Tortured Detainees Proving To Be An Embarrassment To Obama
Bill Lindner
June 12, 2009
The Obama administration is reportedly weighing a plan that would allow 9/11 terrorist suspects to plead guilty -- changing the law for military commissions that would clear the way for detainees who are facing the death penalty to plead guilty without a full, or fair trial despite the fact that many detainees at Guantanamo are not terrorists -- to avoid the embarrassment of having more details of Bush administration torture aired.
The proposal, which has not been publicly disclosed, would be in a draft of legislation that would be submitted to Congress, allegedly to ease the task of prosecuting cases of those who confessed to terrorism, although many of the 'confessions' were obtained under 'intense interrogations' -- read torture -- at secret CIA black sites. Lest we forget, we ended up with the Patriot Act and other assorted, illegal 'legislation' that still remains in effect courtesy of the White House giving legislation to Congress.
In following in Bush's footsteps, Obama has supported more unconstitutional retroactive legislation that would suppress detainee photos of torture for five years, even though many of them are still readily available on the internet. The Constitution forbids passing legislation that covers crimes after they've been committed -- ex post facto -- something that Congress did more than once during Bush's term. The GOP's new catch phrase for the detainee pictures is 'Terrorist Propaganda Photos.' Ah, the games we play....
In reality, the reason the Obama administration wants to avoid trials is because more disclosures of the torture -- the word torture, as noted by Glenn Greenwald from Salon News, was never once used in the New York Times article -- inflicted on those detainees. As I've written before, the government doesn't want to release the detainees because their bodies are crime scene evidence. Media is still trying to conceal egregious acts committed by the Federal government, purposely misinforming the American public.
CIA Director Leon Panetta has decided to relinquish his credibility to protect members of the CIA involved in the torture -- making every excuse thinkable, and some unthinkable -- to keep details of the torture hidden from the public. It's like watching a rerun of the Bush administration. When you consider the lies we were fed by the government regarding the attacks of 9/11, it's not surprising that they would want to keep the truth covered up.
Obama Has Reneged On Multiple Campaign Promises
Many of the Bush administration's policies have resulted in Obama reneging on multiple campaign promises, making Obama look rather foolish, not to mention a lot like Bush, sometimes worse. President Obama's approach to government transparency, as noted by Dan Froomkin in the Washington Post, is disturbingly opague in places.
Bush's torture policies are among the many that have resulted in Obama backtracking on previous promises and looking like a fool. Having multiple members of previous administrations on his cabinet is not helping Obama, it's turning his rhetoric of change into more of the same.
Despite the fact that it's common knowledge that 'suspected terrorists' were tortured in America's name, the Obama administration is bound and determined to keep more details that would vividly expose exactly what the government did and reveal the motives of those who tortured and those who ordered it, not to mention how ineffective those methods actually were.
As recently as May 21, Obama vowed that he would 'not protect information merely because it reveals the violation of a law or embarrassment to the government.' He lied. This information is being hidden from the public because it's a major embarrassment -- not to mention evidence of egregious crimes authorized by the Bush administration -- to the government, and it reveals the depths of corruption in the federal government.
Bush: A National Embarrassment To The U.S.
Of course, having eight years of another Bush administration that was more corrupt than the original Bush administration has proven to be a national embarrassment to the government and to the United States that has resulted in destroying most of what America stands for.
Obama's administration is objecting to releasing Bush-era documents detailing videotaped interrogations of detainees, claiming that releasing them would endanger national security and benefit al-Qaeda, along with a few other excuses, all based on the usual politics of fear intentionally designed to keep the public disinformed and scared into submission. That concept grew extremely old a few years ago.
In relinquishing his credibility, Panetta claimed that his determinations are in no way driven by a desire to prevent embarrassment for the U.S. government or the CIA, or to suppress evidence of any unlawful conduct....he's just trying to prevent exceptionally grave damage to national security and to protect intelligence sources and methods. Right...
Again, releasing the information about the CIA's torture program would end up incriminating many politicians in Washington, and all of Bush's former administration. As noted by the Washington Post, Obama came into office promising to restore America's reputation and return responsibility to government, but now it seems Obama is buying into the belief that covering up our sins is better than coming clean.
Obama Is Emulating Illegal, Unethical Bush Administration Policies
Too much corruption from both major parties -- Republican and Democrat -- in Congress has resulted in the mess America is faced with today. It's time to get rid of the trash in both parties and replace them with people who will do what they're supposed to do: represent the people, not large corrupted corporations. If both major parties aren't willing to represent the people, it's time to get rid of them. There are too many in Congress who sold out America long ago and have been there entirely too long. It's time for change. Washington has been owned by Wall Street, lobbyists and other large corporations long enough.
Obama, just as Bush repeatedly did, has defied court orders more than once since becoming President. If it's okay for the government to ignore court orders and get away with it, it must be okay for everyone else to do the same thing. Washington isn't interested in the rule of law and accountability for themselves, just everyone else. It's long past time to change that.
It can be discouraging when you realize that President Obama, a man who made history and touched so many lives all over the world, has emulated so many illegal, unethical policies created by the Bush administration, has given so much credence to the assumption that all Washington politicians are liars and is doing the exact opposite of what he promised to do while running for President.
Contrary to the lines we were fed while Obama was running for President, Obama has embraced the vast majority of Bush's policies and changed very little. Unfortunately, it's beginning to appear that maybe Obama is running Bush's third term.
Don't get me wrong. I like Obama. He's smart, charismatic and an excellent speaker among many other things, but as I've said before, talking the talk without walking the walk does us absolutely no good whatsoever. Eloquent speech may sound great and promising, but when your dubious actions speak louder than your words, you're just wasting your breath.
