Without Prosecution of Bush Officials, Obama Legacy 'Forever Poisoned'

[ghostsinthemachine]

Human Rights Watch offers legal blueprint for prosecuting architects of CIA torture program
by
Sarah Lazare, staff writer
17 Comments

The U.S. has acknowledged that it engaged in torture, that it operated a program whereby it abducted men from around the world, put them in secret detention, and tortured them," said Laura Pitter, senior national security counsel for Human Rights Watch. (Photo: Brian Stauffer/Human Rights Watch)The U.S. has acknowledged that it engaged in torture, that it operated a program whereby it abducted men from around the world, put them in secret detention, and tortured them," said Laura Pitter, senior national security counsel for Human Rights Watch. (Photo: Brian Stauffer/Human Rights Watch)

With just a year left in office, President Barack Obama must launch a full criminal investigation of former President George W. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, and all U.S. officials behind the CIA torture program—and provide redress to its victims—Human Rights Watch (HRW) demanded Tuesday.

"It's been a year since the Senate torture report, and still the Obama administration has not opened new criminal investigations into CIA torture," said Kenneth Roth, executive director of HRW. "Without criminal investigations, which would remove torture as a policy option, Obama’s legacy will forever be poisoned."

In making a legal case for such a criminal probe, HRW took direct aim at Obama's repeated refusal to pursue criminal investigations into CIA torture. In 2012, the administration closed its inquiry into the whether the CIA torture program involved criminal conduct, with then attorney general Eric Holder claiming there was insufficient evidence for prosecution.

This refusal persisted despite Obama's infamous admission in August 2014, "We tortured some folks."

"The U.S. has acknowledged that it engaged in torture, that it operated a program whereby it abducted men from around the world, put them in secret detention, and tortured them," Laura Pitter, senior national security counsel for HRW, said in a video

MORE HERE: http://commondreams.org/news/2015/12/01/without-prosecution-bush-officials-obama-legacy-forever-poisoned

[JoePhilly]

1. Common Dreams claims Obama's legacy is forever destroyed about every ...

... other month.

They need to get a new schtick.

[Xipe Totec]

3. +1 nt

[MohRokTah]

7. +2 eom

[BlueCaliDem]

21. +3

Communist Common Dreams has become a joke.

I liked them back in 2001, but they got a little too radical for my taste and I just couldn't stomach their site any longer.

[KingCharlemagne]

39. When U.S. service man and women fall into enemy hands and are tortured, I

will dust off and repost your comment about 'schtick'.

[JoePhilly]

40. Then I guess you should pray real hard for that to happen.

[KingCharlemagne]

42. Letting torture go unpunished guarantees it will happen. No prayer

necessary. Your comment will, however,be remembered.

[JoePhilly]

44. You going to put it on my permenant record?

I love your sanctimonious pronouncements.

[KingCharlemagne]

45. The torture will be on your hands. Own it - nt

[JoePhilly]

48. Oh noes.

The baptist ministers I encountered as a kid have nothing on you.

[merrily]

2. We are party to a treaty that, I believe, requires prosecution. Domestic law may as well.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Convention_against_Torture

However, I would not bank on Obama's legacy being destroyed. ACA enacted; DOMA gone and equal rights for gays pretty much constitutionally established; first African American President, etc.

[Old Codger]

4. Actually Obama

Has not stood by the oath of office he swore to uphold the constitution and the law. By not enforcing the laws of the united states he is guilty of malfeasance .... If the laws were enforced he could be tried also...

bush and cheney have both admitted to the charges if that is not enough evidence for the justice department then any and all confessions should be thrown out

[Feeling the Bern]

24. Jury Results

On Tue Dec 1, 2015, 09:35 PM an alert was sent on the following post:

Actually Obama
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=7401631

REASON FOR ALERT

This post is disruptive, hurtful, rude, insensitive, over-the-top, or otherwise inappropriate.

ALERTER'S COMMENTS

If you can't see why this should be hidden, you on the wrong website

You served on a randomly-selected Jury of DU members which reviewed this post. The review was completed at Tue Dec 1, 2015, 09:39 PM, and the Jury voted 2-5 to LEAVE IT.

