The Morning After the Memos
By Suzanne Ito Sunday Apr 19, 2009 6:00am(This piece was written by Ateqa Khaki, who is the Advocacy Coordinator for the ACLU's National Security team.)
As you may know by now, yesterday, the Justice Department released four critical legal memos that provided the legal basis for the CIA’s torture program in response to an ACLU lawsuit. The Obama administration should be highly commended for living up to its promise of transparency by releasing the memos with minimal redactions, instead of covering up the Bush administration’s crimes.
The memos are shocking. They describe in excruciating detail barbaric interrogation methods used by the CIA on its prisoners and the legal contortions used by the Office of Legal Counsel to ratify those methods.
In an 18-page memo (PDF) dated August 1, 2002, then-Assistant Attorney General to the Office of Legal Counsel, Jay Bybee, analyzes specific techniques – facial holds and slaps, placing detainees in confinement boxes (including placing one detainee in a box with an insect after he conveyed having a fear of insects), prolonged sleep deprivation, and waterboarding – and concludes that these methods, administered individually and in combination, do not constitute severe physical or mental pain and suffering. Shockingly, Bybee also states that the presence of medical personnel at the time of interrogation implied that “those carrying out these procedures would not have the specific intent to inflict severe physical pain or suffering.” He concludes that the absence of specific intent negates the charge of torture. This memo is considered one of the cornerstones of the torture program, and provides written authorizations to the CIA to use such harsh interrogation techniques.
And that’s just information contained in one of the four memos released yesterday.
In sum, these documents, and other still missing secret memos make clear that the abusive interrogation techniques employed on detainees were part of a choreographed torture program – one that was authorized by high-ranking officials from the Bush administration. As Jameel Jaffer, the Director of our National Security Project stated, the memos “[A]re simply political documents that were meant to provide window dressing for war crimes.” They were written to insulate the torturers and those who authorized the torture from prosecution for acts that are illegal under several domestic and international laws.
Both President Obama and Attorney General Holder have made statements revoking Bush-era torture practices. Yet in a statement released yesterday, President Obama stated that interrogators who carried out their duties “in good faith [relying] upon legal advice from the Department of Justice” will not be subject to prosecution.”
It is difficult to see how anyone could have relied “in good faith” on these legal opinions. And, it’s important to keep in mind that the Bybee memo was written on August 1, 2002. According to a DOJ Office of Inspector General report (PDF), Abu Zubaydah was subjected to interrogation and “borderline torture” in the spring of 2002, before the Bybee memo was issued. This raises serious concerns about the treatment of detainees before this first torture memo was issued, and demands an investigation into the actions of those who interrogated Abu Zubaydah during that time.
And, it would be a mistake to read President Obama and Attorney General Holder’s comments regarding immunity too broadly. We don’t think their comments rule out an investigation into torture and abuse, and where warranted, criminal prosecution of those who authorized this abuse (both the lawyers who wrote the legal opinions and the members of the Bush administration who commissioned the memos – collectively, architects of the torture program).
There remain still-outstanding documents that the American public has not yet seen. We will continue to seek more information about the treatment of detainees, including a report by the CIA inspector general concerning the CIA’s interrogation and detention program, and a September 2001 directive from then-President Bush authorizing the CIA to set up secret detention centers overseas. Other ACLU FOIA lawsuits are seeking the release of memos written by White House staff in 2003 and 2004 that provided the CIA with assurances that the torture program was lawful, and documents relating to the National Security Council’s supervision of the CIA’s torture program. Clearly, much still remains to be known.
You can join the ACLU in demanding accountability. Because, while the release of these documents was a very important step (and bodes well for chipping away at the wall of government secrecy that prevailed for the last eight years), transparency is only a first step towards accountability. And accountability is absolutely necessary in order to fully move on, bring an end to the use of torture, and restore the rule of law.
(There has been a flurry of coverage related to the memos’ release, including this ABC News piece with ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero, a CNN piece with ACLU attorney and counsel in the Torture FOIA lawsuit, Amrit Singh, an NPR piece this morning featuring Jameel Jaffer, stories in The New York Times and Washington Post, a mention on the New Yorker blog, and a Glenn Greenwald conversation on Salon.com with Jameel Jaffer).
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people must be disbarred by the relevant State Boards regulating their professional conduct.
Das dritte Reich!
Seriously. Jozef Mengele would be chuffed with letters like these...
