is responsible.

And, once we've completed those investigations -- and if we find cause for prosecution -- I will insist on criminal prosecutions of anyone we find responsible for torture in this current administration. No one will be given a pass. NO ONE is above the law.

John Early, seen in the video below, is a testament to why we must hold people accountable and why we must restore our anti-torture commitment. John was captured in Sudan in 1996 - a dangerous time in a dangerous place. I went to Sudan to help bring John home.

When you see this video, you understand the terror that John and his family felt when he was a prisoner. This has real-world implications that affect us all.

As you read this, hundreds of thousands of American men and women are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. Every day that they stay, they remain in harm's way in a hostile land. And every day that we don't hold people accountable for allowing torture in our name, we place them in ever greater danger. For if we no longer abide by international law, how can we expect or demand that someone else follow it?

America's reputation, liberties, and moral leadership continue to be assaulted by Vice President Cheney and President Bush. If this Congress again fails to get to the bottom of these outrages, I will begin serious investigations as President on January 20th, 2009. We can and must find out who is responsible. If necessary, there will be prosecutions. No one is above the law. No one.

This post is the second in a series on seven by Governor Bill Richardson leading up to the January Caucuses and Primaries. The first post in the series was: Iraq: The Elephant In The Room.

Who are these people we elect (both congressional and to the executive office) to represent us in the land of the free and the home of the brave?

This past week I’ve kept my fingers off the keyboard and my eyes wide open during the confirmation proceeding of our next Attorney General for us here in the US. What a shock to discover a simple question, such as, “Do you consider waterboarding a form of torture?”. I think it’s a simple “yes” or “no” type question, not multiple choice nor fill in the blank. Michael Mukasey, our new Attorney General, could of even guessed at the “correct” answer, but didn’t.

I wonder how Judge Mukasey, Senator Dianne Feinstein of California and Senator Charles Schumer of New York define “Leadership” as it applies to establishing an example to the International Community, fellow Americans and especially the Democratic Party; who I personally was looking forward to changes they would implement once we had somewhat of a control in the House of Representatives.

I have one question that I would like to ask the new Attorney General, which is; ‘Do you believe in the law of control or the control of the law?’

This is crossposted at The Huffington Post

A Devastating Failure

By: Governor Bill Richardson

Real leadership requires having the strength to stand up, even when it isn't easy and victory isn't guaranteed. The Senate's confirmation last night of Michael Mukasey for Attorney General was a devastating failure of leadership, and a serious set back in our fight to take back America.

Mukasey's waffling about waterboarding and torture was unacceptable -- and should have been a deal-breaker from the start. Since the Spanish Inquisition, the rest of the world has been able to identify torture. Why is it too much to expect our attorney general to be clear on what torture is and whether or not it is illegal?

Waking up this morning with another attorney general who won't steadfastly stand against torture was a shock. Even more shocking was that four Democratic U.S. Senators running president failed to even show up for the fight.

I may not be perfect, but I can tell the difference between right and wrong.

Torture is wrong. Torture is un-American. This is a black and white issue. There is no gray -- torture of any kind is a crime.

And I will stand up and say so unequivocally: when I'm president, I will ensure that any form of torture, including waterboarding, will never be used. Furthermore, I will direct the Department of Justice to vigorously investigate and prosecute ANY individual responsible for the use of torture No one is above the law. No one.

This may have been forgotten by the Bush administration, but the attorney general's job is to steadfastly defend the Constitution and execute the laws of the land, without exception or equivocation. Judge Mukasey's willingness to let politics distort such a clear-cut moral issue was disappointing. But, by allowing him to be confirmed as attorney general, the Senate has allowed the Bush administration to move the moral line-in-the sand once again. Have we not learned that when you give this man an inch he will take a mile?

Last night, the confirmation could have been stopped with a filibuster and 40 Democratic votes. The fact that four Senators didn't show up and speak out boggles me. I know they are all against torture, but if they had shown up and spoken out, they may well have changed the outcome.

I believe some things are worth fighting for -- even if you fail, at least you go down fighting. And if the use of torture isn't worthy of that kind of fight, I don't know what is.

You can join me in this fight at http://www.richardsonforpresident.com/notorture

The Governor issued the following statement in condemnation of the Senate's
confirmation of Michael Mukasey as Attorney General of the United States:

"It is shocking that four U.S. Senators running for the Democratic Presidential
nomination failed to show up and vote against Judge Mukasey or speak against
him during the debate to persuade their fellow Senators that torture is a
no-compromise issue.

"Judge Mukasey disqualified himself by refusing to acknowledge what the world
has known for centuries: that waterboarding is torture and torture of any
kind violates U.S. and international law. Alarmingly, Judge Mukasey already
has shown a startling willingness to allow politics to influence his opinion
regarding one of the most basic American principles -- human rights.

"The Attorney General is responsible for steadfastly defending the Constitution
and implementing the laws of the land, without exception or equivocation.
What should have been an easy question to answer-- waterboarding is torture,
and torture is illegal-- was not easy for Judge Mukasey, who chose instead
to dodge. His actions speak volumes. His answer was unacceptable, and he is
unacceptable as the Attorney General of the United States. The Senate could
have rejected this nomination with a filibuster. By showing up and speaking
out, Senators Biden, Clinton, Dodd, and Obama might well have stopped his
confirmation. Instead, they chose to sit on the sidelines and watch history
pass them by.

"Last night, we witnessed a devastating failure of leadership in the fight
to take back America, enforce the Constitution, and restore the principles
on which this nation was founded.

"This is not what our country needs in its next President.

"Let me be clear: As President, I will ensure that any form of torture, including
waterboarding, will never be used. Furthermore, I will direct the Department
of Justice to vigorously investigate and prosecute any individual responsible
for the use of torture. No one is above the law. No one."

Let me make sure I follow the logic of our current president, Mr. Bush; today we can use waterboarding to aid us in the war on terrorism, since it’s not considered torture by President Bush, so ten or fifteen years from now, after we have won the war on terror, is it correct to assume we can use waterboarding to extract a confession from a shoplifter after being taken to a foreign prison, courtesy of a resurrected and refinanced Air America flight crew?

In response to U.S. Attorney General nominee Michael Mukasey's refusal to say
whether waterboarding is torture, the Governor this morning issued the following
statement:

"Waterboarding is torture, and anyone who is unwilling to identify it as
such is not qualified to be the chief legal officer of the United States of
America. If I were in the U.S. Senate, I would vote against Mukasey unless
he denounces such specific forms of torture.

"Torture does not work. Mistreatment backfires and destroys our international
leadership, as we saw with Abu Ghraib. Torture also endangers our own troops.
The standards we adopt may well be what our own troops are subjected to.

"Anytime one makes a person think he or she is being executed, the very nature
of waterboarding, it obviously is a violation of the U.S. Constitution, international
law, and basic human decency.

"ABC News has described waterboarding as follows: 'The prisoner is bound
to an inclined board, feet raised and head slightly below the feet. Cellophane
is wrapped over the prisoner's face, and water is poured over him. Unavoidably,
the gag reflex kicks in, and a terrifying fear of drowning leads to almost
instant pleas to bring the treatment to a halt.'

"If another nation engaged in waterboarding against American citizens, we
would denounce that country and call the practice barbaric, and rightly so.

"We must stand against torture without equivocation, without compromise,
and without exception. Torture is a violation of everything we stand for as
Americans and as human beings."