Juror #1 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: No explanation given
Juror #2 voted to HIDE IT
Explanation: There's no case for malfeasance to support the claims in the first paragraph.
Juror #3 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: No explanation given
Juror #4 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: I don't respond well to ultimatums. Leave. Nyuk nyuk.
Juror #5 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: Swooners never like anything critical of Obama. Instead of hitting alert, state your case in the thread.
Juror #6 voted to HIDE IT
Explanation: Yeah. . .took 3000 posts to show poster's hand. Free Republic is easy to find in search engine. I suggest you look it up with views like yours.
Juror #7 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: Refute it then.

Thank you very much for participating in our Jury system, and we hope you will be able to participate again in the future.

[Old Codger]

25. Malfeasance

law : illegal or dishonest activity especially by a public official or a corporation

I have said this before and it applies equally to any and all government agents who are charged with upholding the laws of our land the constitution and andy and all legally binding treaties we have entered into...

None of them should be above the law or immune to prosecution.We are either a land of laws that apply to all equally or we are not.

Of course we all know we are not..

[DisgustipatedinCA]

34. According to the idiot who alerted, most of the jury shouldn't be on this site.

[KingCharlemagne]

41. +Infinity! - nt

[Rex]

5. I disagree.

Congress could have stepped in any time during Bush's 8 years of terror. They chose to stay quiet.

[Old Codger]

6. That does not

excuse anything at all only makes then accessories after the fact

[Rex]

19. Nancy Pelosi had the chance and she dropped the ball to play nice with the Pukes.

You can blame the POTUS, but I blame the people that did NOTHING in 2000 and started this entire mess rolling down hill.

[BlueCaliDem]

22. I LOVE that Obama-in-a-Tank gif! Hahahaha!

I too blame the people who dropped the ball and whined that Gore and Bush are the same - then turned and voted Nader (as if he had a snowball's chance in Hades to win).

I had long debates with self-proclaimed Democrats on CompuServe and AOL (before they were bought out) political chatrooms who supported Nader, and I actually had to remind them that he's never been elected to office on any level...so what in his arrogance allowed him to believe he could run for the White House?

Then I later discovered that Nader's bid in 2000 and in 2004 were funded by the same money-backers behind Bush! It was then I understood that Nader was a panw; funded in order to weaken Al Gore - and, sadly, it worked.

[Rex]

29. I go back to folks that still would vote for Reagan, they have me worried their kids

will grow up thinking he was Jesus Rambo. Yeah never bought that Both Parties crap and I cringe when people like Jon Stewart panders to the mass media for the betterment of the cable channel owners.

Lot of blame to float around over the past decades, Bush in 2000 was when the toilet flushed imo. I remember the AOHELL days, those rooms were god aweful with people spam trolling faster than anyone else could type. They had to get moderators lol. Fuck AOHELL and their coasters.

Once again 2000 was Congress dropping the ball, I don't care which group others want to blame. When the rubber hit the road the SCOTUS stood up and the cowards in Congress didn't make a peep. A few did. Too few and far in between. And I think we were all talking about back then how fucking depressing it was that these fucked up dracionian laws would carry over for term after term. Nobody cared, they played fast and loose with global warfare and our civil rights.

I don't think the POTUS came in to change any of that, I think he barely saved the planet from an ecomonic meltdown. Congress has sat on it's collective ass and done nothing to address what is by law their responsibility. They are next to worthless, some jewels in a pile of cow manure.

And I like Nancy Pelosi, I think she is one of the best...but dam and how people crap on HRC over IWR and I am not happy about it either introduce me to anyone that is. We are all fucked worse as a whole by the shitstorm Bush/Cheney created. Let us never forget how much they destabilized the world. Just like Nixon and Reagan.

IMO Gore, Nadar and even people like Mc Cain and Palin, Rove are nothing, little bugs on the radar. The real nation makers are Charles and David Koch, Sheldon Adelson, Robert Mercer...the elite slime like Murdoch that keeps the hate train running. They will do anything to get a GOPer elected.

And the stakes are higher now.

