Under George Bush, torture was official policy. It remains so under Barack Obama in defiance of US and international laws that prohibit it under all circumstances, at all times, with no exceptions allowed ever. FULL ARTICLE
Shakespeare said it best: ” The fault dear Brutus, is not in our stars….. But in ourselves.”
The fault, Mr. President, in our present situation, is ‘ not in our stars… But in our stripes.’
The American stars are something to be proud of, sir. Represented by the stars on our flag, they stand for truth and justice for all. It seems to me, that the stripes that are represented on our flag, now stand for the stripes worn by our detainees , and for the stripes that we force other nations to wear when we dominate them. Continue reading →
On the one hand, we have President Obama assuring us that under his administration, there will be respect for the rule of law, and on the other hand we have this one-time constitutional law professor and his attorney general declaiming that there is no need for the appointment of a prosecutor to bring charges against the people in the last administration, in the CIA, in the National Security Agency and in the Defense Department and the military who clearly have broken the law in serious and felonious ways. FULL ARTICLE
How many Obama-ordered civilian deaths in foreign lands will you tolerate before speaking out and taking action? Three Pakistani children are three too many for me. FULL ARTICLE
I know, as almost all Americans, that you had absolutely nothing to do with the use of torture by our government. I would hope that you, and all Americans, would take the time to view the many documentaries regarding our government’s torture of detainees .
No, let me go one step further, before the ‘apologists ‘chime in with the ‘few bad apples ‘argument. It is known, by many investigative accounts, that the very highest levels of the Bush administration, right up to the President, Vice President and Secretary of Defense, either ordered or allowed torture. Continue reading →
“The era of responsibility is not never making mistakes, it’s owning up to them and trying to make sure you do not repeat them.”
– President Obama, February 3rd
Our chance to learn from, fix and never repeat the policies that brought us torture, illegal detention, Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib is passing us by.
President Obama has already issued orders to close Guantanamo Bay and end torture. Though the orders are a major step in the right direction, they don’t tell us how the world’s most powerful democracy chose to renounce human rights and the rule of law.Continue reading →
War crimes are not exclusive to the military and are often perpetrated through command from the political top down. Many Nazis were prosecuted following WWII that never pulled a trigger or gassed an individual, yet sent orders and directives aimed at genocide, torture and or illegal mass executions. FULL ARTICLE
I live in this area. I am asking you, as county prosecutor, to go forward with the process to hold both George Bush and Dick Cheney criminally responsible for the illegal attack on Iraq, which resulted in the deaths of over 4000 of our soldiers and countless Iraqi civilians. It is time that we, as citizens, do what even our new President Obama stated in his press conference: ” No One is above the law… ”
Please contact Mr. Vincent Bugliosi for information on what you could and should be doing to bring justice to these men.
Remember the famous quote: “Let justice prevail … or may the heavens fall! “
I shared pot luck with some activists with World Can’t Wait in New York City last week. We were looking at what’s changed with the Obama presidency, and what continues from the Bush years. The discussion turned to whether the Executive Orders Barack Obama issued will end torture by the United States.
Yes, United States policy will be different from what it’s been under Dick “waterboarding — it’s a no brainer” Cheney. The generals are telling President Obama that the torture at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo has not just damaged the US reputation, but contributed to US losses in Iraq. Worldwide public opinion — and protests here in the US that affected US public opinion — turned against Bush. Obama, as the new commander in chief of a largely disgraced military, wants to distance his administration from the policies associated with Bush. Continue reading →
Is there anyone left out there who hasn’t been sucked into TV Land – British (or American) style – who can still attest to life devoid of the culturally (politically) requisite 3.75 hours of daily TV watching, or 26.25 hours per week? It’s worth noting that Deborah Orr tells us within her below article, published in today’s Independent newspaper, that these figures only include broadcast television, not watching DVDs, films in cinemas, YouTube or other internet-broadcast content. FULL ARTICLE
