Feingold: White House is Whistling Past Afghan Graveyard
By Jeremy Scahill
July 24, 2009
In the halls of Congress, Afghanistan remains the "good war," though little by little, legislators are speaking out and a handful are standing up. In June thirty House Democrats voted against continued funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It was a rare moment when the collective votes of the small number of antiwar legislators mattered--indeed, the bill almost failed. That was due in large part to the fact that Republicans overwhelmingly opposed the bill because a massive bailout for the International Monetary Fund was attached to the spending measure. Consequently, the White House needed to persuade some of the antiwar Democrats to vote with the president instead of with their conscience or their constituents. The White House feverishly lobbied the Hill and threatened some freshmen representatives with not campaigning for them in 2010 if they did not switch their votes in favor of the war-funding bill, which narrowly passed. The Senate, however, is a much bleaker landscape when it comes to opposing the expansion of the war in Afghanistan--as Feingold's lonely dissent underscores. In May Feingold was one of just three senators--and the only Democrat--to vote against a $91 billion war spending bill.On a wide range of issues that Feingold has hammered away at for years, the senator finds himself confronting a Democratic president for whom he campaigned. Some of the Bush-era policies that Feingold passionately opposed are now Obama's policies. To Feingold's credit, the change in administrations has clearly not altered his core principles. Since January 20 Feingold has pressed the Obama administration on Bush-era policies that are either being continued or expanded under Obama.
In a May 22 letter to Obama, Feingold expressed concern over the president's suggestion that the United States can engage in indefinite detentions, saying such a practice "violates basic American values and is likely unconstitutional." In the same letter, Feingold said Obama's policy could set "the stage for future Guantánamos, whether on our shores or elsewhere." While the Obama administration has continued to defend the warrantless wiretapping program in various court cases, Feingold has hounded the president to "formally" oppose the program, which Obama has thus far refused to do. In a June letter to Obama, Feingold suggested that by not "renounc
the assertions of executive authority made by the Bush administration with regard to warrantless wiretapping," Obama may be sending a message that the Bush-era "justifications were and remain valid."
Recently, in a sharp break from many Democrats, Feingold wrote Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder, calling for a prosecutor to investigate the torture program. Feingold said the investigation should target officials at "the highest levels of government, which is where the need for accountability is most acute. Those who developed, authorized and provided legal justification for the interrogations should be held responsible."
In some cases, the policies are getting worse, as Feingold has pointed out. "It's both an easier and a lonelier role," he says. "It's easier because this president understands these issues and cares about them deeply. He wants to support the side of the law and civil liberties, but he's getting counterpressures from, obviously, elements of his administration that are not wanting him to give any ground in this area at all."
"But it's lonelier," Feingold adds, "because when I do have to disagree, yes, it's disagreeing not only with all the Republicans but even a Democratic president and some Democratic senators. That's a role I still have to play. I'm here to defend the Constitution and try to protect this country. That's why I'm here. And if it means sometimes I'm going to disagree with my president, I will."
More at........
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090803/scahill2
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