REpublican torture has made us less safe.

[WingDinger]

The torture of prisoners in Guantanamo, has made us all less safe in several ways. It serves as a recruitment tool for terrorists. It makes us argue about their treatment. It sets the Un against us. It ruins our track record on such things. It makes US soldiers torture targets.

When Obama promised to attend to shuttering Guantanamo, little did he realize that the Republican torture would dissallow prosecution of even open and shut terrorists. The only possibility for these prosecutions was independently developed evidence. Bush, and his ghouls weren't really interested in this, and used the prisoners as the rhetorical equivalent of a cops throwdown weapon. To adhoc scam us into accepting their claims against Iraq, and Saddam. They were to admit to BOGUS plots and plans.

Is it any wonder, that now, it is difficult, if not impossible to deal with the problem? Are many of these men dangerous? Yes. Are many of them now dangerous, and were just martyrs when they arrived? Undoubtedly.

The issue not dealt with at Faux, and even in the real press, is this is ALL the fault of the lying traitors in the Bush admin. They created this nightmare scenario. And who gets the blame? The guy trying to deal with it in a responsible fashion. Like all the other scams and traps set up by REpublicans, they were set to explode on someone elses watch. Probably this was intended, as they offered a doddering relic, to challenge our man. So, Obama gets the blame, not only from the Faux drones, but by his base too. To the degree that his base threatens to dissown him.

It would be funny if it weren't so sad. An act that should see Bush and gang in the Hague, reaps dividends in elections. And we castigate the well meaning.

Mission accomplished.

[TBF]

1. As does the torture that continues at Bagram, Afghanistan -

and btw Guantanamo is not closed yet.

[WingDinger]

2. and how would YOU responsibly close Guantanamo?

[TBF]

3. I would "responsibly" close Guantanamo and hundreds of other

overseas bases. We have no business policing the world.

[WingDinger]

4. What an easy copout. HOW?

[gratuitous]

5. Close Guantanamo, repatriate its victims

Compensate them for their lost time because we will never be able to prosecute them, apologize publicly, promise to do better in the future, and conduct our foreign policy responsibly through diplomacy (and not the gunboat kind) rather than torture. It would also be nice if we investigated our own misconduct and prosecuted the wrongdoers. Because as sure as God made little green apples, if we don't take care of it, someone else will, and they might not be too careful about legal rules of procedure, or even getting the right people. They may just decide that harming Americans, any Americans they can get at, is the way to right our wrongs.

You don't mind getting killed, or having a loved one killed, for the crimes of the government, do you?

[WingDinger]

6. How likely do you think getting compensation past the HOUSE is?

or any other monies to do any of this?

[gratuitous]

7. Not my concern

I'm just advocating for what I think we ought to do, and I'm not really interested in the post hoc rationalizations of the party that perpetrated these crimes. The bottom line (which Republicans seems preternaturally preoccupied with) is that if we don't police ourselves, someone else will. It might be an international tribunal that follows rules of evidence and procedure in a manner that would be recognized as a court proceeding. But quite a bit more likely, the victims (or their survivors) of our crimes will retaliate as best they can, reaching the targets they're able to affect in their righteous anger.

As I said, if folks don't mind paying with their lives for the crimes of others, then we should just go along as we have. But if we're interested in something more closely resembling justice, it's up to us to investigate our crimes, develop the evidence, convict and punish the guilty, and make such reparations to the victims as we can. Failing to do any of this merely compounds the crime, and puts all of us even more at risk.

[WingDinger]

8. Would you allow this to ruin our party, or perpetuate the Republicans in power?

Capable of perpetrating more of same? If we had moved to prosecute Bush criminals immed, we would suffer from the idiots that hear American Exceptionalism as patriotism. Likely, the rethugs would be back in the saddle, and gung ho for finishing the PNAC goals.

I too would like a clean end to all of this. That is not how our system works, and not an option in reality, when you are the countries CEO. Doing the right thing will get you booted, if you are lucky, and ad hoc capital punishment, if not.

[gratuitous]

9. But when no investigation is conducted

No facts are developed, no evidence is brought to light, there is no compunction whatsoever on the part of the wrongdoers to lie about what they did. By the time the Watergate hearings were over, the country was quite ready to see Nixon impeached and tried for his crimes. The evidence had been developed and the facts were laid bare. Instead, Gerald Ford provided cover for Nixon and his associates to remain in government, be rehabilitated, and over and over we saw the return of the likes of Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney to the corridors of power. The Watergate past turned out to be the prelude for the second Bush administration, with many of the same actors 30 years later reprising their roles in subverting the Constitution, but now on a much larger stage.

Reality is what events make it. By refusing to investigate the Bush administration and develop the evidence of its actions, the Obama administration and Congress failed their duty, and they failed the country. Considering what came back to us from Watergate and the decapitation of the Iran/contra affair by the first President Bush, what comes back in the next 10 to 15 years will be even worse. The perpetrators have been emboldened and will be even more criminal at that time directly due to the failure to do anything this time, and for that, a share of the blame must be assigned to the Democratic "leadership."

[WingDinger]

10. It is obviously strictly true, they have failed their responsibility.