Did anyone see Joe Klein’s article this week, “The Bush Administration’s Most Despicable Act”? In it he speaks of Bush signing the memorandum in 2002 which said that the Third Geneva Convention, treatment of military prisoners, did not apply to members of al-Qaeda or the Taliban. This is what led to the torture at Abu Ghraib and the abuses at Guantanamo.
After discussing the situation at length, and the activities of the Bushies which both allowed and trained America’s military in the ways of torture and interrogation, with no proof that such abysmal practises worked, Klein comes up with an interesting solution. Thinking it over, I buy it. It would keep such a thing from happening again without screwing up Obama’s administration… tu wit:
If Barack Obama really wanted to be cagey, he could pardon Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld for the possible commission of war crimes. Then they’d have to live with official acknowledgment of their ignominy in perpetuity. More likely, Obama will simply make sure — through his excellent team of legal appointees — that no such behavior happens again. Still, there should be some official acknowledgment by the U.S. government that the Bush Administration’s policies were reprehensible, and quite possibly illegal, and that the U.S. is no longer in the torture business. If Obama doesn’t want to make that statement, perhaps we could do it in the form of a Bush Memorial in Washington: a statue of the hooded Abu Ghraib prisoner in cruciform stress position — the real Bush legacy.
And I’m ready to donate my ten bucks to said Bush Memorial.
If Obama truly wants to “make sure that no such behavior happens again” he’ll shut down the School of the Americas or whatever they’re calling it now.
Nothing with the name ‘Bush’ on it will ever see my $10. I expect to need to buy food in the future.
I don’t read it, but suppose that Time magazine published that article to buy its way out of taking responsibility for its support of the administration up to now.
joke line’s a fu*king idiot, and that’s all l’ll say about that worthless screed.
however, don’t hold your breath waiting on an independent prosecutor or a special commission to investigate the crimes of the BushCo™ administration anytime soon from the incoming Obama administration.
from “This Week” w/ george stephanopoulos. transcript p.3:
certainly, making sure the rule of law is restored is important, and there are very high expectations with regard to what that will, or should, constitute.
that being said, failure to clearly and openly expose and prosecute the crimes that have been committed is a recipe that will result in continued, further distrust of american motives, and will make any efforts to restore americas’ standing in the world, let alone it’s role as a trusted arbiter in which any confidence can be placed, extremely difficult. there needs to be very serious, in depth, house cleaning undertaken as a first step.
l suspect we’re going to greatly disappointed in this regard.
heh…via tom tommorow: