Obama releases torture memos, vows 'never again'

Update: Ex-Bush aides: Releasing torture memos is dangerous
Now the terrorists will know how we'll torture them, the theory goes,
writes Mike Madden.

Good, not good, great:
by Glenn Greenwald:
Obama releases torture memos
If early reports are correct that there are few redactions in the Bush-era documents, the president will have passed a major test

Bad. On the other hand Bush, Cheney, Yoo, Gonzales, Addington, Feith, Haynes, and Bybee and the whole rotten bunch ought to get the ax before anyone. Maybe retributive justice vis a vis exposure won't do anyone any good.
by Alex Koppelman: Administration takes one step forward, one back
The DOJ will release disputed memos about torture, but CIA officials won't be prosecuted for waterboarding

Never again, Obama says below; he has set the record straight, what more can we ask?

Perhaps more facts.

"As the President recognized, there is no valid reason to shield these memos when the techniques they describe have already been exposed and discontinued by the new administration," says Elizabeth Goitein, Director of the Brennan Center's Liberty and National Security Project.

"Disclosure is only the first step though," Goitein adds. "There must also be accountability for the illegal policies and practices sanctioned in these memos. We cannot move forward toward a sound and effective national security policy unless we address the systemic failures that allowed the despicable practices described in these memos to be adopted and implemented. That's why we need an independent, non-partisan commission to examine the facts and circumstances surrounding torture and other counter-terrorism practices that violated our laws and our values."

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Statement of President Barack Obama on Release of OLC Memos

The Department of Justice will today release certain memos issued by the Office of Legal Counsel between 2002 and 2005 as part of an ongoing court case. These memos speak to techniques that were used in the interrogation of terrorism suspects during that period, and their release is required by the rule of law.

My judgment on the content of these memos is a matter of record. In one of my very first acts as President, I prohibited the use of these interrogation techniques by the United States because they undermine our moral authority and do not make us safer. Enlisting our values in the protection of our people makes us stronger and more secure. A democracy as resilient as ours must reject the false choice between our security and our ideals, and that is why these methods of interrogation are already a thing of the past.

But that is not what compelled the release of these legal documents today. While I believe strongly in transparency and accountability, I also believe that in a dangerous world, the United States must sometimes carry out intelligence operations and protect information that is classified for purposes of national security. I have already fought for that principle in court and will do so again in the future. However, after consulting with the Attorney General, the Director of National Intelligence, and others, I believe that exceptional circumstances surround these memos and require their release.

First, the interrogation techniques described in these memos have already been widely reported. Second, the previous Administration publicly acknowledged portions of the program – and some of the practices – associated with these memos. Third, I have already ended the techniques described in the memos through an Executive Order. Therefore, withholding these memos would only serve to deny facts that have been in the public domain for some time. This could contribute to an inaccurate accounting of the past, and fuel erroneous and inflammatory assumptions about actions taken by the United States.

In releasing these memos, it is our intention to assure those who carried out their duties relying in good faith upon legal advice from the Department of Justice that they will not be subject to prosecution. The men and women of our intelligence community serve courageously on the front lines of a dangerous world. Their accomplishments are unsung and their names unknown, but because of their sacrifices, every single American is safer. We must protect their identities as vigilantly as they protect our security, and we must provide them with the confidence that they can do their jobs.

Going forward, it is my strong belief that the United States has a solemn duty to vigorously maintain the classified nature of certain activities and information related to national security. This is an extraordinarily important responsibility of the presidency, and it is one that I will carry out assertively irrespective of any political concern. Consequently, the exceptional circumstances surrounding these memos should not be viewed as an erosion of the strong legal basis for maintaining the classified nature of secret activities. I will always do whatever is necessary to protect the national security of the United States.

This is a time for reflection, not retribution. I respect the strong views and emotions that these issues evoke. We have been through a dark and painful chapter in our history. But at a time of great challenges and disturbing disunity, nothing will be gained by spending our time and energy laying blame for the past. Our national greatness is embedded in America’s ability to right its course in concert with our core values, and to move forward with confidence. That is why we must resist the forces that divide us, and instead come together on behalf of our common future.

The United States is a nation of laws. My Administration will always act in accordance with those laws, and with an unshakeable commitment to our ideals. That is why we have released these memos, and that is why we have taken steps to ensure that the actions described within them never take place again. ###

Iraqi Artist Unveals Golden Shoe to Disgrace Bush

From the Middle East online:

BAGHDAD – When an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at George W. Bush last month at a Baghdad press conference, the attack spawned a flood of Web quips, political satire and street rallies across the Arab world.

