Obama To Release CIA Interrogation Memos, Defends State Secrets

I am going to say this loud and clear. President Obama, thats a bunch of bullsh*t. None of us are buying that sh*t about moving on and letting it all go. Basically when it comes to not investigating and prosecuting the people behind torture namely the Bush Administration I say F*CK THAT. WE THE PEOPLE deserve to find out who did what and hold them to account. If we really ARE a nation of laws then thats what will happen. If not then we are NOT a nation of laws and we should all just say f*ck it and break and laws WE want to. He would have been much better of not even releasing this stupid ass statement. Truly.

Precedent is invoked; supernatural spirits are evoked.

It's either this-
" But at a time of great challenges and disturbing disunity, nothing will be gained by spending our time and energy laying blame for the past."
.
or this-
"The United States is a nation of laws"
.
Not both.

Barack Baloney now being served.

First, the interrogation techniques described in these memos have already been widely reported. Second, the previous Administration publicly acknowledged portions of the program – and some of the practices – associated with these memos.
.
I find it telling that his rationale for releasing today's memos is that the cat is out of the bag and not that its simply right.
.
erosion of the strong legal basis for maintaining the classified nature of secret activities
.
Of ourse the "classified nature" of secret activities are unaffected by them being shown to a judge in chambers, so the legal claims he's making are far more reaching than the lip service he's providing.
.
Obama has a talent with language but that just makes listening carefully MORE important.
.
Don't let up Micheal. There's still plenty of foul air yet to be unearthed.

" ..The United States is a nation of laws.

Talking of laws and interrogations, it will soon be 100 days ABO (After BHO's inauguration) and yet the KKK and Aryan Brotherhood groups as yet to be declared rightly as terrorist organizations - that have killed more Americans than the Al Queda ever did.

What are we afraid of?
Can we demand justice?

.

"Napolitano Apologizes for Offending Veterans After DHS Eyes Them for 'Rightwing Extremism' .."

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/04/16/napolitano-apologizes-offending-veterans-dhs-eyes-rightwing-extremism/

Ahem.
Wasn't that Tim McVeigh a veteran? How many Americans did he kill?
Don't we find veterans among the extremist groups and biker gangs in USA?

What sg said.

Attorney General Eric Holder is expected to announce that CIA officials who used waterboarding and other harsh interrogation methods during the Bush years will not be prosecuted, "as long as their actions were in line with the legal advice at the time,"
.
Where in history have I heard that defense before?

"as long as their actions were in line with the legal advice at the time,"
.
Now we know the recipe for future law-breaking by this and any other administration.
.
[I]t is my strong belief that the United States has a solemn duty to vigorously maintain the classified nature of certain activities and information related to national security.
.
This statement is so unexceptionable that it seems willfully obtuse.
.
This is a time for reflection, not retribution.
.
This also misses the point. In a lawful society, criminal prosecutions are not meant to be "retribution"; at least, that's not the main goal.
.
I'm glad the memos will be released, but not too happy about the rest.

President Obama is preaching to the tea bag crowd now as if they will EVER give him an ounce of support. I tell you what, its all a game until his support with Dems falls to earth and then the 27%ers drive his ratings down into the 40s. He is going to guarantee himself as a one term president. Nobody is going to want to make calls and knock on doors for a Democrat that acts like a Republican. I am beyond fed up with this sh*t.

as long as their actions were in line with the legal advice at the time,"
.
There's actually some justice to that position. Which helps explain why Spain was more interested in Addington and Yoo.
.
Another aspect of the whole debate seems lost to me. A lot of people seem to worry about the effect that the torture regime on its victims, but I have a lot of concern over its effect on the perpetrators. Certainly being tasked with being as cruel as your imagination will allow while avoiding permanently injuring your victim is not the sort of thing that improves any but the most twisted resume'

In one of my very first acts as President, I prohibited the use of these interrogation techniques by the United States because they undermine our moral authority and do not make us safer
.
No Mr President, you prohibited TORTURE. Now isn't the time to start playing with words.

