It seems as if politicians these days have no integrity, no soul. The political pandering to interest groups never gets old, and promises of government transparencies are being found hard to keep. Voters are regarded as fools for believing messages of change, while elected officials on both sides of the aisle keep posturing to do whatever they can to keep their seats in the Senate and the House.
One GOP senator jumps ship, citing ideological differences with the more conservative elements of the Republican Party. But in a state that is increasingly becoming more Democratic, was it just mere coincidence that Senator Arlen Specter switched affiliation to the Democratic Party with his re-election season coming up?
The man who said that we can, and promised a new wave of transparency in the government, has recently upset his friends to the left when he decided this week to prevent the release of photos from Abu Ghraib. What happened to transparency, Mr. President? Keeping electoral promises isn't so easy now, is it? And now today, the White House confirmed that the US would continue to employ former President Bush's controversial military commission to prosecute detainees in Gitmo. That sure does look like change to me. Yes, we can.
And then there is the first madam speaker of the House of Representative from California. Nancy Pelosi, the vocal critic of the Bush administration, finds herself in a bit of a sticky situation. The madam speaker is adored by those on the left for her outspoken objection to the use of torture during the Bush administration. I sincerely applaud her stance on that. But you see, Ms. Pelosi forgot to mention that in 2003, she, along with other House Intelligence Committee members, were briefed by the CIA on its interrogation methods during the war on terror. Today, she disputed CIA records that listed 40 briefs that the committee received from the intelligence agency in which members of the committee were allegedly told the use of waterboarding during interrogation. A record of 40 briefings in which she was told that the CIA was torturing detainees in 2003, and she waits until 2007 to formally decry the CIA's methods of interrogation. Does Ms. Pelosi really think we're idiotic enough to actually believe her?
So in conclusion, politics is a soul-less world, void of any meaningful convictions and integrity. Flip-flopping around is the norm, and doing anything politically expedient is to be expected. But hey, at least in America, people like me who publicly criticize officials expect to live after wielding such criticisms unlike in other countries. I have that to be thankful for, right?
read more here and here and here and here.
Showing posts with label cia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cia. Show all posts
Friday, May 15, 2009
Sunday, April 19, 2009
CIA Memos
This past week, Pres. Obama released four CIA memos during the Bush Administration that detailed the use of torture in interrogation. In the news cycle of Pres. Obama cozying up to Venezuelan president, Hugo Chavez, a vocal anti-Americanist, the release of CIA memos has seemingly gone under the radar. But as much as I try to give the benefit of the doubt to the new president, I cannot understand how he could have supported to reveal highly sensitive intelligence memos to the public in the midst of war.
I am vehemently opposed to the use of torture in any circumstance. The Geneva Convention is not outdated just because the world is threatened by non-state actors and terrorism fears. Supporters of Pres. Obama's decision to release these memos argue that the CIA tactics should never have been used in the first place and will never be used anymore; hence, the release of these memos expose no real national security threat. However, while I understand these techniques will never be employed, I believe these memos are highly classified information and its release serves no purpose except to mollify Pres. Obama's supporters who've become antsy in the president's lack of willingness to stray too far from the Bush Administration, especially the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. It was a politically expedient move that throws the CIA under the bus at a time when both wars hinge on the gathering and analyzing of human intellegence. Sure, the Obama administration has not called for prosecution of CIA agents, but nonetheless, idealistic decisions like this hampers the intelligence community from doing its job and protecting the nation's interest while emboldening terrorists abroad.
The honeymoon stage is over for President Obama. His first hundred days are coming to an end, and now he can no longer rely on the anti-Bushism to secure his legitimacy. He alone must own up to foreign policy decision like this and piracy in Somalia as well as domestic issues such as the economic crisis. And from the looks of his decisions of late, behind the charming and eloquent rhetoric of his speeches, he seems to be choosing to do whatever is politically expedient for his political legacy rather than the interest of the American people. The change that he promised during his campaign has not come in any shape or form, and Washington politics is business as usual (although I will praise Secretary of Defense Gates' proposal to completely revamp the military budget to scrap Cold-War era projects and shift military priorities towards emerging challenges in insurgency warfare, etc.). Its time to keep Pres. Obama accountable on his promise of bipartisanship and change.
I am vehemently opposed to the use of torture in any circumstance. The Geneva Convention is not outdated just because the world is threatened by non-state actors and terrorism fears. Supporters of Pres. Obama's decision to release these memos argue that the CIA tactics should never have been used in the first place and will never be used anymore; hence, the release of these memos expose no real national security threat. However, while I understand these techniques will never be employed, I believe these memos are highly classified information and its release serves no purpose except to mollify Pres. Obama's supporters who've become antsy in the president's lack of willingness to stray too far from the Bush Administration, especially the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. It was a politically expedient move that throws the CIA under the bus at a time when both wars hinge on the gathering and analyzing of human intellegence. Sure, the Obama administration has not called for prosecution of CIA agents, but nonetheless, idealistic decisions like this hampers the intelligence community from doing its job and protecting the nation's interest while emboldening terrorists abroad.
The honeymoon stage is over for President Obama. His first hundred days are coming to an end, and now he can no longer rely on the anti-Bushism to secure his legitimacy. He alone must own up to foreign policy decision like this and piracy in Somalia as well as domestic issues such as the economic crisis. And from the looks of his decisions of late, behind the charming and eloquent rhetoric of his speeches, he seems to be choosing to do whatever is politically expedient for his political legacy rather than the interest of the American people. The change that he promised during his campaign has not come in any shape or form, and Washington politics is business as usual (although I will praise Secretary of Defense Gates' proposal to completely revamp the military budget to scrap Cold-War era projects and shift military priorities towards emerging challenges in insurgency warfare, etc.). Its time to keep Pres. Obama accountable on his promise of bipartisanship and change.
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