Bush taking more authority over military lawyers

From Talking Points Memo:

The Bush administration? Undermining the independence of military lawyers with a dubious power grab? You don't say.

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.

The administration has proposed a regulation requiring "coordination" with politically appointed Pentagon lawyers before any member of the Judge Advocate General corps - the military's 4,000-member uniformed legal force - can be promoted.

A Pentagon spokeswoman did not respond to questions about the reasoning behind the proposed regulations. But the requirement of coordination - which many former JAGs say would give the administration veto power over any JAG promotion or appointment - is consistent with past administration efforts to impose greater control over the military lawyers.

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. (emphasis added)


Charlie Savage's piece, which is well worth reading, adds that the plan would direct broad new power over the JAGs to William "Jim" Haynes, the Bush-appointed general counsel at the Pentagon, best known for writing the Pentagon's infamous 2002 policies endorsing physical and mental duress on terror prisoners, and reportedly cutting top military lawyers out of the loop if they were likely to object.