Rumsfled Suit Dropped by Court

Interesting.

A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit Tuesday against former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and three high-ranking U.S. military officials accused of ignoring allegations that U.S. soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan tortured prisoners.

"Despite the horrifying torture allegations," wrote U.S. District Judge Thomas Hogan in a 58-page opinion, "the plaintiffs lack standing to pursue a declaratory judgment against the defendants."

The charges were brought by human rights groups on behalf of nine former detainees.

Hogan said there was nothing in federal case law that would allow officials such as Rumsfeld to be held personally liable for actions related to their government service.

and

Hogan rejected the arguments on a number of legal grounds, including the fact that liability in such lawsuits would hamper the military's ongoing war on terror.

"The court cautions against the myopic approach advocated by the plaintiffs," wrote the judge, "which essentially frames the issue as whether torture is universally prohibited and thereby warrants a judicially created remedy under the circumstances.

"There is no getting around the fact that authorizing monetary damages against military officials engaged in an active war would invite enemies to use our own federal courts to obstruct the armed forces' ability to act decisively and without hesitation in defense of our liberty and national interests."

Hogan also noted that foreigners seeking legal redress in U.S. courts are limited in asserting violations of constitutional rights afforded U.S. citizens.

Legal precedent generally protects individual federal officials from these kinds of lawsuits.

Sounds logical to me. That's why I find it interesting.