This is a bone to the left, but Obama cancels out any benefits by again refusing to even think of prosecuting Bush administration officials for torture.

http://www.political-buzz.com/

What SG said.
.
I'm not going to go so far as to declare Obama to be a one-termer. I will guarantee that the '12 election will be closer than it should ever be for any President who follows the low-bar of the Bush administration.
.
I suspect that Obama has enough good will, simply by virtue of what he represents culturally, that losing re-election would be difficult. Add in the disarray of the GOP and that Obama will be rolling in Wall Street/TARP campaign donations and I won't be predicting Jimmy Carter II.
.

President Obama is wrong, Wrong, WRONG here.
.
I voted for him with the expectation that he would shine a light on this hideously dark corner of Bush's lawless and anti-American regime. I did not vote for him because I thought he was the lesser of two evils, and while no force on Earth could have moved me to pull the lever for McCain, I am not happy.

Can't stand by him on this one. Sorry Obama. Epic Fail!

Eric Holder-Also Epic Fail! Someone ask Joe why we should trust any of these people again. Or why we should just Joe when he tells us to trust people condoning this type of conduct. Chalk this up along with TARP in the failure column.

There's a lot of unreasoning shrillness in the comments above.

Obama does not want to prosecute CIA employees who relied on the legal advice from the bigwigs above. That's perfectly reasonable position, and one that is probably required politically.

Furthermore, nothing in Obama's statement provides cover for Yoo, Addington and the people who WROTE the policies. He very carefully parses them out.

So, imho this is a very good day for Obama and a big step forward to curing many wrongs that lazy douchebag journalists like Scherer never took seriously when they were occurring.

Quoting a memo:
The CIA used the waterboard extensively during the interrogation of KSM and Zubaydah [...} Have been pivolal sources because of their ability and willingness to provide their anaysis and specualtion about the [...] mindsets of terrorists.
.
So we had to waterboard them multiple times and when they eventually broke it was so they could provide their guesses as to what their accomplices might be thinking.
.
Boy, there's some brilliant detective work for you!

"There's a lot of unreasoning shrillness in the comments above."
.
Re: Unreasoning shrillness. I think you mean unreasonable, but that's neither here nor there and I not taking offense if you are calling me unreasonable and shrill on this issue. I just want to make clear my objections to Obama and Holder's actions has nothing to do with the release of the memos. They both should be commended for that and only redacting the names.
.
My problem is that crimes were committed and the memos don't detail all the crimes that were committed. Crimes that damaged and caused great harm to the entire country's reputation as a nation of laws. So now we still don't know for sure what all those crimes were because of no invesitgations or prosecutions.

For those who haven't been there yet. Here are the memos themselves:
.
http://www.aclu.org/safefree/general/olc_memos.html

egilsson1: I hope you're right. I agree that the rank-and-file deserve legal cover.

I don't see anywhere that they are not going to investigate what happened. From my reading, what they are saying is that the specific agents who performed the acts detailed in these memos won't be prosecuted.

Yes, we are a nation of laws. But, when you are a civil servant and you are told that by the Department of Justice that these laws are legal, you should have legal cover.

I agree that the rank-and-file deserve legal cover.

Were they just following orders?

egillson and orlconvict
.
Allow me to point out the problematic, nay BULLSH*T parts of the statement AGAIN.
.
Going forward, it is my strong belief that the United States has a solemn duty to vigorously maintain the classified nature of certain activities and information related to national security. This is an extraordinarily important responsibility of the presidency, and it is one that I will carry out assertively irrespective of any political concern. Consequently, the exceptional circumstances surrounding these memos should not be viewed as an erosion of the strong legal basis for maintaining the classified nature of secret activities. I will always do whatever is necessary to protect the national security of the United States.
.
This is a time for reflection, not retribution. I respect the strong views and emotions that these issues evoke. We have been through a dark and painful chapter in our history. But at a time of great challenges and disturbing disunity, nothing will be gained by spending our time and energy laying blame for the past. Our national greatness is embedded in America's ability to right its course in concert with our core values, and to move forward with confidence. That is why we must resist the forces that divide us, and instead come together on behalf of our common future.
.
Again I call BULLSH*T