What are we going to do about it?
Water boarding is torture!
FYI: United States number one law enforcement officer, Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. stated before the world during confirmation testimony, the most telling words; “Water boarding is torture!” The Republican Congressional Delegation proceeded to hold up the confirmation vote on him for no legitimate reason other than discerning if that meant pursuing former administration officials in some partisan witch-hunt. In interviews, the Obama administration has put forth the perspective of moving forward re-modeling a new America with the same ideals developed by the creators of the already great although presently rocky union.
There is some legitimate rational for that position. Immediate questions are raised, why waste the nation’s resources at this point in time when we are in such a precarious state of affairs what with the economic collapse, worldwide recession, still no solution as to a reasonable approach to the real estate dilemma and two wars ongoing. The rationale can be pushed for by parties uninterested in partisan ownership for any of the above, no matter that their party is responsible for much of it generally speaking and the opposition as much for allowing it to happen and not doing all they possibly could have to prevent at least one of the events listed above from becoming the reality that is our broken down America today. We as a people cannot ignore the fact that we are at war and it costs us money. We as a people definitely have something wrong with our financial system and apparently it has taken down or at the very least, had some negative impact around the world. That is not including the impact of the Bernie Madoffs to date or those yet to be discovered.
So, an honest pause may be given as to the expense of pursuing an investigation to determine if there were crimes that were committed or not. However, that is not the case presently as we know it to be. There are now some known factors publicly stated one given in testimony before the country’s legislative body on camera before the world; the second, which actually came first by the former Vice President, Dick Cheney: “I was aware of the program, certainly, and involved in helping get the process cleared,” Cheney said in an interview with ABC News.
Asked whether he still believes it was appropriate to use the waterboarding method on terrorism suspects, Cheney said: “I do.” Then the answer to a question that the previous presidential administration felt could be modified to fit the moment or the enemy. The statement, that 3 detainees had been water-boarded, once that statement was made, the next question, whether or not it was illegal, was answered by our now number one legal officer; the Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. “I cannot assume that was the only option, as it should never be considered legally as an option to begin with”.
That means we the people had representatives of our nation wearing our country’s seal on a card somewhere on their person, an American flag, uniform or diplomatic portfolio pick up people around the world in any manner we deemed appropriate, presented information true or otherwise as to their status as enemy combatants knowingly to gain illegally obtained approval to invade another country by false declaration of war in association with the 9/11 attacks. That over four thousand Americans can never again decide if they can move forward with this price as citizens of this great country, is just be beginning. We may be yet find that we can rise to the occasion and fix the mess we are in, but if we won’t find out whether or not people died because of crimes were committed, how can we know what needs to be cleaned up? We need to know in order not to repeat them again. “Those who don’t know the past are condemned to repeat it.”
We know that the former President, George W Bush, stated several times in press conferences: “We are the United States of America, and we don’t torture!” We know the Vice President contradicted that in the ABC News interview, stating methods were discussed and what he had encouraged because those in the field wanted to know how far they could go. We know that is a crime alone, without covering wiretapping, Valerie Flame, the false Niger yellowcake uranium claim, and alleged links to Al Qaeda to go to war. That any and all information that was obtained in such a way to bring question to the ethics and principles this country’s reputation was built on is beyond treason. It questions the veracity of any and all claims of honor and integrity. The blood of our brave citizens and the lost of our treasury demand that we know how this came to be. That investigation alone should be pursued to what ends the truth will bear and legal actions our country soul must bear. This may not be a feel good moment to move forward from until we found out just how bad we have been as this is our America hell or high water. So this is a crime, what are we going to do about it? Better yet, what does it mean to President Barack Obama? How about the Democrats and Republicans on that “need to know list” when this came out? Where was the opposition outrage in the very least, or true bipartisan American outrage for the lost of over 4 thousand of our own based on lies and deceit?
© 2009, agentleman. All rights reserved.
