Then came the news that there would be no release of torture photos. Barack felt, deep in his heart of hearts, that releasing them would harm US service members. He hadn't felt that way before. But when it was time to do what he stated he would and release the photos, the Big Tease suddenly had a change of heart.
Naturally, the media worked over time to find someone else to blame. It couldn't be Barack, after all, it had to, had to be someone else. The Los Angeles Times looked like major media whores as they praised Barack's selling out of his base and his move to the right (see "No spine" and "THIS JUST IN! SPINELESS!").
Thomas E. Ricks came off like half a journalist and half an idiot in "Obama: twice rolled by his generals" (Foreign Policy).
Journalist?
I am surprised by Obama's reversal. I wasn't so taken aback in February when he went along with his generals and abandoned his campaign promise to withdraw a brigade a month from Iraq this year, and instead endorsed a plan that kept troop levels there pretty steady this year.
Idiot?
I know he is trying to do the right thing but at some point he is going to have to say, My way or the highway.
No, Thomas E. Ricks, you do not KNOW he is trying to do the right thing. You may believe it but journalists KNOW to use KNOW only when they truly KNOW something.
The week ended with the news that military tribunals were going to be the all the rage this fall. Barack's going to monkey around with the hemlines a little, but don't worry, it's the military tribunals, the genuine articles.
While the ACLU worked overtime alerting people (see "Obama Admin Reverses Promise to Release Torture Photos" and "Obama Administration To Revive Fatally Flawed Military Commissions"), there really is only so much one organization can do.
Renewing a warning given to Britain while George W. Bush was in office, the Obama has threatened to curb the exchange of intelligence information between the countries if a British court makes public the details of the interrogation techniques used against a former Guantanamo Bay detainee who claims he was tortured.
The prisoner is Binyam Mohamed who was imprisoned by the US for seven years in secret prisons -- Pakistan, Morocco, Afghanistan and then Guantanamo. The British, looking at the 'evidence,' "released [Mohamed] from custody hours after" he was turned over to them.
While some play dumb and others excuse Barack's blantant embrace of torture and military tribunals and homophobia, you can say no. No to Barack and his third term of Bush. How?
World Can't Wait has called for "Thursday MAY 28 National Day of Resistance to U.S. TORTURE!:"
Weeks after 4 more torture memos revealed the detail with which George Bush's lawyers managed the torture of individual detainees, calls to prosecute those responsible -- from the White House principals, to the legal torture team, to the CIA agents who tortured -- have met objections from Washington. Cheney and the open advocates of torture scream that they must be able to use "harsh methods" to win the global war on terror. The Obama administration, after deciding to continue indefinite detention, CIA rendition, and Bush's executive powers, says prosecution would stop them from "moving forward." Democratic party leader Nancy Pelosi knew about the torture and waterboarding since 2002, saying and doing nothing to stop it..
It's up to the people to act! World Can't Wait and other groups are planning non-violent civil resistance protests, programs digging into the substance of the charges, waterboarding and rendition re-enactments, and film showings in communities around the country to demand prosecution of the Bush era war criminals. More information, listings, posters, flyers & background on the war criminals at warcriminalswatch.org.
Wherever the Bush era war criminals are appearing this month, raise the cry "Torture is a War Crime! Prosecute!"
