Cooperating with Evil

Three horribly tortured bodies.  Shipped back to their families with their throats cut out.  A string of patently obvious lies and cover-ups.  A story the mainstream media won't fucking report.  A war crime the Obama administration won't investigate and will never prosecute.

Think about all this next time you sing, ". . . o'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave."

Sullivan:

Many branches of government must have been involved in such an act of torture or negligence or both, and the subsequent cover-up - from the FBI, the Justice Department, the State Department, the Pentagon and the CIA, and JSOC. The cover-up appears to have been continued by the Obama administration - a staggering surrender to pragmatism that is in fact a cooptation of evil.

This deserves to be the biggest story on the torture issue since Abu Ghraib - because it threatens to tear down the wall of lies and denial that have protected Americans from facing what the last administration actually did. Notice that these torture sessions - so severe they killed three prisoners - were conducted in June 2006. Long after the original crisis was over. Long after we have been told real torture sessions occurred. They were part of an ongoing torture program whose methods were so extreme that the Pentagon has already conceded that over a dozen prisoners had been tortured to death and up to a hundred US authorized deaths-by-torture are alleged by many human rights groups.

This case deserves a thorough and complete and exhaustive inquiry and investigation. I no longer believe that any entity in the US government can be trusted with such a task. The investigation must be able to go right to the very top of the torture program and do so with no political influence whatsoever. The investigation must be conducted by an independent prosecutor - Patrick Fitzgerald comes to mind - or by the Red Cross or an international body. It must go up the chain of command to the very top to find the real people who are responsible for this war crime and three homicides.

Among those who need to be subpoenaed are the former president and vice-president of the United States.

I grew up believing America was the guardian of the Free World.

But quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

America the Terrible?

It's a year today since President Obama was inaugurated. There is much to be glad of regarding his first year in office. But there are some things that deserve closer scrutiny, too.

When President Barack Obama took office last year, he promised to “restore the standards of due process and the core constitutional values that have made this country great.” Toward that end, the president issued an executive order declaring that the extra-constitutional prison camp at Guantánamo Naval Base “shall be closed as soon as practicable, and no later than one year from the date of this order.” Obama has failed to fulfill his promise. Some prisoners there are being charged with crimes, others released, but the date for closing the camp seems to recede steadily into the future. Furthermore, new evidence now emerging may entangle Obama’s young administration with crimes that occurred during the George W. Bush presidency, evidence that suggests the current administration failed to investigate seriously—and may even have continued—a cover-up of the possible homicides of three prisoners at Guantánamo in 2006.  --Scott Horton

"Camp No," Guantanamo

A must-read if you give a goddamn at all about the values and the future of this nation:  Scott Horton's riveting, gut-wrenching expose in Harper's of the three Gitmo prisoners apparently tortured to death by American forces in 2006.

Sullivan: 

But of course, if you weren't a jihadist before you arrived in Gitmo, you sure as hell would be by the time they let you out.  I would be.

And especially if you knew that American soldiers in Iraq are using - right now, in 2010 - government-issued rifles with Bible verses engraved on the sights.

Gitmo Gone, Torture Out!

President Obama restored America's honor and ideals today by signing executive orders to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay as well as the CIA's "black site" secret prisons around the world, and also ordered an end to torture, requiring interrogators to adhere to the non-abusive techniques listed in the Army Field Manual.

As the Associated Press reports,

"We believe that the Army Field Manual reflects the best judgment of our military, that we can abide by a rule that says we don't torture, but that we can still effectively obtain the intelligence that we need," Obama said. He said his action reflects an understanding that "we are willing to observe core standards of conduct, not just when it's easy, but also when it's hard."

The New York Times reports,

As Mr. Obama signed three orders in a White House ceremony, 16 retired generals and admirals who have fought for months for a ban on coercive interrogations stood behind him and applauded. . . .

The orders, and Mr. Obama’s televised statement, marked an abrupt break with the Bush administration. Critics for years have accused Mr. Bush of permitting torture and damaging the country’s moral standing in the world, while Dick Cheney, the former president and vice president, insisted that all their programs were lawful and had prevented a repeat of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

John D. Hutson, a retired admiral and law school dean, was at the signing ceremony “He really gets it,” Mr. Hutson said of Mr. Obama in an interview a few minutes after the ceremony. “He acknowledged that this isn’t easy. But he is absolutely dedicated to getting us back on track as a nation. This is the right thing to do morally, diplomatically, militarily and Constitutionally. But it also makes us safer.” . . .

Sen. John Kerry, the Massachusetts Democrat and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said, “Today is a great day for the rule of law in the United States of America,” adding: “America is ready to lead again — not just with our words, but by our example.”

Yes, another great day in America. Once again, a man of honor and integrity as our President, who believes in constitutional government and the rule of law. Hallelujah!

As Obama said in his Inaugural Address:

Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.

In another example of the change that has come to America, Hillary Clinton was given a rousing welcome at the State Department as she embarked upon her new duties there, as shown in this CBS News video:

In Today's News

Also online, a wonderful family picture from First Sister Maya's 2003 wedding.

On Day 2 in the ObamaNation, as reported by the New York Times:

* At the White House, the President was sworn in again by the Chief Justice "out of an abundance of caution" following yesterday's tongue-twister on the steps of the Capitol. White House legal counsel thought the re-do was unneccesary, but this should silence the mad-dog rightwing nuts, who've been foaming at the mouth about it.

* Ted Kennedy was released from hospital with apparently no ill effects from the seizure he suffered yesterday at the Capitol during the Inaugural luncheon.

* His niece, Caroline Kennedy, announced she was withdrawing herself from consideration for being appointed to Hillary Clinton's vacated Senate seat, citing concerns about her uncle's health.

* Hillary was confirmed by the Senate as Secretary of State, and resigned her Senate seat (D-NY), which she has held for the past 8 years.

* The President ordered a halt to prosecutions at Gitmo while the new administration reviews the system of war-crimes trials held there.

* The stock market bounced back up after about a 4 percent dip on Inauguration Day.

* The Obamas, Bidens, and Clintons maintained post-Inaugural tradition by attending a morning prayer service at Washington National Cathedral, with 20 interfaith ministers, including women leaders of the Muslim and Hindu faiths, and featuring a sermon by a woman, the president of the Disciples of Christ church. "The service featured a gospel choir of African-American children in crisp white shirts and black pants and dresses, many of whom broke into smiles as they glimpsed the new president when they filed in. They sang a rocking rendition of “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands,” as if giving a commentary not only on the Almighty, but on the new president’s job description. Mr. Obama sang along, and the First Lady clapped. "

* And the NYT had a feature article on the extended First Family:

For well over two centuries, the United States has been vastly more diverse than its ruling families. Now the Obama family has flipped that around, with a Technicolor cast that looks almost nothing like their overwhelmingly white, overwhelmingly Protestant predecessors in the role. The family that produced Barack and Michelle Obama is black and white and Asian, Christian, Muslim and Jewish. They speak English; Indonesian; French; Cantonese; German; Hebrew; African languages including Swahili, Luo and Igbo; and even a few phrases of Gullah, the Creole dialect of the South Carolina Lowcountry. Very few are wealthy, and some — like Sarah Obama, the stepgrandmother who only recently got electricity and running water in her metal-roofed shack — are quite poor.

“Our family is new in terms of the White House, but I don’t think it’s new in terms of the country,” Maya Soetoro-Ng, the president’s younger half-sister, said last week. “I don’t think the White House has always reflected the textures and flavors of this country.”

It does now. All in all, a very good day in America. I'm so glad we finally got here.