“Watching Dick Cheney defend the Bush administration’s interrogation policies, it’s been hard to escape the impression that both the Republican Party and the country would be better off today if Cheney, rather than John McCain, had been a candidate for president in 2008,” wrote columnist Ross Douthat. He argued that a Cheney-for-president campaign would have helped the GOP determine if its losses were due to a failure to be conservative enough, as many think. The campaign also would have forced the public to confront the torture issue.
A paradox of the torture scandal is “that it is not about things we didn’t know but about things we did know and did nothing about,” wrote Mark Danner, author of “Torture and Truth: America, Abu Ghraib and the War on Terror,” in a Washington Post commentary. “Beginning more than a half-dozen years ago, Bush administration officials broke the law and did repugnant things to detainees under their control. But if you think that the remedy is simple and clear — that all officials who broke the law should be tried and punished — then ask yourself what exactly the political elite of the country has been doing for the last five years. Or what it has not been doing. And why.” Danner noted that “although we have known the general narrative of torture since the summer of 2004, most politicians have been loath to do anything about it,” because they feared being painted as soft on terrorism.
“Star Wars” creator George Lucas objects to liberals likening Dick Cheney to Darth Vader. He told columnist Maureen Dowd that Anakin Skywalker is a promising young man who was turned to the dark side by an older politician and became Darth Vader. “George Bush is Darth Vader,” he said. “Cheney is the emperor.” Lucas added: “You know, Darth Vader is really a kid from the desert planet near Crawford, and the true evil of the universe is the emperor who pulls all the strings.”
“I wake up every day thinking about how to keep the American people safe.” — President Obama, Tuesday in the Oval Office
“I wake up every day thinking about how best to protect America.” — President Bush, Sept. 30, 2004
President Obama was correct to back off a statement by his chief of staff that his administration would not prosecute Bush administration officials who authorized the torture of suspected terrorists. Obama does not have the authority to unilaterally declare that the Justice Department would take no action on possible crimes. That doesn’t mean that Bush officials will or should be prosecuted. But the Justice Department should make that decision based on the facts of the individual cases, not on the desire of Obama to focus on the future instead of the past.
“The Obama administration acted courageously and wisely yesterday with its dual actions on interrogation policy,” a Washington Post editorial argued. “The pair of decisions — one essentially forgiving government agents who may have committed heinous acts they were told were legal, the other signaling that such acts must never again be condoned by the United States — struck exactly the right balance.”
The editorial added: “By repudiating the memos, the Obama administration has again seized the high ground and restored some of the honor lost over the past few years. President Obama’s actions not only restore confidence that this country will not torture, but he has also strengthened the nation’s moral authority in condemning these heinous acts wherever they occur.”
Meanwhile, Spanish prosecutors recommended today that Spanish courts not investigate allegations that six senior Bush administration officials gave legal cover for the torture of terror suspects. Obama’s decisions leave open the possibility that such an investigation could occur here, as he focused on CIA agents who followed legal advice, not on the individuals who tried to provide that cover.
President Obama’s change has been too much for many conservatives but not nearly enough for some liberals, in part because his Justice Department has argued against allowing Americans to legally challenge warrantless surveillance and against giving legal rights to some detainees in Afghanistan. “Welcome to change you cannot believe in — or sue over,” said MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann of the wiretapping arguments. On the detainee issue, the New York Times editorialized that the filing by Obama’s Justice Department “recycles extravagant claims of executive power and perpetuates the detention policies of the Bush administration.”
Former President Bush has had invective and even shoes hurled at him for making decisions that cost lives in Iraq and elsewhere. But he saved many lives in Africa, according to an impressive assessment of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief begun in 2003. Though the $15 billion program did not lead to fewer infections, it cut the AIDS death toll in the targeted dozen African countries from 2004 through 2007 by 1.2 million, or 10 percent a year. “We wanted to see if this program can have a palpable effect,” said study author Eran Bendavid of Stanford University. “The answer is: without a doubt. They spend a lot on treatment and treatment has worked.”
A comment in Friday’s Opinion Line accurately noted that “George Bush spent 1,020 days, more than one-third of his presidency, on vacation” — though a president is never really “on vacation.” CBS News White House correspondent Mark Knoller, who famously tracks such things, broke down the numbers this way: 490 days at Bush’s Texas ranch, 487 days at Camp David and 43 days in Kennebunkport, Maine. Other interesting tallies of the Bush 43 era: He attended 338 political fundraisers and 12 baseball games, delivered 23 commencement speeches, played 24 rounds of golf (giving it up six months into the Iraq war out of respect to families of fallen troops), hosted six state dinners, cast 12 vetoes, visited 75 foreign countries and flew 1.4 million miles on Air Force One. One thing Bush never did as president? Visit Vermont.
