Former President Jimmy Carter told CNN’s Campbell Brown last night that he would like to see the Obama administration closely examine the harsh interrogation methods authorized by the Bush administration, but did not call for immediate prosecutions of those responsible for sanctioning the techniques.
For months, several leading Democrats have been much more forthright than Carter calling on Attorney General Eric Holder to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Justice Department lawyers Steven Bradbury, Jay Bybee and John Yoo, who authored the memos that sanctioned the interrogation techniques.
“What I would like to see is a complete examination of what did happen, the identification of any perpetrators of crimes against our own laws or against international law,” Carter said. “And then, after all that’s done, decide whether or not there should be any prosecutions.”
The former president also said he did not agree with President Obama’s decision to block the release of photos that allegedly show prisoner abuse.
“Most of his supporters were hoping that he would be much more open in the revelation of what we’ve done in the past,” Carter said. He added: “I don’t agree with him, but I certainly don’t criticize him for making that decision.”