Yeah. As soon as I read that medical presence thing, I thought of Mengele.
the previous administration knew with no doubt they gather less information through policies of torture
they also knew they create insurgents, insurgency, terrorists, terrorism through policies of torutre
every single family member, friend, friends family becomes a terrorist against you and your cause when you have inflicted your depravity on someone you know
the only purpose of policies of torture is to perpetuate the unrest, the insurgency, that's it
although you might have noted that the torturers themselves are playing out some demented personal issues.
Obama reprieve for CIA illegal: U.N. rapporteur
VIENNA (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's decision not to prosecute CIA interrogators who used waterboarding on terrorism suspects amounts to a breach of international law, the U.N. rapporteur on torture said.
"The United States, like all other states that are part of the U.N. convention against torture, is committed to conducting criminal investigations of torture and to bringing all persons against whom there is sound evidence to court," U.N. special rapporteur Manfred Nowak told the Austrian daily Der Standard.
Nowak did not think Obama would go as far as to seek an amnesty law for affected CIA personnel and therefore U.S. courts could still try torture suspects, he said on Saturday.
[...]
http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/i...
I don't see how President Obama can say there won't be prosecution of... ...anyone! at this point. Unless, of course, he's saying there'll be no investigation. If that's it, then, isn't it tantamount to condoning these acts? It appears that the Administration is simply handing out fortune cookies at this point. Maybe, if we get enough of these fortune cookies, we'll be able to put them together into something that looks like disclosure, but that's not the same thing as a full-throttle investigation, which is what I would like to see.
How can you say that the acts were illegal yet those who were thus carrying out the illegal acts will be forgiven?
As for the interrogators who were advised that they were acting legally...Obama is basically saying they "were only following orders."
However, I didn't think that this was a legal defense.
make deals all the time to get to the real crooks.
True, but what I was saying was in the context of what Obama says about the interrogators. Perhaps this points to future plans by Obama to go after the "architects"?
it's not really up to the President to go after them. It's Congress' job. However, the Administration does have access to a lot of the evidence, presumably. Still, when he says there won't be prosecutions, my question is, How do you know there won't be? WHAT do you know?
Pelosi said that she wants investigations into this issue.
She has too. She's not well liked right now. If she doesn't call for outright investigations of this. She'll be out of a job soon. She comes from the Bay Area. They will vote her out. In a heart beat.
"She's not well liked right now. If she doesn't call for outright investigations of this. She'll be out of a job soon. She comes from the Bay Area. They will vote her out. In a heart beat."
The Bay Area loves Pelosi's visciousness and will never vote her out. Pelosi's own campaign stomps out any attempt at competition in the elections. Look at the terrorism that the Pelosi campaign waged on the Cindy Sheehan campaign.
Almost every blog and every paper in the US has endorsed one political side or the other so it's not likely that any truly reliable, objective news can be had from US sources at the moment.
These leaks, etc are barely a tip of an iceberg. What needs to happen, to maintain the security of the nation, is for every single member of House and Senate to be subpoenaed to trials by jury within SCIFs (Secure Closed Information Forums). Only their sentences need to be made public regarding breaches of security and leaks of sensitive information. The public would be surprised as to who is truly guilty. It's too bad that the biased sources of media news would selectively cover or blackout certain pieces of news. For example, for a chain smoker, why do we get no photos of Obama smoking?
"It is difficult to see how anyone could have relied “in good faith” on these legal opinions."
One needs only look at today's idiots, especially those listening to, and believing everything spewed forth at Foxnews. They have their masters, and they believe. Re;igion have anything to do with this? Look at Newt Gingrich. Undoubtedly with a higher education, yet he made Reagan his superior and idol, just as he now does with Hannity. These people are mentally disturbed and in criminal cases would be excused for that reason.
But going to the memo itself:
Can some one explain why some words are in 'bold' and a different font, why some sections are missing, and why some words (text) contain symbols? It is almost like a form letter that required insertions of the different-fonted text.
"These people are mentally disturbed and in criminal cases would be excused for that reason."
You haven't been excused from jury selection lately have you? Courts, especially liberal ones, like to excuse anybody with any ability to weigh things intelligently. Reward and punishment are dished out, based on associations, rather than by guilt or innocence.
