President Obama has declassified several documents from the C.I.A. verifying the use of torture. He said he would hold no body accountable at present. Not the agents who claim they were just following orders. Not even the Co-authors of the memo's.
He is doing well so far, I wholly admit that. Letting the former administration get away with inhumane treatment of prisoners is however, negligent and possibly illegal. My concern is, that if he doesn't move on this, he technically could be left holding the bag. Closing your eyes will not make this go away.
It is a huge task. Many would fall. The Bush Administration will go through history with an asterisk. It would be looked at possibly as a new type of McCarthyism, but this time with variates; truth, evidence, and confessions on tape. Cheney is not only defending these methods, he is insisting that lives were saved. Water boarding 6 times a day was the only way.
My belief is that war is ugly enough. It dehumanizes. Torture is excessive and unreliable. Good interrogation should be sufficient. The truth is you roll the dice one way or another when you get intelligence from your p.o.w. You have to draw the line somewhere. We created Guantanamo for one purpose. We should acknowledge that. We as citizens need to account for that.
We need to uphold the Geneva convention. We should hold those who endorsed these philosophies accountable. Bring them in and let them be judged. We did it in Yugoslavia, we insisted on it in Iraq, are we above the law? I believe we are afraid of being found guilty, and then have to admit it to the world. It's quite a scar to carry around. Being brought to the Hague for a war crimes tribunal may not be on your mind, but know this, if we do not act, they might. Spain is already plotting a suit for our torturing one of their own.
It is a judgment as to the kind of person you are. Would you literally do anything to win? I think it really boiled down to that.
Mr. President I beseech you. Look into your soul, and ask yourself, if the C.I.A. came into your office saying they knew someone had information about a plot to be carried out in the next month and he is not cooperating would you condone any means necessary? Would you take some time to weigh it out? Would you deny the use of extreme interrogation? If you would choose the latter Mr. President, then your path should be clear. It will not be easy. On the contrary, It could be the end of your political career.
Would you sacrifice yourself for the good of the many or the few?
Are you a politician first or patriot?
This sir, is why I believe, the President must stand alone, and it is lonely.
"Our time of standing pat,of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions-- that time has surely passed."
(President Barak Obama's inaugural address, January 20, 2009)
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