President Obama; Dick Cheney & Torture
A Rose By Any Other Name Is Still A Rose
ON May 21, 2009 President Obama and former vice President Dick Cheney spoke to different audiences on how each saw the questioning of accused terrorists when it concerned the national security of the United States of America. President Obama in his speech stated the following:
The Department of Justice will today release certain memos issued by the Office of Legal Counsel between 2002 and 2005 as part of an ongoing court case. These memos speak to techniques that were used in the interrogation of terrorism suspects during that period, and their release is required by the rule of law.
President Obama felt that the release of these photos was required by law. Former vice president Cheney thought otherwise because on the same day in his speech he said “Releasing the interrogation memos was flatly contrary to the national security interests of the United States.” The question posed by each man’s statement is paramount to America’s very foundation on which is built the nation’s future. Does America’s interest trump its laws? In other words, can breaking the law be acceptable if to do so is seen by the President and Vice-President as an act to protect America’s interest? Let’s search for an answer.
President Obama said:
My judgment on the content of these memos is a matter of record. 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. Enlisting our values in the protection of our people makes us stronger and more secure. A democracy as resilient as ours must reject the false choice between our security and our ideals, and that is why these methods of interrogation are already a thing of the past.
President Obama stands in line with one of the most respected founding fathers of this nation. Benjamin Franklin himself said that a man willing to give up his rights for safety deserves neither. So we see that President Obama sees the release of these memos which in his opinion, showed that America took part in torture is info that the public already knows and to release the memos is to uphold America’s moral authority. In essence the President’s decision is saying it is the right of the American public to know what the government is doing in the name of the people. Dick Cheney attacks this position by saying:
Even before the interrogation program began, and throughout its operation, it was closely reviewed to ensure that every method used was in full compliance with the Constitution, with our statutes, and treaty obligations. On numerous occasions, leading members of Congress, including the current speaker of the House, were briefed on the program and on the methods.
Wow! How can the same behavior be looked at so differently. Is waterboarding torture, and against the law, or is it not? According to Jonathan S. Landay, McClatchy Newspapers
Cheney indicated that the Bush administration doesn't regard water-boarding as torture, and allows the CIA to use it. "It's a no-brainer for me," Cheney said at one point in an interview.
Cheney's comments, in a White House interview Tuesday with a conservative radio talk show host, appeared to reflect the Bush administration's view that the president has the constitutional power to do whatever he deems necessary to fight terrorism.
Does that mean even break the law? But Cheney does not believe the law was broken. But what does the Army, his fellow Republicans who are legislators and also who are lawyers say about waterboarding?
The U.S. Army, senior Republican lawmakers, human rights experts and many experts on the laws of war, however, consider water-boarding cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment that is banned by U.S. law and by international treaties that prohibit torture.
What? Surely this is a mis-quote. Surely Cheney’s republican comrades see supporting his position as being in the interest of the party. Would members of Cheney’s own party go against the interest of the party so as to make more important the moral standing of the nation? Hold on, Landay is getting ready to name names. Now don’t get mad at me. I didn’t write the following words. This is what Landay said was told to him:
Republican Sens. John Warner of Virginia, John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina have said that a law Bush signed last month prohibits water-boarding. The three are the sponsors of the Military Commissions Act, which authorized the administration to continue its interrogations of enemy combatants.
Graham, a military lawyer who serves in the Air Force Reserve, reaffirmed that view in an interview last week with McClatchy Newspapers.
"Water-boarding, in my opinion, would cause extreme physical and psychological pain and suffering, and it very much could run afoul of the War Crimes Act," he said, referring to a 1996 law. "It could very much open people up to prosecution under the War Crimes Act, as well as be a violation of the Detainees Treatment Act."
A revised U.S. Army Field Manual published last month bans water-boarding as "cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment."
Now Mr. Cheney, it appears that your own party members, who authorized your interrogation techniques, are telling you that George W. Bush, when he was President, and you were vice-President, signed into law that if someone used waterboarding as an interrogation technique then that person using the technique is breaking the law!! President Obama in his releasing of the memos that confirm the use of waterboarding said the following:
The United States is a nation of laws. My Administration will always act in accordance with those laws, and with an unshakeable commitment to our ideals. That is why we have released these memos, and that is why we have taken steps to ensure that the actions described within them never take place again.
In April of 2009 President Obama along with other Democratic leaders said “they would resist efforts by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other prominent Democrats to create a special commission to investigate the harsh interrogation methods that the Bush administration approved for terrorism suspects.” Mr. Cheney, President Obama is trying to give you a pass. This was the President’s initial stance. He said that he did not want to prosecute the people who carried out the waterboarding when they were advised by President Bush’s legal staff that what was being done was legal. President Obama was trying to forgive you. However, because of your continued attacks on the President’s integrity the people of the country are calling for him to prosecute those who devised the policy. Mr. Cheney, that appears to be you. The people are saying that it is not in the interest of the country to let the people who authorized waterboarding to get away with breaking the law. Instead of you, Mr. Cheney, being as quiet as you were as Vice-President you have become the most vocal of voices to somehow prove that President Obama did not take serious his oath to uphold the laws of America and to protect it at all cost within the parameters of the law. Really, I think President Obama’s knows that to prosecute you, and possibly even the former President, would cause deep divisions within this country. However, Mr. Cheney your continuous refrain is not giving him much choice. Stop it!! You want to call what members of your own party call torture as the practice of “enhanced interrogation technique.” Mr. Cheney, a rose by any other name is still a rose. You must accept that your perceived interest which you were willing to realize at the expense of the law has lost the election. People voted for a change. People put the law over your perceived interests. The people’s voted shouted loud and clear that Dick Cheney’s interests is not seen as the interest of the country. You can either go along with the change that people voted for, or get run over by its current. The choice is yours. If you choose to continue as you have, then you have chosen your interest over the laws of the land which is not in the best interests of the country. Your choice will truly tell all whether you love America more than you love yourself. Our eyes are on you. Thank you for listening to AjabuSpeaks.