Feb 20 2009
Is Obama’s War on Terror all that different from Bush’s?
Many civil liberties groups cheered the Obama Administration into office, and praised some of their early efforts. However, Administration policies as of late have begun to garner praise from the circles that backed Bush’s War on Terror policies, including the Wall Street Journal’s editorial page. Last week it stated that “it seems that the Bush administration’s antiterror architecture is gaining new legitimacy” with team Obama embracing team Bush’s strategies.
Recent confirmation hearings for Elena Kagan, nominee for solicitor general, and Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. saw the Obama nominees support a very broad interpretation of the “battlefield.” Ms. Kagan said anyone suspected of helping to finance Al Qaeda should be held in indefinite detention without a trial, no matter where they are actually captured.
Meanwhile, CIA director nominee Leon Panetta said the Agency could continue its “extraordinary rendition” program, where agents seize terrorism suspects and take them to a third county, some of which are alleged to use torture, without extradition hearings.
The Obama Administration also embraced the Bush legal team’s argument that a lawsuit brought by former CIA detainees should be stopped because of the “state secrets” doctrine. Two days after the appeals court hearing, a bipartisan group of lawmakers filed legislation to prohibit the use of the state-secrets doctrine to close an entire case, as opposed to just certain evidence.
Earlier this month, a British court refused to release info on the alleged torture of a U.S. held detainee, citing pressure from the U.S. In response, the Obama Administration sent the British government a thank-you note “for its continued commitment to protect sensitive national security information.”
So how far removed are we really from the Bush doctrine? It is true that it is still very early in his presidency, but the signs certainly are not promising. Already we have seen his transparency goals tossed aside and now we are seeing civil liberty concerns tossed aside. What’s next?
The only real candidates for change in the presidential race were Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich. (They were also the only real anti-war candidates as well). This, Mr. Biden, is just “more of the same.”
Source: New York Times - Obama’s War on Terror May Resemble Bush’s in Some Areas February 17, 2009
I knew Dennis didn’t have a chance… no way they’d let someone be president who admitted seeing a UFO.
there was the case of a certain peanut farmer from Georgia who filed a report he had seen one as well….somehow he made it though to the oval office, but undoubtedly he has done better things for the county since leaving office.