Remember how Senator John Edwards, as a trial lawyer, was supposedly a brilliant orator, and then got shred to pieces by VP Cheney? It's typical. They're not used to dealing with anybody with any handle on subject matters.
If you look at the first paragraph, it says, "This Jetter memorializes..." -- with a capital J instead of a lowercase letter "l." Also, in the last line of the paragraph numbered "I," the word that obviously should be "you" is rendered with a very small "y," a larger "o," and what appear to be two small numeric 1's or letter l's.
There are other examples of this kind of thing, and that indicates to me that the document was scanned by some kind of bad optical reader, maybe in the process of producing the .pdf from a less-than-perfect photocopy.
i hope he is made extremely uncomforatable by the revelations.
...when John Yoo is in the dock. Until then, it's all just talk.
specific intent to inflict severe pain or suffering is pure sophistry.
Bybee must be made to pay, along with others up and down the chain of command.
Obama will make a big mistake not to go after these fuckers.
and other Professional agencies that regulate their members conduct will move to purge their rolls of these people. They are already looking into these matters. Maybe there will not be criminal sanctions but some of them will lose their livelihoods.
They can always go work at Walmart. That's torture enough.
Not good enough.
That says, "Naughty naughty boy," not more.
Lawyers got together and put a full-page ad in the NYT about Gonzales. Has he been disbarred? He's still roaming around Washington sipping martinis with the rest of the goons.
(I don't know that for fact; the martinis bit. It is conjecture on my part, but I have yet to see any serious repurcussions, or we'd be digesting it here, thoroughly.) Rumsfeld just moved to a new office, down the street, but apparently is in contact with all his old pals, on the same regular basis. It's the Washington inner circle. It doesn't change.
Sure. There were "doctors" present in the gas chambers during WWII, too. It was still a war crime.
and your point? How is that subtely deceptive reasoning or argument?
It is difficult sometimes to see what commenters are responding to.
My point is that, just because there were medical personnel on site, witnessing the torture, doesn't mean that prisoners were being treated humanely. Having doctors "standing by" doesn't excuse or mitigate war crimes.
At the very least, and I am not happy with that, they should also be prosecuted, they should have their licenses pulled as a violation of their Hippocritical Oath.
And I am aware that in many doctor situations it more like a "hypocritical oath."
I don't disagree with you.
And I agree with your non-disagreement of his agreement.
Sadistic doctors. If I were being tortured, the message I would get is, they're going to make sure I stay alive so they can keep doing this forever.
"Obama will make a big mistake not to go after these..."
He will not go after them. He does as his master tells him. If there is a trial, his puppet master--Pelosi will be indited too.
The Obama administration has already essentially said, (that) "the United States government has no intention of prosecuting low-level CIA officers who carried out torture sanctioned by the Bush Administration."
This might be relative on a blog discussion that revolves around what the courts in Spain are trying to do about torture, ...but as far as doing something about it here in the United states, ...we may as well forget about it.
Actually, (I redact my opening remark) and I would like to thank Suzanne Ito for covering this!
The Pat Tillman Lie, Niger yellow cake lie, The WMD lie and the we don't torture lie adds up to nothing less than treason. This was a concerted effort to replace our constitutional restraints with their sick cash machine. And Cheney and Bush Jr. and Sr. are rich beyond any wealth we could imagine. They made a killing off of the killing and can afford to hire blackwater types to kill again. Lock 'um up
You forgot to mention everybody else that parrot'd the lies. Or did they not parrot the lies, but architect the lies? Remember Albright, the Clintons, Gore, etc? We know that these folks lie habitually. And we know that they made these lies too. Now. Which administration came first? You might as well wake up now because apparently, you're stuck on the Bush administration and republicans like a good kool-aid drinker. The media must love you.
to happen to the torture guys.
what now will happen to lindy england and cohorts?
for a huge disappointment. But I can't and won't stop you from chasing your dreams.
you are referring to...
i'm just asking the question...
have you any answers?
(and, damn right, you won't stop me from ANYthing...)
Handling my own destiny is an intimidating enough task.
imagine that...
here's another... i didn't get your reply then:
Fri, 04/17/2009 - 08:12 — katy
[Evet] what does that mean?
Electronic vet? video game general?
just curious...
the letter S
could you have been trying to grant yourself some kind of gravitas there?
or are you REALLY a vet?
just curious.
of run ins with brick walls and kicks in the teeth my entire life.
