A Duplicitous Deliverer? A Look at "Change" and Torture
Doug Wallace
Barack Obama promised to deliver change to America in deference to the "way things are done in Washington." So far, that is only partially true. While he had the courage to publish the Torture Memos of the Bush Administration, he has missed the point altogether on the issue of punishment of those who actually delivered the torture.
With the release of the Torture Memos, we discover that Kalid Sheik Mohammed was water boarded 183 times in order to get his phony confession about plotting 9-11. Two years ago, I wrote about the unreliability of that confession.
I had a number of questions to ask him to prove to rational people that he indeed had planned and plotted the destruction of the World Trade Center Towers. If he could answer those questions, then perhaps he might be guilty of more that just confessing to his torturers to end the water boarding. Of course he couldn't because he knew nothing about the involvement of the CIA, Mossad and Mormons in the conspiracy which I reported recently on Opednews.
When politicians pledge to do what the voters want done and then upon gaining office, refuse to perform, they ought to be dumped out of office for defrauding their constituency. It's as basic as violating the terms of a contract rendering the contract null and void, removing the liar from office.
A rifle has two sights one front, one rear. To point the front sight without alignment with the rear sight makes the shot worthless. It's nearly the same thing as saying a person who cannot remember history is condemned to repeat it. It could be like a bullet from an unsighted gun recocheting full circle and hitting the shooter in the back of the head.
We need a sense of history in order to move forward. When Obama reacts to questions about prosecuting those responsible for water boarding and crimes against humanity, he responds by saying he merely wants to move on (forward). He is either foolishly attempting to walk a center line politically or simply doesn't understand the need to not allow precedent to stand for future justification in doing the same thing again.
The prosecution of those responsible for the violations of the Geneva Conventions and human rights must stand trial and be punished upon conviction or this country is not going forward... merely in circles. Non-punishment of Americans who participated in the torture will send a signal of precedence to other nations who will feel justified in the torture of prisoners of wa, Americans included!
Feeling sorry for the individuals on the delivery end who may have been under orders from superiors is blind siding international law and especially the Articles of the Nuremberg Tribunal which had to deal with the defense issue of Nazis' who claimed they were under orders to do what they did. Under Nuremberg Principle IV, The fact that a person acted pursuant to order of his Government or of a superior does not relieve him from responsibility under international law, provided a moral choice was in fact possible to him. Refusal to comply with an order to torture was available to any person on the delivery end of the torture.
Individuals like Mormon Jay Bybee who actually wrote the torture memo were rewarded with an advanced promise of lifetime office as a Judge of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Quid pro quo!
At a minimum he should be disbarred in Nevada as an attorney and should be impeached for failure to disclose to the Senate his participation in drafting the memos. At a maximum, he should serve time in Federal prison for that crime.
John Yoo should likewise be dealt with. Being glorified with tenure as a professor of law is as absurd as the torture memos he is responsible for passing on to Bush and Cheney for justification in violating the law. When an attorney is responsible for violating his oath of bar membership and of held office, in attempting to justify conduct proscribed by the Constitution and treaties of the United States which makes up the supreme law of the land, then he should be disbarred immediately. If not, why not? When will those in position to act, step up to the plate and act?
Going a little deeper, I believe that refusal on the part of Barrack Obama to execute the laws of the United States and its Treaties which he is sworn to uphold is tantamount to a crime itself which is an impeachable offense. By this I mean he has now become an accessory after the fact. Not prosecuting the offenders is not an option. He is required to uphold the law. The same goes for his appointed Attorney General. Act or step aside by appointing a special prosecutor and let an impartial man or woman fill the post.
Dick Cheney's recent attempt to justify torture by exclaiming that valuable intelligence was procured because of it cannot justify the acts of torture. As stated in the beginning of this article, the alleged "voluntary" confession of Kalid Sheik Mohammad as reported back in March 2007 was anything but voluntary after 183 water boardings and is totally unreliable.
Since I number myself among those asserting the official story of 9-11 was THE planted Conspiracy Theory, not reality, the eagerness by which the Bush Administration pursued a "War on Terror" and has sought the capture of anyone it wishes to name an "enemy combatant" imprisoning and torturing to obtain confessions is done solely to support the "official conspiracy Theory" when in fact the real conspiracy involved Dick Cheney and members of the Bush Administration. A Special Prosecutor on the torture issue should be given wide discretion to go all the way in establishing 9-11 was an inside false flag operation of the government!
Author's Bio:
Retired General Contractor and ATTORNEY AT LAW
Credentials include pressuring the LDS church to accept racial equality
with Black men some 30 years ago by public action.
www.opednews.com/articles/A-DUPLICITOUS-DELIVERER--by-Doug-Wallace-090423-608.html