Retired generals meet with Obama to urge a clean break from Bush’s detainee policies.
By on Dec 3rd, 2008 at 10:30 am
Retired generals meet with Obama to urge a clean break from Bush’s detainee policies.
Addressing speculation that he “is unlikely to radically overhaul controversial Bush administration intelligence policies,” President-elect Barack Obama pledged last month to end torture as part of “an effort to regain America’s moral stature in the world.” Today, a dozen retired generals and admirals will meet with Obama’s transition team “to plead for a clean, unequivocal break with the Bush administration’s interrogation, detention and rendition policies.” The officers also want Guantanamo Bay closed, an effort that would force Obama “to decide what to do with inmates who can’t be tried for war crimes yet are deemed too dangerous to be released.”
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One wonders where they were when the guy, who, you know ORDERED the torturing was doing his thing.
December 3rd, 2008 at 10:34 amWhy didn’t they stand up to Bush?
Every government employee signs an oath to uphold the Constitution, they could have used that to have stood up to Bush.
Well, at least it’s going to get better now that we have a commander-in-chief with a functioning brain, and a sense of morality.
December 3rd, 2008 at 10:36 amThink about this.
Military folks despise these practices as much as we do.
They know that our soldiers will be treated the same. They know that our soldiers will spend the rest of their lives living with the memories of what was done these past years. They know that torture isn’t an American value, nor does it belong in any democracy.
The only thing America has won in Iraq is shame & dishonor…
December 3rd, 2008 at 10:39 amThe Bush Administration will be a model for future administrations for what happens when you ignore law. I’ like to see Bush blame this one on “a decade ago.”
December 3rd, 2008 at 10:40 amsherifffruitfly Says:
One wonders where they were when the guy, who, you know ORDERED the torturing was doing his thing.
December 3rd, 2008 at 10:34 am
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It’s a good question. I’m hoping none of these retired generals are the same people the Pentagon used as “Message Force Multipliers” to lie us into Iraq.
December 3rd, 2008 at 10:41 amI’m sure it’s like anything else, these people were kept out of sight and out of mind. It’s not like we’ve not heard dozens of things about these horrible places or seen those photos. It’s gotten out enough time, the difference is the president didn’t care about it.
December 3rd, 2008 at 10:51 amThese “Message Force Multipliers” seem to be trying to crawl out of the slime and enter sainthood now that the reign of terror is coming to an end. Their diagnosis is quite simple, dissociative disorder.
December 3rd, 2008 at 10:56 amWhat right does the US use to try anyone as a war criminal when the war criminals in the US haven’t been, and likely will not be investigated, tried or convicted. Hypocrisy is alive and thriving in the current and incoming Administration.
December 3rd, 2008 at 11:05 amOne wonders where they were when the guy, who, you know ordered the torturing was doing his thing.
Dissent, alternate views, nuanced thinking were all tamped down during the Bush regime. I suspect that Cheney was the main instigator of this “group-think” and wielded a heavy hand in stifling effective policy debate.
This is what I expect will be only one example of the differences we will see between the disastrous Bush years and the Obama administration. Policy will be vigorously debated. Bright and experienced people will have their opinions heard and tested against reality and other critical aspects of the core issues. Decisions will be made by the President based upon broad input and will be articulated and explained effectively. There will be buy-in and competent execution by members of his team. There will be deeper public understanding and appreciation for the chosen direction.
In other words, the difference between the Bush and Obama administrations will be like the difference between night and day.
December 3rd, 2008 at 11:06 amWhat to do with the Gitmo detainees? I say we relocate them to a ranch in Crawford, TX. They’re Bush’s detainees, let him keep them until we figure out what to do with them.
December 3rd, 2008 at 11:17 am“inmates who can’t be tried for war crimes yet are deemed too dangerous to be released.”
The above summation is a typical example of the mindlessness so entrenched in our media. War crimes are formal charges brought and determined by public courts of Law and in accordance with internationally recognized procedures and rights, such as habeas corpus, disclosure and so on.
