If you make a decision, and have no overlying evidence to change your mind-stick to it.
This, is just plain stupid. Worse, its picking a fight that makes your other fights that much harder to win.
WASHINGTON (AP) – Widening an explosive debate on torture, President Barack Obama on Tuesday opened the possibility of prosecution for Bush-era lawyers who authorized brutal interrogation of terror suspects and suggested Congress might order a full investigation.
Less than a week after declaring it was time for the nation to move on rather than “laying blame for the past,” Obama found himself describing what might be done next to investigate what he called the loss of “our moral bearings.”
His comments all but ensured that the vexing issue of detainee interrogation during the Bush administration will live on well into the new president’s term. Obama, who severely criticized the harsh techniques during the campaign, is feeling pressure from his party’s liberal wing to come down hard on the subject. At the same time, Republicans including former Vice President Dick Cheney are insisting the methods helped protect the nation and are assailing Obama for revealing Justice Department memos detailing them.
There is no defense for this-its really stupid. The Bush era decisions may have been stupid-but there is no going back-only going forward in a different direction. Anything else is just asking for trouble.
I’m siding with the critics on this one. This is not smart and it will come around to bite Obama in the ass. Releasing the memo’s? That’s one thing-and perfectly Ok with me. Trying to dig up the past? Usually does not work very well.
Considering the last 7 CIA heads all stated that they not release the memos and Obama did anyway.
Obama is feeling the pressure from Move on.org to get those vile evil people that put the torture policy in place, with the hope of somehow putting W. Bush and Chenney in jail. They are opening up a hornets nest of trouble for future Presidents and I hope somebody knocks some sense into Obama and stop this crap immediately.
Releasing the memos is fine with me-it shows how really stupid we were. And I’d also point out that Dennis Blair also said that while they may have produced “some results” it was not worth the cost to our national prestige in the long run.
However for the same reason that Ford was wise to pardon Nixon-it is of no good purpose to have a trial-much as I would like to see Donald Rumsfeld with a noose around his neck.