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Posted on 04/22/2009 2:27:22 PM PDT by topfile
President Obama for the first time Tuesday opened the door to prosecuting former Bush administration officials, saying those who approved harsh interrogation techniques for suspected terrorists may be subject to criminal charges.
The president also left open the possibility for an independent commission to examine the interrogations of detainees with techniques that included waterboarding, sleep deprivation and other tactics that defenders said produced valuable information.
The remarks were a reversal from several days ago, when Mr. Obama said he wanted to move forward and his chief of staff appeared to rule out any prosecutions. The president took a harder line after a key congressional committee chairman and liberal pressure groups urged him not to take prosecutions off the table.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
This reminds me of the waining days of the roman Republic. The Romans had reached a point in which a former Consul could be charged for crimes after his enemies achieved power. they would declare the Consul's acts illegal, and would prosecute the former Consul and in many cases, he would be exiled and stripped of his citizenship.
It just such a fate that faced Caesar right at the time when he had conquered Gaul, crossed over to Britain and bridged the Rhine. Instead of receiving the thanks of a grateful republic, Caesar was about be charged as a criminal. He chose to march on Rome, and that was the end of the republic. Seems eerily similar to today.
Agree that this will blow up on Obama too. Look how quickly Blair’s private memo came out after Cheney’s remarks.
Don’t expect it as fast, (that was crazy fast) but it should.
Feel the bipartisan Obama spirit yet?
I heard Alan Colmes ranting and raving about the “crimes” this morning on Imus. It all seems like a huge overreach on the part of the libs and a congressional hearing and trial would bring out the crazies who would make Obama look like his innner loon.
The upside of this is that the rational Americans will soon see this for what it is and hopefully it drives Obama’s numbers right under 50.
Let’s see what Rasmussen comes up with in about 2-3 weeks.
I thought about that after I posted. My "Duh!" My apologies to you and a big thank you for your service!!!
Sicksickness ... been there, done that, hated it! ;*)
As far as staged, I saw Obama appear at other departmental headquarters and NONE of his appearances were greeted with such sustained and loud cheering, screaming and clapping in utter joy as at Langley.
Many articles and books were written calling the CIA a fifth column. I love your term "very low level" people. Others call them analysts. I, for one, don't believe the frenzied mass at that gathering is unrepresentative of the CIA. It needs to be cleaned up. Bush halfheartedly tried but failed.
You have a good point. The staff bureaucrats are not necessarily patriots, even if they put that on their applications.
Envisio,
I appreciate the kind words, but I’m too young and stupid to post more frequently. I don’t want to step on toes, offend people here, etc. I’ve enjoyed reading for many years.
And I’m maybe too busy trying to find a new job in this delicious economy we have laid out before us. After several years as a commercial real state investment broker and becomming the firm’s youngest Partner ever, it’s still a tremendous task to find work either with a developer or lender or anybody “real” in the Los Angeles area. Between that and my background in running web sites and internet publishing companies, it’s annoying to hear that I am “overqualified” for various jobs, and yet all I want is a single job.
But at least I don’t have to worry about having a caterpillar in the same room as me. Oh, the horror! And, besides, Obama will save us all, won’t he?
What a joke, this Obama. If this “man” (maybe I should have said “male” since he’s no MAN) doesn’t manage to wake up the Republican Party then there is NO HOPE for the Republican Party. And no hope for this country’s futue.
-Mini
I will never forget how a few at Langley undermined President Bush, but if you think the CIA is mostly in favor of Obama’s policies then you are quite mistaken.
If it was just a few, the impact would have been much less. Remember the outright revolt of the CIA when the Bush administration tried to figure out who leaked damaging and questionable (as in value of analysis) documents? If the CIA truly is as conservative as you maintain, I would think they would have welcomed a probe, but the outcry was loud and made even louder when the Democrats on the Hill complained.
Good grief, the Washington Times did a series on the CIA as to what happened to the CIA and how it developed into an untrustworthy agency that threatened the nation's security.
I think everyone is aware that the military and intelligence services are more conservative than the population at large, but something happened at the CIA that I don't quite understand. Perhaps there are more conservatives than liberals, but it appears that the liberals have much much more influence and clout to get their way.
So now we have the situation of the last week that I now read that the CIA is hostile about the interrogation memos being released. I wish I could say that this is what they wanted and now let them deal with it, but it is too serious for such a flippant attitude. May God help us.
Good post.
I see your point Dave and understand perfectly how you came to your assessment. Remember though how much damage the Plame fiasco caused with only a few being in that loop.
With Brooks being installed this has only to get worse. I fear for our security just knowing about that woman. I also think she’ll be the most scrutinized person at CIA so maybe there’s hope.
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