Gitmo and its military tribunals were and still are utterly illegal under US and international law.
The status of the “inmates”, actually prisoners, as determined by the administrators of Gitmo and its policies have NO STANDING.
The tragic and venal ironies are that by any normal standard the cases against these prisoners are by definition invalid because the manner in which they have been imprisoned and charged was and is illegal and that much if not all of the evidence used against them is and would be inadmissible in any normal court.
Whilst some prisoners could still be legitimately imprisoned, many others that were simply swept up in the Gitmo ‘process’ may now indeed be deemed’dangerous;–but as a result of their treatment by the US and NOT their original condition or ‘crime’.
How then would a normal court proceed? Wouldn’t the continued incarceration of such unfortunate ‘innocents’ actually validate these illegal actions by the US? Which greater good would be served by keeping prisoner dangerous individuals that may have been MADE dangerous by the Gitmo process–the public safety or the rule of law?
IMHO all the prisoners should be provided due process in public US courts, and if the cases against them can;t be made by due process, then tough titties for the Pentagon and the Bush administration. If anyone released then comes back for revenge then we will simply have to deal with the consequences of our government’s illegal and immoral actions—we always do anyway.
And let me add, upholding in even the slightest degree the ‘Gitmo Process’ will be and already is sufficient cause and motivation for others still abroad to justify continued attacks against the US at home or overseas, against its citizens, its ‘interests’ and its property.
Eliminating Gitmo and more importantly, publicly condemning the policies that created it AND prosecuting those involved to whatever extent is possible wouldn’t end terrorism against the US and its allies, of course, but it would mitigate at least one motivation and that would be a step in the right direction.
December 3rd, 2008 at 11:26 amWith a cadre of warmongers he needs constant reminder of the ill of bush ways.
December 3rd, 2008 at 11:30 amI don’t think he needs much urging to undo Bush’s criminal activities.
December 3rd, 2008 at 11:53 ambushie wants dems to be as bad as the republicans. Sorry, the republicans own this nightmare, including the economy. Hang it around your neck like a chicken. Wear it, own it.
America would not be where it is today without he criminal gop, that is your legacy.
December 3rd, 2008 at 11:54 amI’d like to read about a concret plan – step by step guide for the vast majority of the country who would like to see bush/chaney and the other monsters locked up for life! The World will not respect the United States of America until we prosecute these murderes.
December 3rd, 2008 at 12:10 pmThe officers also want Guantanamo Bay closed, an effort that would force Obama “to decide what to do with inmates who can’t be tried for war crimes yet are deemed too dangerous to be released.”
December 3rd, 2008 at 1:24 pmHeck of a job, Chimpy. People who can’t be tried because they were tortured and abused so all the evidence is inadmissible. We’ll probably have to just set them free. Another lesson for a world that didn’t need the lesson that this is what happens when you throw out the laws and just do your own thing. Stupid bastards.
If the generals would just grab him!
December 3rd, 2008 at 2:03 pmA Patriot Acting Says:
What to do with the Gitmo detainees? I say we relocate them to a ranch in Crawford, TX. They’re Bush’s detainees, let him keep them until we figure out what to do with them.
I just can’t agree with this idea as it would be an example of torture that the US should not be doing.
December 3rd, 2008 at 2:46 pmhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J19uEOrO7go
Here’s an interview with an author of a book about the torture under this administration. She discusses the CIA being put in charge of interrogation and the FBI refusing to participate in torture. She points out that there were people who were appropriately horrified all along.
I think those people should be highly encouraged to come forward now. It’s not fair to demand heroism from people, and they were in the belly of a very ugly beast.
Roughly 28% of the U.S. population would still crucify them for coming out. It’s a sad fact that a much larger percentage of the U.S. would have crucified them before. Surely they were painfully aware that they had few allies in the press. In the interview, the author explains that the only reason she was able to get so many interviews was because the New Yorker gave journalists a lot of time to investigate.
December 3rd, 2008 at 4:36 pm