That's about the best I can offer.
all of that is very easy to avoid... especially those brick walls.
lessons learned, i hope.
After Obama was elected I said that if, within the first 100 days, clear and decisive action was not taken regarding 8 long years of Bush administration lawlessness then we might as well hang up our sign and go home. America is broken and won't be fixed any time soon. Any other good Obama may accomplish will be tarnished by his unwillingness to bring to justice those responsible for illegal war, warrentless wiretapping, illegal surveillance, torture, fiscal corruption, extreme political cronyism, etc.. etc..
It will only be a matter of time before another Republican administration returns and, having gotten away - scot free - with their crimes in the past, will wreak even worse havoc. Just a matter of time.
already setting up shop to plan out their next rip off of America or whatever it is we are in 4 or 8 years.
In his first 100 days he has bombed Pakistan and has done so several times without a declaration of war killing dozens of civilians.
This is a war crime! Where is the outrage about that.
Do people really believe the CIA and NSA have stopped what they are doing? IF so, your not paying attention or doing enough research.
Very good question. Where is it?
... if this is not happening with the tacit approval of the Pakistani Government. It would be understandable from both sides.
On the contrary...
Yahoo news- "Pakistan objects to the strikes. Officials say about one in six of the strikes over the past year caused civilian deaths without killing any militants, and that fuels anti-U.S. sentiment, complicating the military's struggle to subdue violence."
This is a crime against our Constitution and international law. These are Obama war crimes. Or does he get a pass as well?
Again... where is the outrage? What if the tables were turned? What if a foreign power started launching rockets into D.C. because they believe we are the global threat?
What IF
Pakistan allows our intrusion but for internal reason, for Pakistani consumption must appear to protest? Sergeant Schultz used to say "I know nothing".
That's my point. Why should any of us follow the law if our government doesn't?
That's what is troubling to me. Is the disregard of the Constitution by those sworn to abide by it.
This is not a partisan issue this a patriotic issue... an American issue.
what you replied to.
If Pakistan said 'Go Ahead and bomb them, but I'll never admit I said that' what is the illegality here?
...inside their country it is un-constitutional and in violation of international law.
The President cannot act on his own. The Constitution clearly states that a declaration of war must be made by the Congress as our representatives to act.
It is a crime and he has violated his oath of office. The President does not supersede the Congress. Obama is no different than Bush.
But since we have a toothless and complicit Congress unwilling to check this or any president. We as citizen must speak up now and not allow a unitary power to exist in this country.
Um, well... I know what you are saying. Do you think any (for example) red states would knowingly turn the other way if a few blue states got bombed?
I'd make some popcorn (?).
.
.
.
.
.
Oh, c'mon. I can joke, can't I?
(I wouldn't be shocked or outraged. "Collateral damage" has a way of spreading itself around. Blowback.)
...this mess was all set and and put into place by the Bush administration. Most sane people acknowledge that retreating from Afghanistan and, instead of moving into Waziristan/Pakistan to pursue the schemers of 9/11, incompetently blundering into Iraq was a tragic mistake of monumental proportions. The reality is that many of the people responsible for 9/11 are still there and I can understand Obamas desire to try and punish them.
But it's a bad situation now any way you look at it and the responsiblity for that bad situation lies soley on the Bush administration.
... and was Clinton, Reagan, Bush, Nixon, Ford, etc. They are front men for the criminal global elite. The sociopaths who think they have the right to do whatever they want with us.
Don't you get the sense we are all being played as fools? Don't you think the left/right paradigm we have in this country is distracting us from the real criminals?
You mention 9/11. Who was really behind that? Because I've researched for seven years and the official story is ludicrous. I think the Establishment ie (PNAC) was behind it.
There is truth is what you say. Sure Obama is "nicer" than Bush, but is he really going to change the really big things that matter most?
Health care-- wonderful. Green policy-- wonderful. Education-- wonderful. Etc, etc., but that is "cosmetic surgery", needed changes, but... America is broken at the core. He should start with his oath to uphold the Constitution, and other international laws and treaties, many of which were brought about by America itself.
But, anyone who has watched the USA over the last decades, knows that is a pipe dream. Washington does what Washington wants. The people have not displayed a will to stop them.
