My friend Dick Kazan does not think so, and is speaking out. As someone who has held 100's of 1 man candlelight vigils protesting the war in Iraq and Afghanistan (you can read the summary of each weekly vigil, here -
http://candlelightvigils.blogspot.com ), he is upset and disappointed with the choices President Obama has made in regard to the expansion of our military positions in Afghanistan and Pakistan, as well as the continued occupation in Iraq. Here is his latest column, and he appreciates your comments, both positive and negative.
George W. Bush Was Right!Apparently, George W. Bush was right in suspending the legal rights of "terrorists," torturing them, showing no pictures of that torture and setting up military tribunals instead of court trials. Few were ever tried, the rest were just held indefinitely with no charges. And Mr. Bush fought wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
He also gave out huge piles of cash as bailouts to giant corporations at the expense of the vast number of hard working Americans.
That Mr. Bush was right is my impression from President Obama's actions. Despite his campaign promises to the contrary and his pledges of "change" and "transparency," Mr. Obama is following in Mr. Bush's footsteps.
Alleged "terrorists" will still have their legal rights suspended. Some may face military tribunals in which their rights will be severely limited while others will simply be held indefinitely. President Obama retains the option of sending suspects to other nations for questioning, for as Mr. Bush said, "America doesn't torture."
As for the wars, instead of getting out of Iraq, Mr. Obama is following the Bush plan, including the continued use of up to 180,000 mercenaries. And when he finally does draw down the U.S. soldiers, he plans to send them to Afghanistan and Pakistan to fight as he rapidly escalates those wars.
As for Mr. Bush's giant corporate bailouts at the expense of working class America it continues on a grander scale under Mr. Obama. And as with Mr. Bush, no corporate titans are held accountable for their recklessness nor is there any transparency as to how the taxpayer's bailout money is being used.
As for Mr. Obama not releasing the torture pictures despite his promise to do so, that makes good sense. Those torture pictures would serve as graphic evidence the U.S. violated its own Constitution and The Geneva Convention as well as the United Nations charter the U.S. helped to write.
Mr. Obama would then be compelled by law and by world opinion to put the perpetrators on trial. And those perpetrators include President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney among others and may include House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. After all, in America nobody is above the law.
It's best to sweep it under the carpet and let people forget it. The risk is that some principled pesky reporters will get those pictures and publish them. That would be a form of what happened with Watergate.
If all of this offends you, you could raise your voice and compel Mr. Obama to live up to his promises and to enforce the law. In America, you are in charge, not those who in your silence seized your rights. Desperately, the world looks to you to restore a compassionate and peaceful America, and one that acts with fiscal integrity before it bankrupts us all.
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