President Obama did the right thing in releasing these OLC torture memos, but what does he mean that he will not hold the CIA responsible in carrying out torture? Does this mean the Obama Administration will go after Gonzalez and others who ordered it and loosely defined torture? Could be. Not sure. One thing I’m sure about is the right wingers in the Senate have got to be livid because they’re not being listened too again….
From The Daily Beast:
Senate Republicans are now privately threatening to derail the confirmation of key Obama administration nominees for top legal positions by linking the votes to suppressing critical torture memos from the Bush era. A reliable Justice Department source advises me that Senate Republicans are planning to “go nuclear” over the nominations of Dawn Johnsen as chief of the Office of Legal Counsel in the Department of Justice and Yale Law School Dean Harold Koh as State Department legal counsel if the torture documents are made public. The source says these threats are the principle reason for the Obama administration’s abrupt pullback last week from a commitment to release some of the documents. A Republican Senate source confirms the strategy. It now appears that Republicans are seeking an Obama commitment to safeguard the Bush administration’s darkest secrets in exchange for letting these nominations go forward.
Ha ha, republicans. Have all the tea parties you want, but…..no one is listening to you at the moment! 
As far as our safety goes as a country now that these memos have been released, we have got to be still strong, because according to the Bush Regime supporters, our intelligence agencies did a great job in keeping our nation safe, and because most of those people remain working for the CIA now that President Obama is in charge, we can continue to feel safe. See? Not much has changed except torture is now a thing of the past and we have a new President. I’m sure the neocons will agree with this.
What are you thoughts on the torture memos being released to the public? Do you think President Obama is putting the info out there so the courts will have to react? Or maybe Obama is making sure the public knows what exactly was done in our names for years under Bush?
Or maybe the release of these memos is for the country of Spain to run with? Hey could be! We’ll have to see, I guess. 
these memos are a look into the dark side of humanity. The things that they did were described in detail, and they were torture. No question about that.
Obama is dead wrong here. The people who authorized torture, no matter how high up the ladder it goes, need to be arrested and prosecuted? Why you ask? Because there will be another Republican President eventually (hopefully not for a long time) and if no one is punished for this atrocity, IT WILL HAPPEN AGAIN.
There is a reason that the Nuremberg war crimes trials needed to happen. And they need to happen again. When Americans commit war crimes, they should be held accountable just like any other person in the world.
However, I don’t think Americans have the heart now for Obama going all out to prosecute. He is already being criticized from the right and the left for taking “too much on his plate”. Most want him to heal the economy and finally get us out of the muck in the Middle East. If anything, Congress can take it upon themselves to appoint a special prosecutor and should first set their sights to the TOP of the chain of command.
Not selling out reporting the truith to the american people who have a right to know,
Remember the idea that those who govern do so in the citizens name and the citizens deserve to KNOW what is being done in their name.
Just because the criminals in bush’s mis-admin committed war crimes is NOT a reason not to tell the whole truth.
If we could hang Japanese officers for the War Crime of water boarding post WW2 we should be held to account as a nation and individually, IE those who committed similar acts also.
Thanks TROLL Notalib. Are you the ghost of Sen. Joseph McCarthy? The reich wingnuts are so ignorant they most often don’t know the fundamental differences between socialism, communism, and fascism….sometimes calling Obama all three in one breath. Right now many of the liberals are hitting him about as hard as are the Republicans, calling him too “centrist!”
Had to laugh on the Daily Show last night as one of their correspondents was at a teabagging party and asked a woman for a comment. She said she would have to decline and when asked why, said, “Jon Stewart is a communist!” She reminded me of the Minnesota wingnut telling John McCain that Obama is a Muslim.
We were extremely harsh with the Japanese and Germans because they LOST. Americans don’t have the heart to execute one of their own “patriots” (as many would consider them!). After all, the “tearists” are heathen “ragheads” and will suffer even worse torture in hell for not accepting Jayzusss! /snark
I do think we shouldn’t let any of them get off. Let them look nervously over their shoulders, even for the rest of their lives if nothing else. Remember the Jews are still running down, and getting prosecutions of criminals, now in their 80’s and 90’s, who participated in the Holocaust.
notalib.. let me get this straight.. we should base our moral compass on what terrorists do?
Heres a bit of honest truth for you :
The somali pirates treated their hostages better then America treats its prisoners of war.
That should send a shiver down your spine.