If you want change we can believe in, it's time to hold the war criminals accountable. Enough of the lies, political theater and propaganda already. After everything we've been subject to under the Bush regime, we deserve justice and we deserve the truth.
The proposal, which has not been publicly disclosed, would be in a draft of legislation that would be submitted to Congress, allegedly to ease the task of prosecuting cases of those who confessed to terrorism, although many of the 'confessions' were obtained under 'intense interrogations' -- read torture -- at secret CIA black sites. Lest we forget, we ended up with the Patriot Act and other assorted, illegal 'legislation' that still remains in effect courtesy of the White House giving legislation to Congress.
In following in Bush's footsteps, Obama has supported more unconstitutional retroactive legislation that would suppress detainee photos of torture for five years, even though many of them are still readily available on the internet. The Constitution forbids passing legislation that covers crimes after they've been committed -- ex post facto -- something that Congress did more than once during Bush's term. The GOP's new catch phrase for the detainee pictures is 'Terrorist Propaganda Photos.' Ah, the games we play....
In reality, the reason the Obama administration wants to avoid trials is because more disclosures of the torture -- the word torture, as noted by Glenn Greenwald from Salon News, was never once used in the New York Times article -- inflicted on those detainees. As I've written before, the government doesn't want to release the detainees because their bodies are crime scene evidence. Media is still trying to conceal egregious acts committed by the Federal government, purposely misinforming the American public.
CIA Director Leon Panetta has decided to relinquish his credibility to protect members of the CIA involved in the torture -- making every excuse thinkable, and some unthinkable -- to keep details of the torture hidden from the public. It's like watching a rerun of the Bush administration. When you consider the lies we were fed by the government regarding the attacks of 9/11, it's not surprising that they would want to keep the truth covered up.
Obama Has Reneged On Multiple Campaign Promises
Many of the Bush administration's policies have resulted in Obama reneging on multiple campaign promises, making Obama look rather foolish, not to mention a lot like Bush, sometimes worse. President Obama's approach to government transparency, as noted by Dan Froomkin in the Washington Post, is disturbingly opague in places.
Bush's torture policies are among the many that have resulted in Obama backtracking on previous promises and looking like a fool. Having multiple members of previous administrations on his cabinet is not helping Obama, it's turning his rhetoric of change into more of the same.
Despite the fact that it's common knowledge that 'suspected terrorists' were tortured in America's name, the Obama administration is bound and determined to keep more details that would vividly expose exactly what the government did and reveal the motives of those who tortured and those who ordered it, not to mention how ineffective those methods actually were.
As recently as May 21, Obama vowed that he would 'not protect information merely because it reveals the violation of a law or embarrassment to the government.' He lied. This information is being hidden from the public because it's a major embarrassment -- not to mention evidence of egregious crimes authorized by the Bush administration -- to the government, and it reveals the depths of corruption in the federal government.
Bush: A National Embarrassment To The U.S.
Of course, having eight years of another Bush administration that was more corrupt than the original Bush administration has proven to be a national embarrassment to the government and to the United States that has resulted in destroying most of what America stands for.
Obama's administration is objecting to releasing Bush-era documents detailing videotaped interrogations of detainees, claiming that releasing them would endanger national security and benefit al-Qaeda, along with a few other excuses, all based on the usual politics of fear intentionally designed to keep the public disinformed and scared into submission. That concept grew extremely old a few years ago.
In relinquishing his credibility, Panetta claimed that his determinations are in no way driven by a desire to prevent embarrassment for the U.S. government or the CIA, or to suppress evidence of any unlawful conduct....he's just trying to prevent exceptionally grave damage to national security and to protect intelligence sources and methods. Right...
Again, releasing the information about the CIA's torture program would end up incriminating many politicians in Washington, and all of Bush's former administration. As noted by the Washington Post, Obama came into office promising to restore America's reputation and return responsibility to government, but now it seems Obama is buying into the belief that covering up our sins is better than coming clean.
Obama Is Emulating Illegal, Unethical Bush Administration Policies
Too much corruption from both major parties -- Republican and Democrat -- in Congress has resulted in the mess America is faced with today. It's time to get rid of the trash in both parties and replace them with people who will do what they're supposed to do: represent the people, not large corrupted corporations. If both major parties aren't willing to represent the people, it's time to get rid of them. There are too many in Congress who sold out America long ago and have been there entirely too long. It's time for change. Washington has been owned by Wall Street, lobbyists and other large corporations long enough.
Obama, just as Bush repeatedly did, has defied court orders more than once since becoming President. If it's okay for the government to ignore court orders and get away with it, it must be okay for everyone else to do the same thing. Washington isn't interested in the rule of law and accountability for themselves, just everyone else. It's long past time to change that.
It can be discouraging when you realize that President Obama, a man who made history and touched so many lives all over the world, has emulated so many illegal, unethical policies created by the Bush administration, has given so much credence to the assumption that all Washington politicians are liars and is doing the exact opposite of what he promised to do while running for President.
Contrary to the lines we were fed while Obama was running for President, Obama has embraced the vast majority of Bush's policies and changed very little. Unfortunately, it's beginning to appear that maybe Obama is running Bush's third term.
Don't get me wrong. I like Obama. He's smart, charismatic and an excellent speaker among many other things, but as I've said before, talking the talk without walking the walk does us absolutely no good whatsoever. Eloquent speech may sound great and promising, but when your dubious actions speak louder than your words, you're just wasting your breath.
If you want change we can believe in, it's time to hold the war criminals accountable. Enough of the lies, political theater and propaganda already. After everything we've been subject to under the Bush regime, we deserve justice and we deserve the truth.
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