Yesterday, I treated this new Newsweek report that Eric Holder is "leaning toward appointing a prosecutor to investigate the Bush administration's brutal interrogation practices" as something to celebrate. But new facts about what that investigation would entail and, more importantly, would exclude -- facts added by today's Washington Post -- strongly suggest it's the opposite. At least if that article is to be believed -- and it seems clear that Holder dispatched his allies to leak his plans in order to gauge reaction -- the investigation will only target "rogue" CIA interrogators who exceeded the limits of what John Yoo authorized, and would not include high-level policy makers who authorized the torture tactics and implemented America's torture regime ... [my em]
Let's see. In my book, any 'authorization' Yoo gave went far beyond the limits of the Constitution and Geneva Conventions to begin with. It wasn't just 'a few bad apples'. The entire bushel was rotten to the core:
...
But just as was true for the Abu Ghraib abuses, many of the worst instances of detainee abuse cannot be extricated from -- but rather are directly attributable to -- the torture policies authorized at the highest levels of the government. To target low-level interrogators while shielding high-level policy makers would further bolster America's two-tiered system of justice, in which ordinary Americans are subjected to merciless punishment while the most powerful elites are vested with virtual immunity from the consequences of their lawbreaking ...
Once again, those at the top will skate when it was their cowardly bed wetting after 9/11 (and the realization of the potential profits) that created the culture we saw in Abu Ghraib, Gitmo, and the secret CIA gulags in Eastern Europe. It wasn't 'rogue operators' who set these things up. arranged the funding, staffing, and logistics; that came from the top.
I put this in the same category as I do health care. If the Obama administration doesn't want to do it right, they shouldn't even bother because the results will be worse than we have now. We all voted for Obama and the Dems because they promised change. Since he's been in the White House, the places change was needed the most have remained status quo.
Does he think his novelty and intellect alone will restore America's credibility in the world after two terms of Bush? Does he think his daughters will charm everyone into respecting us again? Like the majority of U.S. citizens, those around the world are looking to us for change and inspiration.
As we saw in Africa this weekend, millions of people welcomed the message of hope and dedication he brought them. He told them they must prosecute their war criminals and end governmental corruption, yet Mr. Obama is unwilling to do that back home. Let me tell you, even the most downtrodden, hopeless, and desperate people understand hypocrisy when they see it. If you're inclined to lecture others about cleaning their houses, you might want to get out the broom yourself.
No change will come anywhere until Obama authorizes full and complete investigations into what went on during the Bush years. Giving inspirational speeches abroad and spouting platitudes at home won't cut it, not so long as the cover up of abuses continues.
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