***** Support a Truth & Reconciliation Commission = 100,000 + signatures ****

[L. Coyote]

Support a Truth & Reconciliation Commission
http://www.bushtruthcommission.com/


Full Petition Text:

I hereby join Senator Patrick Leahy's call for the establishment of a truth and reconciliation commission, to investigate the Bush-Cheney Administration's constitutional abuses so we make sure they never happen again. These abuses may include the use of torture, warrantless wiretapping, extraordinary rendition, and executive override of laws.

A truth and reconciliation commission should be tasked with seeking answers so that we can develop a shared understanding of the failures of the recent past. Rather than vengeance, we need a fair-minded pursuit of what actually happened. The best way to move forward is getting to the truth and finding out what happened -- so we can make sure it does not happen again.

Signed by:

[Hope And Change]

1. K & R!

[Ian David]

2. A truth and reconciliation commission isn't enough. n/t

[tekisui]

3. knr!~

Let's keep this ball rolling.

[peacebird]

4. Not "vengeance", JUSTICE. We had detainees murdered in our names. Tortured to death.

We need investigations, yes, but then let the chips fall where they may. After the facts are known there have to be prosecutions. We already have heard they tortured to gin up excuses to invade Iraq. There needs to be accountability. Bush and Cheney have admitted (bragged) about waterboarding. That is a war crime.

[bvar22]

5. After ...

After an Independent Prosecutor Investigates and Prosecutes those responsible for War Crimes, I will support a Truth & Reconciliation Commission to clear the air and heal the wounds, but only AFTER those responsible have been put on Public Trial.

[pleah]

6. Prosecutions and nothing less! n/t

[Avalux]

7. Commissions suck. No prosecutions will come from one.

Who would you appoint to this commission to make sure justice is done? If it ends up like the 9/11 commission (and I heard Keane would want to head it) - worthless.

[Echo In Light]

8. Exactly. And "reconciliation" is VERY "look ahead" - ish

[Usrename]

9. Only if it is an international effort conducted by the coalition members.

They fought at our insistence, they should all be heard on this subject if there is to be REAL truth and reconciliation.

[denem]

10. Yes! Lets reconcile an Operative with someone he tortured to death.

The 'doctor' can act as the medium.

:sarcasm:

[pat_k]

11. A Truth Commission entitled "'Off the Table': A Nation Betrayed" is what. . .

. . .I want to see.

The failure to impeach strikes me as a fit subject for such an assembly. The damage done by the failure to impeach can never be repaired, but it is something we must reconcile ourselves to if we are to move forward in honesty.

Invite the perpetrators -- the Members of Congress who abused their power to keep impeachment "off the table"; the strategerists and "opinion makers -- to come forward and testify about their role, express their remorse, and commit to reject the "politicization" of inviolable Constitutional principle in the future.

Invite the victims. Those who were subjected to torture while the Democratic "leadership" bleated "off the table" and "backlash!" The Americans who were ordered torture while our elected officials hid their heads in the sand. The participants in the "program" who are horrified by what they witnessed, or what they did.

And the people who stood up and were silenced and left hanging.

But, WRT a "Truth Commission" on the war crimes -- I must agree with Jonathan Turley. Dealing with the crimes is for the criminal justice system.

Countdown http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30369056/">April 22, 2009

TURLEY: Well, there is no significance to a commission, a truth commission. First of all, a truth and reconciliation commission is an insult for a country that believes it is committed to the rule of law—that is often seen in emerging democracies. We have nothing to reconcile.

The people who committed torture have to reconcile themselves to the criminal code. We don‘t have to reconcile anything as a nation. Now, I‘m not opposed to the Congress studying this. They should study it.

But the primary and main question is the appointment of a special prosecutor.

And God help us if the only thing we get out of this is a commission modeled on 9/11. That was a commission that was really made for Washington; a commission composed of political appointees of both parties, that ran interference for those parties—a commission that insisted in the beginning it would not impose blame on individuals. So, it‘s the ideal Washington commission—a commission that would investigate without any repercussions.

[robertpaulsen]

12. NO! We need a SPECIAL PROSECUTOR! n/t

[Warren Stupidity]

13. I don't want a congressional investigation as in Iran-Contra

that screws the pooch on future criminal prosecutions. I don't want 'truth and reconciliation', I want justice.

[GeorgeGist]

14. No Thanks.