Acree v. Iraq Update

Officials from the Department of Justice yesterday wrote a letter to the 17 Americans tortured, beaten, and starved while held captive in Iraq in 1991 to tell them that the Bush Administration plans to deplete the remaining blocked Iraqi funds -- which Congress had previously made available for victims of Iraqi terrorist acts such as the POWs.  This represents the latest chapter in the story of the Bush Administration opposing the men who fought and suffered in the prisons of Iraq in order to protect information vital to the success of the first Gulf War.  This is also another installment in a history of the Executive Branch arguing, for example, on behalf of Cuba against the families of the murdered Brothers to the Rescue pilots, on behalf of Iran against the family of a murdered American girl, and now on behalf of Iraq and Saddam Hussein.

The Bush Administration's assertion of the need for the remaining available funds comes on the heels of its legal efforts to block the POWs from being compensated out of Iraqi assets and to snuff out the POWs' judgment pinning liability on Iraq.  Steve Fennell of Steptoe & Johnson LLP, who represents the POWs, has challenged the Administration's argument that the democratization of Iraq will be hampered by judgments arising from the Hussein dictatorship.  "As the court said when it rejected this argument, promoting democracy is clearly a worthy goal, but the existence of the judgment against Iraq, Saddam Hussein and the Iraqi Intelligence Service for the torture of American POWs does not interfere with that interest," said Fennell.  "The public record of the POWs' torture should, if anything, help promote democracy, by contrasting it with the Hussein regime.  Holding Iraq accountable would also help promote the important national security interest in deterring the torture of future POWs."

Fennell also challenged the Bush Administration's argument that allowing the POWs access to the assets would threaten national security. "This is entirely inconsistent with other Administration actions given that the US has arranged through the UN to pay Kuwaiti war damages by diverting oil sales revenue from the Iraq Development Fund, and in March, the Administration paid a group of Americans held as human shield hostages as the first Gulf War broke out from frozen Iraqi assets."

Fennell termed the tactics the Bush Administration has used to end-run Congress -- which has long supported the rights of Americans tortured or taken hostage by terrorist nations to bring suit and access the assets of the perpetrator nation -- as "an abuse of power."  Members of Congress have publicly denounced the Administration's actions.  According to Fennell, the latest Administration action is "unfortunate and unnecessary -- especially in light of the POWs' offer to compromise their claims to ensure that the rebuilding of Iraq would not be jeopardized."  The Administration has rebuffed all offers of compromise and is actively seeking to defeat the POWs' case on all fronts.  If the government succeeds, it will undo a means of deterring the future torture of American servicemen and women.