Comments on: The Fix Is In http://commentsfromleftfield.com/2009/04/the-fix-is-in Wed, 08 Feb 2012 16:39:52 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1 By: Kathy http://commentsfromleftfield.com/2009/04/the-fix-is-in/comment-page-1#comment-51110 Kathy Sat, 18 Apr 2009 03:05:00 +0000 http://commentsfromleftfield.com/?p=8356#comment-51110 Great comment, tramplinggrapes. Well said. Great comment, tramplinggrapes. Well said.

]]> By: trampling grapes http://commentsfromleftfield.com/2009/04/the-fix-is-in/comment-page-1#comment-51109 trampling grapes Sat, 18 Apr 2009 00:29:33 +0000 http://commentsfromleftfield.com/?p=8356#comment-51109 "In releasing these memos, it is our intention to assure those who carried out their duties relying in good faith upon legal advice from the Department of Justice that they will not be subject to prosecution. " Recall, if you will, that President Obama regards Abraham Lincoln as the paragon of leadership. And recall, if you will, that Mr. Lincoln was quite probably the best politician this country has produced. His slow, subtle unveiling to the public of emancipation took nearly two years. During that time his patience while he labored to swing public opinion to his side was, really, miraculous in retrospect. IF - and I say IF - Obama intends to follow Lincoln's path, with the idea that he will watch and sway public opinion before he proceeds - then he is certainly following in fine footsteps indeed. Present the facts, wait and see how the public reacts, and start persuading. This issue of torture should be sublimated to the far larger atrocity of the aggressive war that was waged in 2003 - but it raises precisely the same issues. Shall we hold the soldiers accountable for invading a soveriegn country that was never a threat to our national security? I can't imagine it. But certainly the people that *ordered* an aggressive war, based on lies, MUST be held accountable. The 2002 Downing Memo clearly shows the White House planning the lies they would use to justify the attack on Iraq. Putin understood bush's dilemma perfectly when he invaded Georgia. How could the U.S. government accuse him of waging war, he said, when the U.S. had done the exact same thing in Iraq? And bush looked like he had been slapped, and dropped the subject. It is almost unimaginable that a country would accuse in court its own leaders of war crimes. But it is most imaginably noble that the United States WILL investigate all these outrages and, if called for, prosecute anyone guilty of torture, war profiteering and aggressive war. We must do this as a country if we are to hold our heads up in pride. “In releasing these memos, it is our intention to assure those who carried out their duties relying in good faith upon legal advice from the Department of Justice that they will not be subject to prosecution. ”
Recall, if you will, that President Obama regards Abraham Lincoln as the paragon of leadership. And recall, if you will, that Mr. Lincoln was quite probably the best politician this country has produced. His slow, subtle unveiling to the public of emancipation took nearly two years. During that time his patience while he labored to swing public opinion to his side was, really, miraculous in retrospect.
IF – and I say IF – Obama intends to follow Lincoln’s path, with the idea that he will watch and sway public opinion before he proceeds – then he is certainly following in fine footsteps indeed.
Present the facts, wait and see how the public reacts, and start persuading.

This issue of torture should be sublimated to the far larger atrocity of the aggressive war that was waged in 2003 – but it raises precisely the same issues. Shall we hold the soldiers accountable for invading a soveriegn country that was never a threat to our national security? I can’t imagine it. But certainly the people that *ordered* an aggressive war, based on lies, MUST be held accountable. The 2002 Downing Memo clearly shows the White House planning the lies they would use to justify the attack on Iraq.

Putin understood bush’s dilemma perfectly when he invaded Georgia. How could the U.S. government accuse him of waging war, he said, when the U.S. had done the exact same thing in Iraq? And bush looked like he had been slapped, and dropped the subject.

It is almost unimaginable that a country would accuse in court its own leaders of war crimes. But it is most imaginably noble that the United States WILL investigate all these outrages and, if called for, prosecute anyone guilty of torture, war profiteering and aggressive war.

We must do this as a country if we are to hold our heads up in pride.

]]> By: Kathy http://commentsfromleftfield.com/2009/04/the-fix-is-in/comment-page-1#comment-51098 Kathy Fri, 17 Apr 2009 02:08:15 +0000 http://commentsfromleftfield.com/?p=8356#comment-51098 I actually think he left the door open for that. I actually think he left the door open for that.

]]> By: Better Than Machines http://commentsfromleftfield.com/2009/04/the-fix-is-in/comment-page-1#comment-51094 Better Than Machines Fri, 17 Apr 2009 01:06:29 +0000 http://commentsfromleftfield.com/?p=8356#comment-51094 This decision is Obama's worst yet. My question is: OK, so you won't prosecute those who carried out torture, does that mean you also won't prosecute those who ordered it, allowed it? I haven't really hard this discussed in the news coverage of the issue yet. This decision is Obama’s worst yet. My question is: OK, so you won’t prosecute those who carried out torture, does that mean you also won’t prosecute those who ordered it, allowed it? I haven’t really hard this discussed in the news coverage of the issue yet.

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