In an effort to appease the far left base of the Democratic Party, Barack Obama released details of the enhanced interrogation program which was responsible for preventing a 9/11 style terrorist attack in LA. I guess they’ve all completely forgotten about 9/11/01. They’re either suffering from collective amnesia or all they care about is politics. My money is on the latter. What a disgrace!
They had to know that releasing details of waterboarding terrorists who want to blow up Americans would inflame their base. Forcing Americans to use lightbulbs that could kill us is perfectly acceptable, so it’s only natural that protecting us from terrorists is shameful in their minds.
When Barack Obama said he wanted to leave the past behind he had to have anticipated the reaction of his most avid supporters and fundraisers. True to form, once the base howled Obama made an about-face and said he’s open to investigations of former Bush administration officials who approved the program.
The Wall Street Journal notes that by “inviting the prosecution of Bush officials for their anti-terror legal advice, President Obama has injected a poison into our politics that he and the country will live to regret.”
Policy disputes, often bitter, are the stuff of democratic politics. Elections settle those battles, at least for a time, and Mr. Obama’s victory in November has given him the right to change policies on interrogations, Guantanamo, or anything on which he can muster enough support. But at least until now, the U.S. political system has avoided the spectacle of a new Administration prosecuting its predecessor for policy disagreements. This is what happens in Argentina, Malaysia or Peru, countries where the law is treated merely as an extension of political power.
If this analogy seems excessive, consider how Mr. Obama has framed the issue. He has absolved CIA operatives of any legal jeopardy, no doubt because his intelligence advisers told him how damaging that would be to CIA morale when Mr. Obama needs the agency to protect the country. But he has pointedly invited investigations against Republican legal advisers who offered their best advice at the request of CIA officials.
This is so offensive, even John McCain – who has openly criticized the Bush administration on this subject – came out and said that this sort of witch hunt would turn the United States into a banana republic. Even worse, Congress was well aware of the interrogation techniques. According to Rep. Peter Hoekstra, any investigation shouldn’t be limited to the Bush administration.
Members of Congress calling for an investigation of the enhanced interrogation program should remember that such an investigation can’t be a selective review of information, or solely focus on the lawyers who wrote the memos, or the low-level employees who carried out this program. I have asked Mr. Blair to provide me with a list of the dates, locations and names of all members of Congress who attended briefings on enhanced interrogation techniques.
Any investigation must include this information as part of a review of those in Congress and the Bush administration who reviewed and supported this program. To get a complete picture of the enhanced interrogation program, a fair investigation will also require that the Obama administration release the memos requested by former Vice President Dick Cheney on the successes of this program.
An honest and thorough review of the enhanced interrogation program must also assess the likely damage done to U.S. national security by Mr. Obama’s decision to release the memos over the objections of Mr. Panetta and four of his predecessors. Such a review should assess what this decision communicated to our enemies, and also whether it will discourage intelligence professionals from offering their frank opinions in sensitive counterterrorist cases for fear that they will be prosecuted by a future administration.
Perhaps we need an investigation not of the enhanced interrogation program, but of what the Obama administration may be doing to endanger the security our nation has enjoyed because of interrogations and other antiterrorism measures implemented since Sept. 12, 2001.
I couldn’t agree more. We’ve already seen that appeasing the lunatic fringe of the Democratic party is high on the list of the democrats’ priorities. Soon we’ll find out how high.
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