Posted on 05/13/2009 6:33:03 PM PDT by Free ThinkerNY
President Barack Obama’s decision to withhold photographs of abused detainees marks the next phase in the education of the new president on the complicated, combustible issue of torture.
Conservatives praised the move as a sign of Obama’s growth in office, while civil libertarians denounced it as a betrayal of the change he’d campaigned on.
But it also marked a growing recognition inside the White House of how explosive the question of torture has become — swamping his predecessor’s legacy, entangling the speaker of the House and threatening to overwhelm Obama’s agenda.
“He plainly does not want his agenda sidetracked by a long debate over torture — much less high-profile prosecutions,” said former Clinton aide Paul Begala. “And yet there is no avoiding the issue. It will not go away, and wishing it away won’t work.”
Begala said he favors establishing an independent commission to investigate torture, which Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton both appeared to support for one day last month before backtracking.
The administration also has sent mixed signals on prosecuting former Bush administration officials involved in devising interrogation policy.
And Obama has departed from campaign rhetoric on other national security matters in a series of quiet legal filings, from asserting the state secrets privilege to trying to block court access for detainees in Afghanistan.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, meanwhile, has found herself under intense scrutiny over what she knew about Bush administration interrogation policy and when — and what she did to oppose it.
The uproar seems to have vindicated — politically speaking — the voices inside the administration who opposed releasing the initial Bush “torture memos” four weeks ago.
(Excerpt) Read more at politico.com ...
Hoisted on their own petard! In their drive to descredit the Bush Administration, they find themselves unable to get past the fallout of what they knew.
major flipfloppage - and with a 50/50 chance of getting it right, he did so on the second chance.
Maybe 0bama, Pelosi, Reid, Emanuel, et al, have actually learned that the members of the armed services vote, pay taxes, buy stuff, and put their lives on the line for the likes of 0bama, Pelosi, Reid, Emanuel, et al.
Then again, there is absolutely No f’n way I’d cross the Rubicon with the military of the US, militarily, politically or otherwise.
The photos will be “leaked”, the WH will promptly weigh in on how the images do not represent America’s new direction, and empty words will be uttered in flimsy defence of armed forces personnel still in the field.
All the benefits from releasing the photos, but with few (none political) of the costs.
Complete BS. No real conservative believes Obama is growing or maturing.
These aren’t the first things Obama’s withheld.
He’s also withheld the rest of the photos from Scare Force One and his birth certificate (he wouldn’t still be litigating against its release if it had already BEEN released).
My $.02 worth.......I’ll bet ya’....somehow they’ll be leaked. Watch this space.
President Clueless. Shooting off your big mouth to appease the MSNBC basement dwellers is not turning out the way to be good policy-I’m guessing the Kenyan is having second thoughts about how this all appears to normal Americans...who vote.
Neither. The whole thing was to extend the Abu Ghraib schtick, but there were no more photographs. So, they just declared there were more photographs, got everyone all hot and bothered, and then had Obama cancel the "release." That way, everyone's imaginations run wild, the photographs can be treated as "fact" even though no one ever saw them and even though plausable deniability has been created by declaring their lack of importance (but only after everyone got all excited in the buildup). It's just fairly simple psyops, but the liberals will lap it up and regurgitate it on command for years to come.
Although technically he did "get it right" the second time, the fact that he very publicly got it wrong the first time is the central point. There are those who won't hear of this second time; and those who are aware of the flip-flop will include those who will take advantage of Obama's fecklessness.
Obama is much enamored of the Grand Gesture. Heaven help us if he can't learn to think more carefully before making any more of them.
Why does the store of Brer Rabbit and the Tar Baby come to mind?
This is why Presidents should not go around babbling about every issue. You bring the subject up YOU HAVE TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.
He thought this would be a fun way to score some easy points. Now he wishes he had just left it alone.
If it wasn't for the fact that he has put our country in danger this would be funny. As it is, I am furious.
Even if they are leaked Obama cannot escape the blame. He’d better pray to Allah that they never see the light of day.
Well the fun part is that an appelate court ordered the release of the photos due to a lawsuit by the ACLU. Biggety said he would abide by the decision and release the photos rather than take it to SCOTUS.
So the ACLU now has to push it further up the chain.
Red on red...we win.
The polls tell obama what to do and real conservatives know that
“Conservatives praised the move as a sign of Obama’s growth in office.....”
A crock.
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