We Were Only Following Orders
By Timothy V. Gatto
06 May, 2009
Countercurrents.org
The recent mention of torture under the Bush administration has reached epidemic proportions. I sincerely believe that most Americans have heard about what the previous administration did under the guise of “The Global War on Terror”. One account of the nefarious acts that were carried out by the CIA and other agencies was the water boarding 138 times of Kaleed Sheik Mohammad, the supposed “20th hijacker”.
This information in and of itself should warrant criminal investigation by the Attorney General. Eric Holder is now the one that has a choice; either investigate the crimes of the Bush Administration, or remain complicit in obstructing justice and resign. The truth is that there is absolutely no excuse for water boarding someone 138 times. What information could they possibly receive after the 138th time? This is a travesty and also a miscarriage of justice. It isn’t just the Attorney General’s office that should be concerned about this, the American people should also be ashamed and outraged of the abuse of power that went on during the Bush Administration.
The prime personality that should be wary of doing nothing about the findings the investigations came up with is the President himself. By staying silent about any future prosecution of the Bush administration, he effectively condones the actions that happened under Bush. From a strictly law viewpoint, Barack Obama could be charged for obstruction.
The American people shouldn’t be let off the hook either. When you are fully aware of what your government has done in your name, to stand mute and accept the facts is also tantamount to committing the crime just as if we were there when the crimes were committed. There is no excuse that can absolve you or I of the complicity in these crimes unless we speak out. We can do it by writing to the Attorney General, our elected representatives and demonstrating for charges to be brought against the lawbreakers.
There is a myriad of crimes that have been committed under Bush. Abu Graib was not an isolated incident. There have been renditions of people that have been sent to secret CIA facilities and also to foreign nations that practice torture. How many people were rendered? How many people were innocent? We have no knowledge because our government has not been forthcoming. This is not “open government” or “transparency” that Obama promised.
We have a golden opportunity to right the wrongs that the Bush Administration committed. We know that the American people have rejected the Republican Party by the way they cast their vote last November. That isn’t the end, it’s just the beginning. We must hold all the people accountable that participated in torture and violations of the Geneva Conventions. We need to uphold the basic tenents of a moral civilization. The German people were complicit in the crimes’ of Adolf Hitler. History has already made that judgment. Let us not be thrown into the same category.
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