I've been a fairly optimistic person, but, after this past month, I don't think this country can recover. I don't mean financially. Our economy is a shell game and has been for some time. We'll make things "look alright" on paper again, even though it will be another house of cards waiting to collapse--from which Wall Street types will again benefit, then scram with the money before they're caught. We're incapable, I'm sorry to be seeing, of finding the will to do what's right. It takes too much political capital.
Those who wrote off the Republicans (and their right-wing supporters) were hasty. They will find a way to pin the poor economy (among other things) on Obama, Democrats, and every portion of the left. It's already happening. Why? Because 'Murkins are, by and large, intellectually lazy. Not all of us, but too many.
More sadly, however, the really important problems faced by the underclass and underserved (included the underinsured of the middle class...what's left of unionized labor, social service providers, and so on) are already being pushed aside. There will be some health care, energy and education reform, but only in terms of helping corporations--like insurance companies--make more money by nominally reaching a few more people, who will still be denied coverage and services. Past wrongs, such as torture, will be swept aside in the name of "moving forward, not looking backward." Democrats think this will keep them in power, but this will still not appease the right. Let's face it, no one on the right stands to gain by finding consensus.
The upper class in the U.S. needs a lower class in order to maintain both its position and the benefits it enjoys. Periodically, it needs someone to demonize, then someone to lionize in order to play on the ADD of society. It doesn't, however, need a middle class. Never really has. The middle classes are a blip in history. Whether he'd truly want to or not, Obama can't make significant political and social changes that benefit the middle class--it would be political suicide. The middle class is too brainwashed against its own interests. Its members maintain "crab logic," pulling each other down in order to appear to be pushing themselves up. This totally illogical competition is fomented within right-wing circles. Watching the teabaggers this week only reinforces my view of this.
Unfortunately, righting past wrongs--like bringing those who tortured to justice--is not going to happen. In a society supposedly governed by the rule of law, it should be paramount. But we have actually become an oligarchy. The oligarchs of our society (both right and center) see no benefit in this sort of thing occurring, so it won't. And in fact, it will become the least of the middle class's concerns. We are already struggling to retain our jobs, let alone afford access to health care. If someone tells us we should have lower taxes so we can buy more shit to make our frumpy little lives a little happier, who is going to raise hell about torture?
Some, but not enough. I don't see a lot of hope.
Again, the clear crimes, outrages and lies of the the Bush Administration are now a matter of public record.
There is really only two ways this will go..
Either we as a nation will sit on our hands and watch this story pass from one news cycle to another until it fades away as other stories surface thus, leaving these crimes to fester as "precedent" to any new President who would commit them
or
We as a nation take to the streets en mass, banners and sighs held high, and say NO! Prosecute! We will not allow any President, past, present or future to feel they have "precedent" to commit war crimes in our name. We have to once again, give a spine to those who's job it is to defend the laws of this country.
I'm ready for the second option. What say all of you?
...the Second Amendment. Our forefathers warning us about the potential for tyranny against the people. I don't know how much more blatant it can get before there are serious actions taken by the people but I think the Establishment is definitely worried about push back. I sincerely hope it doesn't come to this but it is the RIGHT of the people non the less.
I prefer your choice as well as most Americans do.
I really think Americans are beginning realize our government is so corrupt that the republic cannot function and people are so disenfranchised hope is all but gone.
All this can be fixed by restoring the Constitution the United States of America.
the "Constitution" is what got you here.
You don't need people (government) telling you how to live your life.
Pure liberty.
Just you can change 100's of minds in a day.(this is what i did)
Download the ten grossest Abu Grabu torture pictures. Collage them to a piece of paper
Go to copy center to blow a 8 1/2" X 11" to a 2' X 4' color poster .( about $ 100.)
Stand in front of an ice cream shop on a warm summer eve for an hour with your statement about how you feel about torture. Listen to the mom's and dad's explanation,to the kid's about our foreign policy.
This will cost you part of your soul to hold such vileness close to your heart.
And be prepared to be cursed, reviled and have things throw at you.
I held that sign three hours in different locations then destroyed it so I could sleep that night.
I like your story tjb. I'm sure you made a lot of people think. The ice cream parlour is a nice touch.
Wolfsinger
The second option is way cool, but the first is what we'll see.
Anyone remember Tracy Chapman?:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rZbvi6Tj6E
They can investigate and prosecute any and all people involved.
But Obama has to be smart about it . He can't just take office and start lining everyone of these people up and sent them all to jail.
As much as I think that this is exactly what should happen. He just can't do that. If he did that the country would fall into a civil war.
You think the GOpers are acting like idiots now?
Just wait. They'll get worse.
I do think that there should be investigations and prosecutions.
I believe he needs to appoint an independent prosecutor.
But how do you do that and keep the country together?
If he fails to act, he's toast. As well he should be for failing to follow the rule of law. He must know he has to do this. He's a constitutional scholar. He has too know.
He might be waiting for a foreign govt' to force him to do it.
That way he can claim plausible deny ability.
It gives him an out. So the GOPers can't attack him like a pack of wild dogs. Although, that wouldn't matter. They'll do it anyway.
what now will happen to lindy england and cohorts?
i always felt they got railroaded... of course they f'd up, but what about the guys who gave the orders... ?
are probably at the golf course today.
duh.
That's my conclusion also.
I actually think that these are two different cases.
England and the others were acting out like barbarians.
They deserved what they got. They actually should have gotten more.
But they got off light. This tells me that their superiors knew what was going on and did nothing to stop it until it came to light.
Were they scapegoats? Absolutely. That way the higher ups could say "Look we did do something about it". The other case would be the previous admin and the legal wording that made it alright for them to use
" Enhanced Interrogation Techniques" aka, Torture.
When they prosecuted England and the other guy, they set a precedent for prosecuting anyone for partaking in such behavior.
This includes all types of enhanced interrogation techniques.aka Torture.
To me, This means that the door has been opened for prosecution.
Obama needs to appoint an independent prosecutor and let the cards fall where they may.
But he also need to do it in a way that shows he's been forced in to it.
That way the GOPers can scream all they want. They will have to acknowledge that it's not a witch hunt and that's it's just following the rule of law.
There will always be those on the right that will think that this is nothing more that a Liberal plot to change the country.
To them I say, Why do you hate America?
Why do you sanction breaking the laws of this land?
This will get ugly before it's over.
Be prepared for the worst.
They will not accept this quietly.
and agreed to.
another sad chapter in american, er USA, history...
But he also need to do it in a way that shows he's been forced in to it.
Yes. People are very fickle. If "everyone else is doing it," and the higher ups don't object (because they OKed it) then they will follow the crowd. That's just human: kind of schoolyard gang stuff.
The being forced part means YOU, the people!!
I'm glad to see you figured that part out.
That didn't take too long now did it?
I agree with everything you said.
Even though some within the "rank and file" were undoubtedly guilty of carrying out the orders from those above exercising twisted and brutal logic, they are pawns. They can't be the ones held solely responsible for these inexcusable acts. If they were, we'd have a complete breakdown of society because no one would be willing to follow any of their "superiors'" directions. There would be no safety in it. Basically, going to work would put you at risk for going to jail.
The decision-makers--the ideologues like Yoo, Feith, Addington, and Rumsfeld who wrote the "rules"--are the ones who ultimately must be held accountable. I hope they will. I don't have much to hang that on, though.
Bush let the GIs take the hit for his lawlessness. The very bottom of the totum pole. It's hard to describe a man who would stoop to that level but I will begin with "coward".
If our government can not work with in and enforce our law , then we are no longer a nation of laws. Our constitution , bill of rights and democracy will be just what the Criminals (Bush-Cheney) which stole the election in 2000 stated ,,,, nothing but a D. piece of paper and our government can do as it d... well pleases..
By the way our president for the last 8 years has been a dictatorship and still are until Obama deletes these illegal powers give to the president and prosecute the offenders.
They have put in place illegal laws which have taking our democracy & freedom away and we are excepting it.
You sound like the people the republicans claim democrats are... Not willing to fight for our freedom , rights and democracy...
"The Obama administration should be highly commended for living up to its promise of transparency by releasing the memos with minimal redactions..."
No... A federal court ordered them released. Obama has no choice but to make them public. It's the law. To do otherwise would be a crime. Suggesting he should be given credit it ludicrous.
Obama is actively attempting to cover-up Bush administration crimes of torture, kidnap, murder, wiretapping to name a few. Why is that? I though he was about change.
I guess the law and human dignity mean nothing to this man.
between the pitchforks and the elites.
Not a good position to be in.
Every President since the early 1900's has been picked and placed in power by the Establishment. We must come to terms with this fact. They use the Council on Foreign Relations as a front calling it a "think tank".
The president serves a purpose. It's an acting job, nothing else.