[BlueCaliDem]

38. I had voted for Reagan in '84. I was young and a political neophyte and based my vote on my father's

adoration of the man when he was governor of California. I would NEVER vote for Reagan again. EVER.

Even after all these years, it still pains me to know that my vote helped a corrupt president begin the destruction of the United States. I have to live with that shame each and every day. It's why I raised my children as Liberal Democrats, and am heading a political study group of 38 more Millennials to steer clear of the Republican Party no matter how nice they sound when they campaign. I have a lot to make up for.

Debating and discussion political issues with my core group of Millennials is not that hard to do. I just point to the disastrous Bush years and they can see it all for themselves. At least in that, Bush's presidency was useful. His presidency and the catastrophe his misleadership caused this country is the prime example why NO ONE should ever vote Republican again.

I like Nancy Pelosi. Aside from the fact that she's been the first female and most successful Speaker of the House in history, she worked very hard to help President Obama usher in as many of his policies as possible. Were it not for the moderate Dems in the Senate, those 440 bills that died in that chamber would've become law, and this country would've been better for it.

I did blame Hillary Clinton for her vote for the AUMF Against Iraq and because of it, I couldn't support nor vote for her in the 2008 primaries. However, she has since apologized and worked with President Obama to build up the broken relationships we suffered with our allies, and that's good enough for me. This time around, she will have our support and our vote. IMO, she paid her dues and then some. I'm not a sadist to believe she should get the political death penalty. She's suffered humiliation for that vote (although I now understand why she did it, being Senator of the State that got hit on 9/11), she's had to watch the presidency that was within her reach go to another, and she's done the time building bridges with allies abroad. Now we need to move on.

IMO Gore, Nadar and even people like Mc Cain and Palin, Rove are nothing, little bugs on the radar. The real nation makers are Charles and David Koch, Sheldon Adelson, Robert Mercer...the elite slime like Murdoch that keeps the hate train running. They will do anything to get a GOPer elected.

Repealing Citizens United should be the number one issue Americans need to cast their vote for in this presidential election.

In order for that to happen, we need to come out in strong numbers and vote straight Democratic ticket in all elections in order to gain back power in Congress and to retain the White House. Otherwise, there's no way we'll ever get rid of the power of the Kochs and Adelsons buying our government.

We need someone in the White House who can actually work with Congress to undo this mess; someone who has the strong relationship with members of Congress that's necessary to get congressional Dems to fight to get a bill through that would get rid of Citizens United once and for all. And we need a Democratic president who can get justices like President Bill Clinton's nominees, Bader-Ginsberg and Breyer, to fill the rumored four to five seats that will become vacant on SCOTUS in the next decade.

Scalia and Kennedy are two that will most likely retire or keel-over in their seats. Justice Ruth Bader-Ginsberg and Justice Stephen Breyer are another two. We cannot afford to have a Republican in the White House to fill these powerful, lifetime positions on the highest court of our land. We need to bring the balance back to progressive if we ever hope to repeal Citizens United.

Among other issues, the above are the main reasons why I and my group are supporting and will be voting for Hillary Clinton. She will actually be able to get things done.

[Rex]

50. I look forward to the next Dem POTUS.

I always vote straight ticket.

[Old Codger]

26. yep

And she didn't, doesn't make any of it right...

[Rex]

30. Nothings been right since 2000.

Country went out the window.

[KingCharlemagne]

43. Since 1981 - nt

[BlueCaliDem]

46. Bernie Sanders was against impeaching Bush. He believed it was "impractical".

Sanders scuttled any action on a wave of Bush impeachment resolutions that swept Vermont towns in 2006. Like House Majority Leader-to-be Nancy Pelosi, who has promised not to impeach Bush, Sanders argued that "impeachment was impractical", and that activists should put energy into electing Democrats.
http://socialistworker.org/2006-2/610/610_11_BernieSanders.shtml

How do you feel about your support for Sanders now? Dislike him as much as you do Nancy Pelosi for taking impeachment off the table now? Or does he get special leave?

[leveymg]

8. Let's stop pretending that Law applies to men surrounded by guns

It's a gang with nuclear weapons. Nobody polices them.

