Time to clean house on torture by Letta Tayler (The Guardian)

[Solly Mack]

"In the already sordid annals of US torture in the name of countering terrorism, November proved to be an unusually embarrassing month – not just for the Bush administration, which sanctioned the abuses, but also for the Obama administration, which has failed to hold its predecessors accountable.

First, former President George W Bush boasted in his new memoir and on talkshows how he had authorised waterboarding, a form of torture. Then, a US special prosecutor announced that he will not pursue criminal charges against CIA officers for intentional destruction of videotapes that reportedly show two terrorism suspects being waterboarded in one of its secret prisons in Thailand in 2002. Now, classified diplomatic cables newly released by WikiLeaks confirm that both the Obama and Bush administrations sought to quash criminal investigations in Europe into illegal counterterrorism activities such as kidnapping and torture by Bush-era officials.


-SNIP-


President Obama justifies his reluctance to investigate Bush administration officials by saying that the country needs to "look forward and not backwards". Yet, he admitted the fallacy of that attitude during an interview in March 2010 in a reference to Indonesia, a country with its own history of abuses. "We have to acknowledge that those past human rights abuses existed," President Obama said of the regime of former Indonesian President Suharto, a US ally. "We can't go forward without looking backwards."


If the US hopes to exert any moral authority over abusive regimes past and present, it is incumbent on President Obama to heed his own advice, rather than merely preach it to the rest of the world."

[Ghost in the Machine]

1. So Obama talks out both sides of his ass?

"President Obama justifies his reluctance to investigate Bush administration officials by saying that the country needs to "look forward and not backwards". Yet, he admitted the fallacy of that attitude during an interview in March 2010 in a reference to Indonesia, a country with its own history of abuses. "We have to acknowledge that those past human rights abuses existed," President Obama said of the regime of former Indonesian President Suharto, a US ally. "We can't go forward without looking backwards."

[RandomThoughts]

2. Great comment

"heed his own advice, rather than merely preach it to the rest of the world"


That's true for everyone.


Much of my thoughts are do I do what I say and think I should do.

since nobody is perfect and ideals are goals to achieve, it would be very rare for someone to reach the concept in action of what they think is best in thought. So thinking if you live your concepts is important.

I spend much time thinking if I am doing what I think and feel is best. I literally spend hours thinking if there are any things I can do to match my thoughts on what is best to do.

It gets even more interesting when someone tries to stop you from doing what you think is best. Then you keep going anyways until either they or you learn what is best and then you move together in the same direction. So keep going includes listening and learning also.

[Solly Mack]

3. ...