CIA or Cheney in a World of Trouble

Just for argument sake it is safe to say that what happens in Las Vegas stays in Las Vegas when it comes to personal entertainment. In the same respects, what happens at the CIA should stay at the CIA no matter who or what political party is in power. Currently, the U.S. Attorney General is opening an investigation into what happened with interrogations of enemies of the United States of America during the Bush Presidency. That would include the CIA and anyone that gave orders to the CIA to do that funky stuff that we could only hope that never could happen to you or I. That means looking into interoggation techniques used on people that would kill you or me in a heartbeat if given a knife, gun, rusty piece of steel pipe or whatever weapon their hands could reach. They don’t need a reason to kill you or I other than the fact that our birth certificate makes you and I an American citizen. Open and shut case or argument.

Eric H. Holder Jr. is putting his dogs on the scent of a suspected crime against American values and laws during the Bush administration and that is his job. If laws are broken by government employees no matter where they work, it is his obligation and the oath of office he swore to uphold to look into and investigate appropriately. That is what the U.S. Attorney General is supposed to do even if his boss, the President, suggests that he back off. Is this a case of what was decided in D.C. should have stayed in Langley, VA? Attorney General Holder appointed John Durham who by all means of the words fair and balanced is a fair and balanced investigator to find the truth of what happened when and if United States laws were broken by the CIA. This next quote is from the U.S. Attorney General himself on 8/24/09…

"Assistant United States Attorney John Durham was appointed in 2008 by then-Attorney General Michael Mukasey to investigate the destruction of CIA videotapes of detainee interrogations. During the course of that investigation, Mr. Durham has gained great familiarity with much of the information that is relevant to the matter at hand.

Accordingly, I have decided to expand his mandate to encompass this related review. Mr. Durham, who is a career prosecutor with the Department of Justice and who has assembled a strong investigative team of experienced professionals, will recommend to me whether there is sufficient predication for a full investigation into whether the law was violated in connection with the interrogation of certain detainees.” - ATTY Generals Office

I don’t see any issue with the CIA doing what they are paid and entrusted to do and that is to protect America from outside sources that can or could bring harm to our people. I do have to beg and plead with you to consider one thought to really think about concerning the article from the Washington Post and Carrie Johnson and that would be the outside CONTRACTORS that the CIA hired to do what the CIA is supposed to be trained and paid to do.

You hire a contractor to put an addition on your house, or rewire your house, or landscape your yard. Hell even businesses hire contractors to put a new roof on the building. When did the government outsource interrogation of possible enemies of the United States to a freakin’ outside contractor? What the hell are we paying the CIA for if we can just go to the Yellow Pages and dial up terrorist interrogators? Maybe even get a discount coupon for twenty or more people needing to be interrogated?

The truth needs to come out just like Dick Cheney wants to tell the world in his new book that his boss was a wimp and he was the real Czar on terrorist defense. History is funny and I’m thinking that my friends on the right side of politics may have been right. President Bush may not have been the dick (Cheney) after all.

Bring on the special prosecutor! It will be extremely interesting to see how far up the chain of command that the thought of our laws actually have no meaning. In the rear view mirror and looking at this situation, the CIA shouldn't be put on trial for following orders from a civilian government. Following orders at the CIA from the boss is no different than a Marine told to charge ahead in battle. Same mission, just a different objective. You do what you are told and that is what you do. The ones needing to be prosecuted are the people that said "No Matter What It Takes!"

Papamoka

Obama Changes Position On Torture Prosecution

I should start off this post that I am a firm believer that those that endorsed torture during the Bush AKA I’m really the President Cheney administration deserve no respect or gratitude from any American citizen. We live in a land of laws, and in those laws are protections of not only our citizens but our enemies. Believing in our nation comes with a price and that price is full respect of the law that we not only pass in this nation but laws we agree to as a nation with the rest of the world. That can get complicated but Prisoners Of War, POW’s, deserve fair treatment from every nation in the world. That may first sound ridiculous but how many Vietnam POW’s do you know that faced horrible torture? Just ask John McCain while he isn’t on the campaign trail on his true feelings and thoughts on torture.

President Obama today stated that he is now open to the justice department looking into prosecuting the people that authorized torture under the guise of US Government protection of America. With limitations? Over at MSNBC they have this video with President Obama explaining his change in position when it comes to prosecuting anyone involved with torture…

Video Link

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Freedom comes with a price, and that price is an understanding of what is right and what is wrong. It’s called the law of the land. In respect to President Bush and what part he and his co-horts played in this torture debate, I have to honestly think they deserve a full Presidential pardon from President Obama. President Bush swore to respect and defend America as best he could and that is what he did. He dropped the ball on respecting America but he did in fact defend America to the best of his sometimes incompetent abilities. How Bush defended America after 9/11 is up to historians to decide and not for lawyers, prosecutors, and courts to decide. An American President swears to defend America first above all else, how he or eventually she does that is for them to decide. I'm pretty sure that this Liberal is extemely controversial on this issue in asking for a pardon for President Bush. Screw Cheney though!

As for Dick Cheney, former Vice President, all of his talk on the networks is turning the tide of many moderates that used to be in the Republican Party against the Republican Party. People that have sons and daughters in the military want to know that if our government endorses torture, which Cheney denied originally, will not have their sons and daughters tortured. Parents want to know for sure that our sons and daughters will not face the same forms of torture today or in the future if their children serve proudly in America’s military. Any argument Cheney gives defending torture is an argument that has no weight to it. Go back to your hidey hole in Wyoming Dick and shut the hell up! America has grown up since the days of we must live in fear forever after 9/11. It just isn’t in our blood to do so.

The world is a much smaller place than it used to be and we need to work with our friends in the world to make it a better place to live, if not just for today but for decades to come.

Papamoka