Deja vu all over again: Obama to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan

It disappoints me that he keeps invoking September 11 and Al Qaeda, all the while ignoring that they arose in Saudi Arabia. I believe he knows better and that makes these remarks all the more suspect. He tries to mitigate the impact by suggesting that NATO and ‘our friends’ support this.

They may support it in theory, but I’ll be surprised to see them send a significant number of troops to join the 30,000.

It is true that the inexcuseable dithering of the Bush administration has put Obama in this damned if you do, and damned if you don’t situation.

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Torture: we know it when we see it, or should

according the Office of Legal Counsel/Bybee memos, this form of coercement, drafted in response to a requests from George Tenent’s CIA and routed through White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales, defined the moment that America stepped into the sickenly murky waters of torture, and abuse of power and authority that we’ve roundly criticized others for. It appears that then Secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice was aware of the turn of events, in addition to other high ranking Bush administration staffers and cabinet members.

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Sign the Leahy 'Bush Truth Commission' petition

68,908 signatures so far… keep it going!

I have proposed the idea of a truth and reconciliation commission to investigate abuses during the Bush-Cheney Administration — so they never happen again. These abuses may include the use of torture, warrantless wiretapping, extraordinary rendition, and executive override of laws.

Please sign this online petition, urging Congress to consider establishing a truth and reconciliation commission to investigate the Bush-Cheney Administration’s abuses.

Thank you,

Patrick Leahy
U.S. Senator

Full Petition Text:

I hereby join Senator Patrick Leahy’s call for the establishment of a truth and reconciliation commission, to investigate the Bush-Cheney Administration’s constitutional abuses so we make sure they never happen again. These abuses may include the use of torture, warrantless wiretapping, extraordinary rendition, and executive override of laws.

A truth and reconciliation commission should be tasked with seeking answers so that we can develop a shared understanding of the failures of the recent past. Rather than vengeance, we need a fair-minded pursuit of what actually happened. The best way to move forward is getting to the truth and finding out what happened — so we can make sure it does not happen again.

 Signed by:
[Your name]