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Monday, April 20, 2009
Paul Greenberg :: Townhall.com Columnist
Leave Them to History
by Paul Greenberg
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No, better to end the recriminations here and now. Maybe with one more vague bow in the direction of those angry emotions the president appealed to when he was still waging his charismatic campaign. To quote another part of his statement: "We have been through a dark and painful chapter in our national history."

By dark and painful, do you think the president meant the past eight years during which our intelligence agencies prevented another disastrous act of terror on these shores? Or the harsh tactics that turned a defiant Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, into the most talkative of prisoners, unveiling al-Qaida's plans, hopes and table of organization with considerable pride and enthusiasm?

No need to go into detail. A nice, palliative phrase like "a dark and painful chapter of our history" can mean whatever the listener wants it to. It is part of Barack Obama's promethean genius as a rhetorician that he can please all while saying nothing.

Yes, grave injustices were surely committed during the War on Terror, and more are in the offing as the war continues by another name. It happens in every war. But would those injustices be righted by turning criminal prosecutors loose against those who have been doing their duty? Imagine how they would have been pilloried if they had not prevented another major terrorist attack on American soil. Think of the finger pointing in the immediate aftermath of 9/11.

Both the CIA and the Defense Department have in-house investigations, even courts-martial, to look into abuses of the laws of war and the derelictions of secret agents. Let's leave it to those agencies to pursue any wrongdoing in this war on terror -- not start a witch hunt.

There are some offenses best addressed by courts of law and others that are better left to the higher court called History. It would be an act of presumption, another word for audacity, for a president to infringe on its jurisdiction. Clio, muse of history, tends to get the last word. And on some matters, like this one, should.

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(18 comments so Far)
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Reply # 1
Date: Apr 21, 2009 - 4:10 PM EST
The torture they chose not to describe
Many people have read the Red Cross accounts, based on private interviews with detainees. One thing was missing from every one of those accounts, though: the “torture” of not getting to carry out the plans on which some (not of course all) of the captives had set their hearts.
They had dreamed of pleasing their leaders and their God by killing many Americans and Israelis in glorious suicide/homicide missions and were terribly frustrated and depressed by the mere fact that they remained alive in US custody and would presumably remain alive for years to come. This frustration alone might qualify as "torture" if anyone wished to define it that way. It might even, in some cases, have been the worst torture they endured.
And certainly if they were slapped in the face or kept in a cold room naked or confined in a box or shackled in a chair or had water poured into their mouths and noses, these painful insults exacerbated their unhappiness. And if as a result they actually TOLD their captors things that prevented others from carrying out the homicides and tortures on which these others’ hearts had been set, surely the knowledge of their betrayal must have added IMMEASURABLY to their other tortures.
Those who do not have to deal concretely with the dangerous people in our custody may feel free to hold the US and Israel to a high and absolute standard of purity. But President Obama has actual responsibility for the safety of our citizens and must decide what compromises he will allow—and then act. It will be interesting to see what he does, and what consequences will follow.
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Reply # 2
Date: Apr 21, 2009 - 11:43 AM EST
Lon, You're Full of It
You pile up and mix half truths, gossip, unsubstantiated allegations, with outright lies. All for the simple sake of continueing a vendetta against a group of people who no longer serve in office. Well guess what? The President and Holder found nothing. Do you think for a second if they would have found a smoking gun, they wouldn't use it?

You may also note that the President very artfully said that he would continue all of President Bush's policies including waterboarding. It's just that no waterboarding would be occuring at GITMO. That is because the new GIMO will be Bagram Afghanistan. Currently, the President is in a catfight with the DC Federal Judge who said the detainees at Bagram should be given Habeous Corpus rights similar to GITMO. Obama said, no way. So the "torture", captivity, and rendition policies go on. And Afghanistan is a long way from DC. Not very nice place, nor easy to get to for ACLU lawyers. It's in the middle of Indian Country.

Have fun protesting the man you elected.
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