I have tried to point this out several times over the last few days and weeks. President Obama does not and cannot say whether or not we can prosecute or investigate anyone for torture. That is up to Congress and the Attorney General.
Pres. Obama in a quick Q&A session after a meeting with King Abdullah of Jordan stated that AG Holder would have the final and only say so in who or if there would be investigations of Bush Era Administration Officials for torture.
Watch this interview with David Shuster and Ben Cardin (D,MD) for their take on the statement from Pres. Obama.
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4 comments:
annette... no one was disagreeing with you...people are just worried....- what really muddied the waters was Rahm Emmanueal and Axelrod saying that Obama wants to focus on the future- not the past....it created alot of worry for those of us that voted for him because he is a Constitutional Lawyer and who had seen him speak in person- what we heard him say on the road- and then he was silent about the same issues now- that was and is concerning....
I was very glad to hear him speak on his own today...
I think this is the most complicated difficult situation Obama faces because it means investigating and prosecuting a former president...it s unchartered waters....and on another front- Holder does not have ALL his team in place yet to even fix the JD- so timing wise - he is not ready yet....
I think it is a mess and it will take time to sort this out....but clearly the torture issue is not going away....
Nobody wants to see this being the *buck* that continues to get passed. It would have been nice for Obama to officially turn it over to the AG to do an investigation-- it's a damned political hot potato.
Which is what is soooooo frustrating-- a serious string of violations that MUST be prosecuted, if we are to be a lawful society in both domestic & international laws.
The thing that pisses me off is how they pounced on Impeaching Clinton for a sex scandal.... and Bush & Cheney & their band of thugs have so far walked away scott free for severe human rights violations.
So yea.... we don't want apathetic America to just let this go, the people should be screaming mad-- and we don;t want politicians playing politics-- is this popular? Will I get votes.
In Obamas defense he has his hands full dealing with all the other Bush messes.... so many severe problems & I don't blame him for not wanting to be personally immersed in this lawsuit for the 4 years of his term..... but he released the info, and expects the truth will set us free (and put the bastards in jail!).
Annette, there are a lot of new developments. A hearing by the House Judiciary Committee, a Senate report that just came out that said the Bushies based their torture techniques on Chinese Communist methods. Sen. Carl Levin has called on A.G. Eric Holder to do something. DOJ is coming out with a new report in a few days. Details on my blog. Things are finally HAPPPENING!
Annette, you're right. It's not up to the president to prosecute or decide who to prosecute. What he really thinks about all this, I don't know. Possibly he really is reluctant because making martyrs out of members of the Bush administration could do real damage to the things he wants to get done in the country. Or maybe he's fine with it being done this way. Don't know, but it's going to be interesting for the next few years.
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