Former Vice President Dick Cheney defended in an interview this past weekend the Bush administration’s “enhanced interrogation program.” But a confidential report by the International Committee of the Red Cross revealed how indefensible — and likely criminal — that program was. The ICRC concluded that the interrogation methods used constituted torture and were expressly prohibited by the Geneva Conventions. According to the report, terrorism suspects were beaten, slammed head-first into walls and waterboarded, among other “cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.”
The Iraqi journalist who threw his shoe at President Bush was sentenced to three years in jail. Muntadhar al-Zeidi was found guilty of aggression against a visiting head of state, a crime that under Iraqi law carries a maximum sentence of 15 years. Asked if he had anything else to say in his defense, al-Zeidi responded: “I am innocent. It was a natural reaction to the crime of occupation.”
Georgetown University law professor Rosa Brooks notes on today’s Opinion pages how the Bush administration’s legal memos authorizing torture and other presidential powers were “outrageously bad.” As a result, there is considerable debate in legal circles about what, if anything, should happen to the authors of those memos. The Obama administration has resisted calls for a criminal investigation of John Yoo (in photo) and other attorneys who formerly worked at the Office of Legal Counsel. Congress is conducting its own inquiry. Other options include punishment by state bar associations. Even if the Bush attorneys escape these actions, they may be pursued by some European countries that have laws against torture. “I think people like Yoo will be taking their chances if they want to go to Europe for a very long time,” said Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights.
“I did not mean to kill the leader of the occupation forces. I was expressing what’s inside of me and what’s inside the Iraqi people from north to south and from west to east.” — Muntadhar al-Zeidi, the Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at President George W. Bush last year
“The last thing that I think we are looking for at this juncture is advice on fiscal integrity or ethics from Karl Rove — anyone who’s read the newspapers for the last eight years would laugh at that,” David Axelrod, a senior adviser to Barack Obama, said last week. To which Rove responded today that he isn’t giving advice but is commenting on what the Obama administration is doing. But who would look to Rove for commentary?
George W. Bush’s commutation of “Scooter” Libby’s (in photo) 30-month prison sentence in the Valerie Plame case wasn’t enough for Dick Cheney. On the day after the Bush-Cheney era ended, the former vice president told the Weekly Standard, speaking of his former chief of staff: “Scooter Libby is one of the most capable and honorable men I’ve ever known. He’s been an outstanding public servant throughout his career. He was the victim of a serious miscarriage of justice, and I strongly believe that he deserved a presidential pardon. Obviously, I disagree with President Bush’s decision.” According to the magazine, this was the fifth time Cheney publicly disagreed with his boss. The other four issues: a federal gay marriage ban, firing Donald Rumsfeld, D.C.’s gun ban and North Korea.
President Bush achieved the one big thing he and all Americans demanded of his administration. Not a single man, woman or child has been killed by terrorists on U.S. soil since the morning of Sept. 11. A measure of the administration’s success is the criticism it has drawn. Bush made a choice to take no chances with American lives, and to live with the liberal backlash over waterboarding. His most controversial and difficult decision, the war in Iraq, was consistent with his post-9/11 doctrine to regard “any nation that continues to harbor or support terrorism . . . as a hostile regime” and pre-empt threats to America from rogue regimes and proliferators. The failure to discover WMDs gave opponents the opening to claim the war was fought on false premises, but Bill Clinton, Democrats on Capitol Hill and every major intelligence service also believed Saddam had WMDs. The world remains a very dangerous place. Yet thanks to Bush’s post-9/11 willingness to act decisively, and at the risk of his own popularity, Americans are safer today than on Sept. 10, 2001. – Wall Street Journal editorial
Bush said little of interest (in his farewell address). He dwelled mostly on 9/11 and the so-called war on terror, characterizing the invasion of Iraq as part of his effort to take “the fight to the terrorists.” He suggested that although the Iraq war was the subject of “legitimate debate,” there “can be little debate about the results. America has gone more than seven years without another terrorist attack on our soil.” Was the nation’s safety ensured because Bush invaded Iraq and did not finish the fight in Afghanistan? No doubt, he and his ever-dwindling band of defenders will continue to insist that it is so – just as a rooster might insist there is a connection between his crowing and the rising of the sun. And Bush defended himself for having been willing to make the tough decisions – as if making hard choices is the same as making wise ones. Given that he is passing to Barack Obama a country burdened with two unresolved wars and an economy in severe decline, Bush certainly would rather look forward than face the present-day consequences of his actions and inaction. – David Corn, CQPolitics
Praise is due former President George W. Bush for commuting the prison sentences of the two former U.S. Border Patrol agents who had shot a Mexican drug smuggler in 2005. Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean (in photo) should not have tried to cover up their actions, but many Americans have defended the agents for having just done their jobs in the shooting.