[hedda_foil]

33. Change that to nobody polices the gang with nuclear weapons since JFK and I'll agree with you.

[JEB]

9. Legacy of the USA tarnished forever without prosecution.

I guess that is fine with some folks here.

[GGJohn]

10. I disagree.

President Obama will go down in history as one of the greatest American Presidents ever.

History will be very kind to him, he was the right person at the exact right time, he literally saved the country from financial disaster and brought us back from the brink, he got the ACA passed, he's protected the country from a terrorist attack, he eliminated Bin Ladin, etc.

[BlueCaliDem]

23. Hear! Hear!

Excellent post.

[Old Codger]

27. As per my above post

I do not make any claims at all that he isn't and or hasn't been a pretty damn good president, I voted for him both times and would again... BUT I am not a blind sheep following the herd, bush should have been impeached he and his regime were and are guilty of many crimes overall and should be standing trial at the Hague or should have already been tried...

[KingCharlemagne]

47. +Infinity! - nt

[Octafish]

11. What leveymg and HERBLOCK said.

[Docreed2003]

12. Let's just play out this theory...

While I agree that Bush and Cheney should be charged and punished for the crimes they committed, how exactly would this have played out? Let's say on the first day in office, President Obama launched an investigation, while the country was still in the midst of a financial calamity and groups of lawmakers were meeting and agreeing to fight Pres Obama on every single turn to ensure he was a one term president. Given how virulently racism has reared its head openly in this country over the past 7 years, and the anti-Obama sentiment from day one, how would a full court press indictment of the prior administration have been received nationally? Would there have been broad support and minimal blowback? I think not. It's very easy for those of us within the left echochamber to chastise this administration for not pursuing legal action against the Bush administration. While that would have certainly been a noble and righteous undertaking, I firmly believe that the power brokers behind the curtains pulled that rug out from under Pres Obama long before the inauguration. Had he pushed for a sweeping investigation, none of the legislative accomplishments would have even seen the light of day, and he certainly would have been a one term president. Instead, the "for the betterment of the country" card was played and everything was swept under the rug. I can't fault him for making that decision, because I can only imagine what pressure he faced to make that decision. Given the ongoing revelations from the CIA et al regarding torture and the decisions that led to war in Iraq, perhaps one day there will be justice, but I fear that will never happen, not because Pres Obama didn't seek it, but because the power brokers behind the scenes will never allow the veil to be pulled back exposing their true nature and exploits

[MoggyMedley]

13. Whoever has the goods on the politicians

can control them, whether for 'good' or ill.

[Docreed2003]

16. Truth...nt

[brush]

15. I agree with your post, and would add . . .

the president wouldn't have even made it to the end of his first term if he had prosecuted Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice, et al.

We've seen it before.

[Docreed2003]

17. I didn't want to go there...

But I think you're absolutely correct

[Old Codger]

28. I fully agree

He did what he had to do to get us past a horrendous time in our history, the prosecution of bush and gang should have been initiated before he was sworn in by the other responsible parties...

Considering what he has put up with at every turn he has done a stupendous job and I am sure history will remember him well....I know I will

[Stardust]

32. I'm sad to say I agree with you.

[KingCharlemagne]

49. A good and thoughtful post. Plus, keep in mind that there is NO STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS ON

MURDER and several detainees died from homicide while in U.S. detention.

[wildbilln864]

14. k & freaking r! thanks. n/t

[CharlotteVale]

18. K&R

[OnyxCollie]

20. Indefinite detention/assassination of US citizens are part of Obama's "legacy", too. nt

[Scruffy1]

31. At the time I was disappointed.

But then, over the years I realized that probably any attempt at prosecution of these criminals would end up being counter productive. We can't spend our lives looking backwards, and the time and political capital involved might have completely destroyed the Presidency. I have my gripes against the Obama administration, but he has remained level headed and been a voice of reason.
A wild man like me would make a lousy POTUS.

[akbacchus_BC]

35. This post is so one sided, really! You all want President Obama to clean up the Bush mess?

And why is President Obama accountable for Bush invasion of Iraq? Please enlighten me.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

36. Does the fact that Obama got elected

and immediately put a stop to it not mean anything to CD?

[Scuba]

37. How sanctimonious.