For those who will automatically balk at the Obama = Bush charge, I submit to you the fact that by Geneva Law, if Bush/Cheney is not held accountable for the War Crimes they have committed, than the Obama Administration is complicit in those crimes and guilty of covering them up.
The Obama administration has clung for so long to the Bush administration’s expansive claims of national security and executive power that it is in danger of turning President George W. Bush’s cover-up of abuses committed in the name of fighting terrorism into President Barack Obama’s cover-up.
NYTimes.com
Bold text added by diarist
The desire to "look forward" does NOT bring justice for the War Crimes that we're committed by the Bush/Cheney Administration.
Iraq IS a giant War Crime. That can NOT be looked forward on. It is a FACT.
I want Obama to do the right thing on all of the issues facing his Presidency. I hope he succeeds. But accountability is my Number 1 issue, and right now we are living in a world where Corporations try to get away with rape and Politicians can order torture. Without accountability there IS no rule of law. If there are not equal consequences for violating the law, there can NOT be justice.
Therefore, though I wish this was already addressed by the Obama Administration, I submit to you the FACT that if Obama and his administration does NOT prosecute every complicit member of the Bush/Cheney Administration for the War Crimes that they have committed, then Obama and his administration is complicit in those crimes, and might as well have committed them as well.
What is worse, the same is true if Obama and his Administration covers up those war crimes, and that is EXACTLY what they are doing right now.
(T)he Obama administration has repeated a disreputable Bush-era argument that the executive branch is entitled to have lawsuits shut down whenever it makes a blanket claim of national security. The ruling rejected that argument and noted that the government’s theory would "effectively cordon off all secret actions from judicial scrutiny, immunizing the C.I.A. and its partners from the demands and limits of the law."
The Obama administration has aggressively pursued such immunity in numerous other cases beyond the ones involving Mr. Mohamed. We do not take seriously the government’s claim that it is trying to protect intelligence or avoid harm to national security.
Victims of the Bush administration’s "enhanced interrogation techniques," including Mr. Mohamed, have already spoken in harrowing detail about their mistreatment. The objective is to avoid official confirmation of wrongdoing that might be used in lawsuits against government officials and contractors, and might help create a public clamor for prosecuting those responsible. President Obama calls that a distracting exercise in "looking back." What it really is justice.
NYTimes.com
Bold text added by diarist
The Torture photos that we're to be released this summer have been pushed back and pushed back and pushed back. Is this a matter of timing on the part of the Obama Administration or worse? I do not know.
But I do know that Dick Cheney is still operating as if he were Co-President. I do know that the Republican party has learned NOTHING from the failure of all of their policies, foreign and domestic. I do know that the Republican party would like nothing better than to blame Obama and the Democrats for all of the problems our nation faces today, problems caused by the last 8 years of Bush/Cheney policy and Republican rule, and I do know that if this were a Republican Administration and Democrats were guilty of these crimes it would be THE NO#1 story in the country today.
So what is Obama doing about bringning the Bush/Cheney War Criminals to justice? Attorney General Eric Holder has named Special Prosecutor John Dunham to investigate torture committed by certain CIA members, but has stated that the investigation will NOT go farther than that so far. Why not?
Part of the reason I supported Barack Obama for Presideent early was based on the fact that he is a Constitutional Scholar who knows and respects the Rule of Law. That is why it pains me to write this diary, because I had hoped that this was a no-brainer and that justice for War Criminals was a sure thing. Whether this is a matter of timing or not, I think it should be stated plainly and without hestitation that the consequences for Obama and his Administration should they NOT prosecute the Bush/Cheney Administration for the War Crimes that they have committed is to share the complicity and guilt for those war crimes.
It IS against the law if the President does it, and the Vice President, and the Vice President's Chief of Staff, and anyone else. Otherwise we do NOT have a rule of law, we have a rule of "I say so", and that IS tyranny, a tyranny that Bush/Cheney would gladly leave behind as their legacy.
Whether Obama and his Adminsitration make that their legacy or not is entirely up to them. They can seek justice or they can "look forward" and become complicit and guilty of a cover up, but they can't have it both ways.
You can contact Attorney General Eric Holder and demand accountability here
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You can Contact President Barack Obama's White House to demand accountability here
CALL The White House at 202-456-1111 and E-Mail the WH here
Please urge President Obama, AG Holder and the White House to do the right thing, and pursue justice and accountability.
I HOPE for the best, Mr. President, and I HOPE for justice.
Crossposted at Docudharma.com and The Progressive Electorate.com