Meanwhile, Bush also deserves credit for resisting the temptation to pre-emptively pardon former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales or any other members of his administration relating to torture or other anti-terrorism measures. Nor did he pardon convicted Republican felons such as Ted Stevens or Randy “Duke” Cunningham. In the end, Bush granted 189 pardons and 11 commutations, fewer than half those of Presidents Bill Clinton or Ronald Reagan.
“I thought Obama gave a great speech. But I think he may have promised too much, like when he promised to bring the dog from the ‘Marley & Me’ movie back to life. That seemed over the top to me.” – Jay Leno
“Officials at the White House say that President Bush completed his last piece of official business in the Oval Office at 6 a.m. (Tuesday) morning. Yep. Bush says it should take Obama weeks to find where he hid the dead fish.” – Conan O’Brien
“They estimate that around 2 million people crowded in to the National Mall to see Obama’s swearing-in ceremony, which is the first time a mall has been crowded in about a year.” – Jimmy Kimmel
Former Bush adviser Mark McKinnon was among the large crowd that flew to Texas Tuesday with George and Laura Bush on Air Force One, renamed Special Air Mission 28000. Blogging for the Daily Beast, McKinnon said Bush displayed “equanimity, grace and a generosity of spirit” as he moved about the cabin and that he believes Bush “feels a genuine warmth for President Obama” and wants him to succeed. On the flight home, McKinnon wrote, “There was a lot of talk of old days and old times. About how eight years had flown by. About how children had grown. There was no high-fiving or celebration. And no weeping or whining. Just a quiet and friendly exchange of hugs between longtime colleagues and friends who had traveled a lot of miles together and weathered a lot storms.” No mention of two awkward moments earlier in the day, as reported by the Washington Post: “When George Bush and Dick Cheney were announced for the final time as president and vice president, thousands on the Mall sang: ‘Na-na-na-na, na-na-na-na, hey hey hey, goodbye.’ When Bush’s helicopter took off from the Capitol’s East Front to take him to Andrews Air Force Base for his flight to Texas, shouts from the ground followed him: ‘Go home!’”
The Bush administration last weekend quietly released another detainee at Guantanamo Bay, saying that the Afghan man “should no longer be deemed an enemy combatant.” Not only was he not a combatant, sworn statements from Afghan officials corroborate how the man was on our side in fighting the Taliban, but he was turned in by someone from a rival clan who wanted his job. In the past three months, courts or military tribunals have declared that at least 24 detainees were improperly held. This was after the Bush administration assured that only the “worst of the worst” remained at Gitmo.
In last week’s farewell press conference, President George W. Bush acknowledged a few mistakes during his tenure. But Rich Lowry, editor of the conservative National Review, has 10 more for him to ponder: Not getting Congress to buy in to his detention policy right after Sept. 11. An ineffective management style that lacked accountability. Not replacing CIA Director George Tenet after Sept. 11. Deferring to generals. Not taking charge during Katrina. Being too accommodating of the GOP Congress. Not reading enough history. Refusing to settle internal fights within his administration. Underestimating the power of explanation. Ignoring health care reform too long. “Oddly enough for a president denounced as an executive monster by his perfervid critics,” Lowry writes, “many of Bush’s mistakes involve not being active enough or taking a stronger hand.”
Speaking of Jon Stewart. . . . At his final press conference, President Bush cited as “disappointments” being wrong about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and the Abu Ghraib abuses. “No, these are not disappointments,” Stewart argued on “The Daily Show.” “When the prize under your Diet Coke cap is a coupon for more Diet Coke, that is a disappointment. X-ray specs are a disappointment.”
Allegations against a Wichita attorney reflect how the Bush administration put ideology above competence and even the law. According to a report by the Justice Department’s inspector general, Bradley Schlozman, a former top department official now living in Wichita, violated federal law by considering politics and ideology as factors in hiring and transferring career attorneys. This is especially galling given that Schlozman’s job was to enforce federal laws prohibiting discrimination. But according to the inspector general, he unlawfully discriminated against qualified job applicants – and then lied to Congress about it.
President George W. Bush will officially say goodbye to the nation in a 13-minute television address at 7 tonight. “I’m going to urge our nation to continue to engage the world with confidence – confidence in the transformative power of freedom and liberty,” Bush said today, previewing his speech. If given the opportunity, how would WE Bloggers say goodbye to Bush?
Besides being an ineffective way to gain reliable intelligence, torture also can undermine criminal cases. That’s what happened with a Saudi national who allegedly was to be the 20th hijacker on the Sept. 11 attacks. The top Bush administration official in charge of deciding whether to bring the case to trial decided that she couldn’t file charges because the U.S. military had tortured the detainee, reported Bob Woodward of the Washington Post. “His treatment met the legal definition of torture. And that’s why I did not refer the case” for prosecution, said Susan J. Crawford. This is a man whom Crawford described as “very dangerous.”
