Pres. Obama is hoping that we're goddamn idiots out here, still cowed by talk of 9-11
Last edited Fri Aug 1, 2014, 07:51 PM - Edit history (2)
. . .who knows? He may be right.
In his remarks today, he takes his first stab at explaining away the Bush-era tortures - as if there was some national imperative that we excuse away renditions and torture.
from the National Journal:
Obama addressed post-9/11 America in remarks about the Central Intelligence Agency. "We tortured some folks," he said. "We did some things that were contrary to our values. I understand why it happened. I think it's important when we look back to recall how afraid people were after the Twin Towers fell, and the Pentagon had been hit, and a plane in Pennsylvania had fallen and people did not know whether more attacks were imminent and there was enormous pressure on our law enforcement and our national security teams to try to deal with this."
He continued: "A lot of those folks were working hard and under enormous pressure, and are real patriots. But having said all that, we did some things that were wrong." The president also said that he has "full confidence" in CIA Director John Brennan, despite the agency admitting this week that it had hacked Senate computers.
Is that the best he can do . . . mouth the same mind-numbing drivel about 9-11 and terror that Bush and his cronies used to deflect blame and accountability from their anti-constitutional abuses?
The findings that he's deflecting blame from on behalf of the Bush administration aren't the product of anything he's done. They're the work of a diligent and thorough Senate investigatory committee which his CIA did everything in their power to slow and conceal.
What about CIA Chief Brennan's attempts to intimidate and discredit the investigators of that report he's explaining away? All of this 'confidence he's falling all over himself to heap on Brennan ignores the amazing and absolutely damning admission by his CIA director that he had, in fact, engaged in surveillance of the very Senate committee which produced the report he's referring to and, incredibly, lifted documents related to their investigation of his agency right out of their computers.
Not only did Brennan spy on the committee staffers, his agency lawyers tried to have the staffers arrested for possessing critical documents obtained through the procedure the CIA had insisted on.
We don't need lectures from Pres. Obama about the dangers of 9-11. Aside from the killings perpetrated by bin-Laden and his accomplices, real and serious damage was done to America in the way that Bush, Cheney, Tenant, and others took advantage of the nation's fears and embarked on a mission to tear down decades of civil liberties and privacy protections of American citizens; and embarked on an opportunistic war of aggression in Iraq which created even more individuals bent on harming the U.S. and our interests.
Refusing to seek prosecution for the Bush-era torture and rendition abuses amounts to retroactive approval, no matter what lip service he offers us about his objections; no matter how many times he says the word torture with concern and consternation; no matter how the word 'patriots' falls from his lips like some papal absolution.
We should have expected more from the Bush White House. Understanding of the stakes for our nation didn't begin years after Bush stood on that pile of rubble and humanity and declared that he intended to commit our nation to his reckless intention to flail out with our military forces like a frightened animal. Most of us recognized right away that care and caution was required to set the nation right again.
We can judge for ourselves where President Obama has reversed the vestiges of Bush and Cheney's opportunistic militarism (we can certainly give him credit for the killing of bin Laden), or determine for ourselves whether or not he has adopted or co-opted planks of Bush's 'terror war.'
Bush traveled to New York's 'Ground Zero' looking for a pile of rubble and a bullhorn to elevate himself and talk down to us from some lofty perch. In his statement at the signing of the "anti-terrorism," Patriot Act, in October 2001, six weeks after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, President Bush claimed that the measure would counter the threat of enemies that "recognize no barrier of morality and have no conscience." He sought to assure that the measure "upheld and respected the civil liberties guaranteed by our Constitution." He pledged to enforce the law with "all of the urgency of a nation at war."
However, Bush neglected to tell us which war he was referring to. The anti-terrorism measure was cobbled together in a few short months to take political advantage of the urge in Congress for a legislative response to the terrorist attacks, despite the president's claim that the bill was "carefully drafted and considered." It was a direct assault on the liberty, privacy, and free expression of all Americans.
From that document came a flood of legislative 'remedies' that would take advantage of the administration's blanket excuse of 'national security' that they and their minions in Congress draped over every stalled piece of legislation that could be remotely tied to their 'war on terror'.
Later in his presidency Bush was desperate to revive and re-animate the demoted specter he had called his "prime suspect" in 2001. He justified his protection scheme in his reelection effort with a series of speeches in which he was methodical and zealous in his elevation of bin-Laden; carefully reciting the most offensive and threatening of the terrorist's statements and dispatches.
Dredging up all of the offensive rhetoric from Bush's 'terror war' is designed to re-inflate those emotions that were so raw right after the horror unfolded; that uncertainty and anxiety which made Americans fold in the face of Bush's consolidation of power.