For instance just this month National Security Adviser James Jones stated he takes his daily order from Henry Kissinger. A man wanted in several country for war crimes. he said this to the Council on Foreign Relations.
Here is a quote and a link if you'd like to see it.
"Thank you for that wonderful tribute to Henry Kissinger yesterday. Congratulations. As the most recent National Security Advisor of the United States, I take my daily orders from Dr. Kissinger, filtered down through Generaal Brent Scowcroft and Sandy Berger, who is also here. We have a chain of command in the National Security Council that exists today."
http://www.cfr.org/publication/18515/remarks_...
For all the misery, death, and destruction this guy's contributed to humanity some Doctor huh?
What James Jones just admitted is prima fascia evidence of treason.
Henry Kissinger is a sociopath and war criminal. Yet Jones gets his daily orders from him?
That is to take our country back..
We can no longer believe a word they speak.
Do you really believe the electronic criminal voting process they have forced on us.
By the electronic process they can pick anyone they wish and this has been proven..
As long as the Global Empire is controlling our news media with persons which are paid by the elitist then the news we receive will be bias , censored and propaganda..
what? is thier finaly the voice of reason comeing to c and l? of course its as i have said and no one listened , the elections are rigged to benifit the repigs and the corporations , and thiers more then one way to rig an election, you can use throw away politicians like mccain and palin, and get a republican lite as obama is elected and then even get liberals to back republican policys!
Remember The women soldier from WVA which stated that she was just following orders. Bush say we would not tolerate this type of treatment to the prisoners.. She said she was just following orders and they still sentence her to jail.
Now we have Bush & Cheney stating of their torture and we find out that his administration planed and ordering torture at a much higher degree and we are not outraged.. And, now Obama is thinking about not prosecuting them.. Change looks as if it came , but it was not in the policies but the person ordering it.
One thing that the Bush's administration did , was to leak their criminal treason , illegal spying , torture and other criminal crimes at a slow rate to get people to except it..
Just imagine hearing the full blast of any one or all of these criminal crimes at once...
So many Americans would have immediately be outraged and called for impeachment & prosecution that this government would not be able to stop them..
But this is the way ""the"" industrial military government is operation now,,, that is leaking the information that gets to Americans ,,, one drop at a time and this is to control the reaction to their crimes to our country and the ECONOMY destruction.
This is also the way our government has let the Global Corporate Empire send our manufacturing plants and jobs overseas ,,,, thousands every month until there are not any left...
Americans would not be in this Economical disaster if we had our manufacturing plants and jobs at home , and they are still leaving our country every day..
How about taking "OUR" tax money to fund the jobs for Americans instead of giving it this Global Empire and foreign countries...
Global corporations have become to d... big and they are the problem and why is Obama and our government feeding their crimes.
I believe in helping people and it should start at "HOME".
Check this sick torture vid:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcl-uofCzRc
At this point, perhaps Obama would be wise to allow the international community to handle the prosecutions. He could keep his hands clean and potentially avoid a bloody and messy civil war in this country.
But there does need to be an investigation and prosecutions here as well. Like I said above. I think he needs to be forced in to it.
That way the GOPers can't bitch too much about it.
the other day, on ed schultz...
a caller, a black man, said "he can't do what needs to be done from a box".
president obama HAS to be very very careful.
(what needs done includes finance, health care, education, climate...)
certainly , let the whole flucking world do obamas job hes not willing to do, ! wouldnt want folks to see obama as a being soft on faschisim!
here is an article,
which they,
the bush administration used,
to try and ok the use of Torture, and also assassination,
for the "wartime" president in power. Check this website out,
and read for yourself, what they have done.
http://zfacts.com/p/100.html
is not everything yet.
you want to see the names of the neocons who put our young men and women in Iraq even before 9/11?
on that very same website, you will find also,
why we invaded Iraq, and also who put us there even before
Bush's Weapons of mass destruction, and the leaking of that CIA operative..
names of neocons...
here you go:
http://zfacts.com/p/775.html
like on this website, with videos right here:
http://www.leadingtowar.com/mechanism_war_man...
How can the new govt under Obama not go after Bush ,Cheney and the rest of the administration and not be held to task for war crimes, financial crimes etc. after causing so much devestation around the world.This is why he won the election in the first place.I dont see much hope for North America if the status quo remains the same , shame on all of us.
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