Now it's inspired a work of art. A sofa-sized shoe statue was unveiled Thursday in Tikrit, the hometown of the former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

Baghdad-based artist Laith al-Amari described his fiberglass-and copper work as homage to the pride of the Iraqi people.

The statue also has inscribed a poem honoring Muntadhar al-Zeidi, the Iraqi journalist.

Al-Zeidi was charged with assaulting a foreign leader, but the trial was postponed after his lawyer sought to reduce the charges.

Bush-Cheney Skipping Convention, Lying Low

President George Bush and Vice President Cheney are sitting out tonight's first session of the Republican National Convention to attend to Hurricane Gustav.

Hurricanes have a way of focusing attention on GOP incompetence. Would you want Bush and Cheney at your party? (Not that McCain is any better.)

The fact is McSame needs to shake off the incumbent administration while simultaneously activating the GOP base and appealing to political independents and casually political Democrats.

His first major act in picking a religious right lightweight with the thinnest credentials for vice-president in modern times that has objective observers nearly laughing out loud is not a step in the right direction.

The fact is McCain's biggest barrier remains George W. Bush. See The Friend He Just Can't Shake by Robert G. Kaiser in this morning's Post:

"The fact is that I have agreed with President Bush far more than I have disagreed. And on the transcendent issues, the most important issues of our day, I've been totally in agreement and support of President Bush. . . . My support for President Bush has been active and very impassioned on issues that are important to the American people. And I'm particularly talking about the war on terror, the war in Iraq, national security, national defense, support of men and women in the military, fiscal discipline, a number of other issues. So I strongly disagree with any assertion that I've been more at odds with the president of the United States than I have been in agreement with him."

Jimmy Carter: Presidents Should Not Be Liars

In a message that is a thinly veiled attack on the dishonesty of George W. Bush, Jimmy Carter offers a message on lies and the American presidency in the Washington Post late last week.

Though referencing modern history during the era of Carter's presidency, it is George W. Bush, not named by Carter, who comes to mind for his execution of the presidency and his active subversion of the Constitution that make his administration, without question, the most dishonest and anti-democratic in modern American history.

Jimmy Carter

Presidents Should Not Be Liars

I do not think the President of the United States should be a liar, and believe that the overwhelming majority of U.S. citizens agree with me. For security reasons, the whole truth cannot always be revealed, but it is quite obvious that lies are seldom made to protect our nation. Almost invariably, the political fortunes of the prevaricator are at stake.

During my campaign for the White House in 1976, veracity was a very important issue, because of the known falsehoods having been told during the Vietnam War and the revelations of the Frank Church senatorial investigation that our government had, through the CIA, committed murder and other crimes. I habitually told my small groups of supporters, "If I even make a misleading statement, don't support me."

Although stigmatized as naïve and often having to suffer the consequences, I maintained this commitment to truthfulness during my term in office, and it paid off in many ways. One example was the trust aroused in me by President Anwar Sadat and Prime Minister Menachim Begin, which was instrumental in orchestrating the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty. I've observed at other times that the exploding consequences of a small lie can result in political catastrophe, as was shown in President Nixon's effort to conceal the Watergate break-in.

There have been other examples since I left office.

The author was the 39th President of the United States.

Bush, Iraq and Vietnam

More Children Getting Health Insurance, Republicans Dread

If there is one evil that rightwingers pull out all stops to prevent, it's the terrifying thought that American children will have guaranteed health care.

That prospect is repugnant to the rightwingers; and the Bush administration, in the middle of a presidential vacation and a congressional recess, has made it impossible for states to use the Children’s Health Insurance Program to insure children of the middle-class.

Bush stopped the evildoers from expanding health care for children of the gold-plated American middle class, now he can get back to his vacation, and tell the health insurance industry: Mission accomplished.

Robert Pear in the Times:

The Bush administration, continuing its fight to stop states from expanding the popular Children’s Health Insurance Program, has adopted new standards that would make it much more difficult for New York, California and others to extend coverage to children in middle-income families.

Administration officials outlined the new standards in a letter sent to state health officials on Friday evening, in the middle of a month-long Congressional recess. In interviews, they said the changes were aimed at returning the Children’s Health Insurance Program to its original focus on low-income children and to make sure the program did not become a substitute for private health coverage.

After learning of the new policy, some state officials said today that it could cripple their efforts to cover more children by imposing standards that could not be met.

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