John Brennan, an intelligence official under George Tenet, lead Barack Obama’s review of intelligence agencies and helped make recommendations to the new administration. Brennan had supported warrantless wiretapping and extraordinary rendition under Bush. It's understandable that he would seek to stifle and obfuscate from anything he and his former employers might have had a hand in.
What's not understandable is why President Obama sees a need to cover for the previous administration - not unless you consider that his own might well have engaged in some of the same abuses. Despite all of the talk from President Obama there have been reports that rendition abuses actually continued under his watch. There are even reports that torture has continued to be a practice on our nation's behalf in other countries where the law or morality permits.
Those are the concerns that Americans should expect this president to address behind this Senate report. We certainly deserve more than cheap propaganda designed to deflect blame from war criminals.
related:
Let's talk a little more about why the CIA was 'spying' on the Senate Intelligence Committee
= new reply since forum marked as read
Should have known that the 
in our party would turn this into something it's not.
No. Better. Than. The. Teabaggers.
and get a smiley from you? You're saying everyone must be as cynical as you, or get dismissed as crazy extremists.
Respect for the law and disgust for those that break the worst of them can hardly be called teabagger values. Quite the opposite in fact.
What is breaking the law if not law breaking since you appear to know what it actually is, please explain to a simple guy that doesn't understand how heroic criminality is, I am dying to learn.
OT - I have been dying to find out something, how long have you been afraid of yourself and why? I only ask out of concern 
comments right here on DU. 
I think it's particularly interesting that you chose those particular websites...
The Israeli military has the right to attack Palestinian hospitals and schools in self defense if Hamas has put rocket launchers next to them, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said last week at a local town hall, according to the Cape Cod Times.
Rule of law my ass. 
as I also do.
few people in the government who'd go along with it, and half the nation would be against it tooth and nail. it's shameful but it's the cold hard reality.
if you did a vague poll saying something like "should people who committed crimes in the Bush administration be held accountable", you'd probably get a majority of americans to vote yes, easily.
if you did a poll spelling it out truthfully; "do you support prosecuting bush and cheney (and rummy and condi) for war crimes and treason, of which the penalty is life imprisonment or death", you wouldn't get a majority voting yes, not even close.
it's a sad reality... 
If this thread didn't draw her out, then where is she?
She seems to have disappeared...
As for the OP, right on. It's a goddamned travesty and a great shame and this will tarnish Obama's legacy as the president who allowed them to get away with it as bush's is tarnished for committing war crimes in the first place.
Obama seemed to do it rather gracefully too. He places blame squarely on the people who should be blamed. He puts it in context and manages to make the accusation seems like it is not a baseless partisan attack while doing so. It is everything the GOP is not capable of. Heck now that we can freely say the government broke the law, it wasn't the right thing to ever do even if we give them credit for the best of intentions (most of us wouldn't even give them that
Now the report will come out. Will the press bury it or will the report generate enough momentum that congress, the DA, someone actually acts. IDK there are too many people out there that will paint any actions as a partisan attack. Inaction seems to be the name of the game today. We all see the government unable to do anything. The GOP has promised this do nothing is to prevent Obama from damaging the nation. How much damage can the lethargic government do before the people stand up and vote for action? I guess we'll know in Nov.
We don't elect Presidents anymore. We elect puppets. Looks to me like he takes his orders from Brennan, instead of the other way around. I guess what we can expect also is that AG Holder will do nothing, like appoint a special prosecutor. I think the only reason he spoke to the Press today was to get out ahead of the storm that's going to happen "next week" when they let go of that report on the CIA's criminal actions.
So. Will Brennan resign? Even if he does, will it make any difference?
Thanks very much for your thoughtful OP. 
and going so far as outing a slew of CIA agents and prosecuting them in public, wouldn't fly with the CIA. At all.
I'd expect the CIA to retaliate against anyone participating in the investigation, maybe even key witnesses running into some "accidents".
I think they've become too powerful, and that there's only so much congress or the president can do to keep them in check, which is bad for the country in serious ways.
The torturing bastards should be prosecuted, but I fear our own government is afraid to go after them, for fear of payback...
I bet the CIA has files\ dirt on every high ranking member of government...
tactics.. you think the CIA is gonna fork over the names of the torturers?
What's even more troubling is the idea that he (and others just like him waiting in the wings) are supposedly the best we can do. That these are the best minds we have to address the tremendous problems we face.
WTF?
- If we're choosing people like this to be our leaders, then we have no right to complain.
K&R
[center]
Don't blame me, I voted for Kucinich.
Ignore those ridiculous accusations
I think I hardly ever agree with you , but you are steadfast in advocating your positions and 'in the bag' for no one
This place is nutz lately
shredding et al have long since been excused away. To wit, let's live only in the present and impeach the president for high crimes and misdemeanors. My God, is this nation not wholly fucked up or what?