Chris, that’s only partly true. Things happen in the field for sure, but the code of conduct in the field and out for the Military is very strict. Like my very conservative Uncle Tack who retired from the Army a full-bird colonel has to say about the reports of abuse at Guantanimo: “If I’d ever heard of any of my officers participating in some of those things, I’d have had them busted down to private.” It’s what they mean when they say “Army Proud,” which is not merely a slogan for people like my uncle. Of course, we’re not talking about the Army or any other branch of the Military, now, but the CIA. At any rate, our soldiers, sailors, and Marines generally treat POWs well. In the latter days of WWII, German soldiers were much more apt to surrender to Americans than to any of the Allies for this very reason. It’s part of our Military’s legacy, and it’s taken seriously. Notalib is just a fringe dweller. He really isn’t smart enough to understand concepts of valor and honor.
Looseheadprop of FDL is thinking along the same lines I am about these memos being released:
http://firedoglake.com/2009/04/17/why-obama-took-prosescution-of-cia-officers-off-the-table-a-theory/
President Obama did NOT state that the higher ups in the Bush Regime would be exempt from prosecution….just those who were confused or manipulated (read the FDL article for explanation) into torturing even if they knew it was illegal and against all treaties.
Some may be upset with President Obama, but me? I trust the guy still, because if you look at the reaction of republicans (’We’re gonna block every nomination of your & go ‘nuclear’ if you release those memos! ~ republican blowhards/traitors), they don’t want ANY TRUTH TO GET OUT, so by Obama releasing these memos….the truth gets out, immunity given to those who will testify against the higher ups, and we Americans get to see how disgusting the Bush Regime truly was!
See?
It will all even out at some point. Wouldn’t it be great if the economy gets back on track by 2012, President Obama gets elected again, and then in his 2nd term….THE WAR CRIMES TRIALS BEGIN? *heart beating fast* Oh man, I would love it!
kay.. please dont get your hopes up. There will never be war crimes trials. All sides of Washington have already agreed that no matter what the people want, it will never ever happen.
I’ve got my hopes up, Chris!
Uh oh. One of the crewman of the Maerks Alabama is giving credit to his UNION:
I ask that all you Freeking liberals move to DC and New York so that when the Crazys from the middle east blow off an atom bomb or chemical attack, then we can get rid of all of you lamos at one time. Look in war time when your fighting a standing army They wear uniforms so you can see them as combatents. They have a rank structure and a country that they are fighting for (like germany in ww2) The germans pretty much followed the geneva convetion when it came to POWS and so did we. Yes there we still attrocities on both side most went unreported. Read about the POW camps we set up in France in WW2 to hold german prisoners. In many cases when german soldiers and whole german units tried to surrender they were killed or refused and turned around and sent back to force them to surrender to the russians. Marines in WW2 almost had to be forced by there officers to take prisoners(so they could interagate some one). The unwritten policy was to kill all Japanese soldiers and take no prisoners. The japanesse in kind did not follow the geneva convention and tortured and killed american POWS at will. It was common pratice to execute a few POWS on japaneese holidays with beheadings. One japanese office cut the liver out of a live american POW and ate it raw
brad, sweety, the Germans ignored the Geneva convention son,
they fucking worked most of the eastern front prisoners to death, and committed mass murder on many pows before they even could get to a camp.
they hung quite a few British prisoners, and committed numerous mass murders with captured soldiers, check Malmedy for example.
So the Germans certainly did NOT follow the geneva convention very much, especially with Russian, Polish, and other eastern front soldiers, the major number of POW’s they captured.
BTW tons of wars have been fought against people who do NOT wear a uniform,
Most insurrections and wars of liberations start with no uniformed insurgent forces.
It is only when the insurgents have gained enough control to set up their own forms of government and gain some forms of revenue to afford uniforms.
So most of your child like rant is just that, a juvenile ranting from somebody who seems to have little productive to say.
Gee Brad, I see you’re spreading the reich wing teabagging love this morning! GO BACK IN YOUR TRASHCANS! GO BACK IN YOUR TRASHCANS! And don’t come out until 2035!
Sure you do Brad, sure you do. Most likely you are really just a toothless yellow coward who watches NASCAR all day while living with your mommy/girlfriend in a trailer home.
Why do the cowardly repigs fear Muslims so much?
Funny how trolls always claim that they served in the military and are wealthy. That is the magic of the internet, these low life losers can be everything they will never be.
One reason Andrew Jackson was so successful at the Battle of New Orleans was that his ragtag army mostly hid in trees wearing brown buckskin and coonskin caps providing good camouflage. The British, by contrast, wore their bright red uniforms into battle even insisting, when they could, on marching in formation to drums and bagpipes through the cypress knees, their white-crossed webbing making a perfect bulls-eye for their hearts. Jackson’s men had already learned much about guerrilla warfare from fighting the Indians. Kind of blows away the theory of our TROLL du jour, Brad from Carolina who says all standing armies wear uniforms.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/35/Battle_of_New_Orleans.jpg
Posting blocked….