Obama turns a blind eye to Bush era Crimes & Criminals

There is a growing upset at the Obama Administrations seeming refusal to investigate the potential crimes of the Bush Administration. Some feel the past is the past we should look towards the future. They dismiss the proverbial wisdom of George Santayana who said: "Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it."

We should be studying the blunders of the Bush Administration, such as Cheney's belief that deficit spending is good, or the decision to borrow from China to help finance the war in Iraq - among other missteps.

But in authorizing torture we are dealing with criminal activity. Will we have to wait for the next President after Obama to open up a `Cold Case Squad' in their attorney general's office to deal with this?




OBAMA CHANGES MIND ON PICTURE RELEASE

WASHINGTON — President Obama said Wednesday that he would fight to prevent the release of photographs documenting abuse of prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan by United States military personnel, reversing his position on the issue after commanders warned that the images could set off a deadly backlash against American troops.



So much for the promise of transparency. It isn't that the world hasn't seen pictures of US cruelty to prisoners, or has not heard of the `torture memo. What happened last time when pictures came out is that individuals were punished. One is led to believ that if those pictures hadn't come out that the perpetrators would not have been punished.

Rachel Maddow Grills Colin Powell on Torture Authorization In Bush Admin.




For Balance: Here is a response from a man objecting to a signing a petition calling on Congress to press for an investigation:


Alex Mitchell (Milwaukee, WI) wroteon April 19, 2009 at 10:55am
I won't do it. Common man. We can't go to their level. This action would gridlock Obama's Presidency. How bout we let the ACLU do this, and they are working on it. Why start a political war right now, we have to fix the economy. Besides, Putting a guy in a box with a catapiler, smacking a guy, and all the other crap isn't torture! What the Japanese did to their prisoners was torture. What the Germans did to their prisoners was torture. The Serbs, Latin American captures and their prisoners was torture. Starving them to death, whippings, murder, caneing, all those are torture. I'd agree that waterboarding is a form of torture but it is weak as opposed to torture that has happened. Ask Nick Burg if he knows what torture is. Having your head sawed off, is torture. While we gave them sleep deprivation....ohhhh big deal. Look Bush is already considered one of the worst Presidents of all time. History will judge him. Obama doesn't need this from the left. STAND DOWN! You will open the door for the GOP to say, "look they arent about results, they are about political payback!"! He met you halfway buddy. He released the documents. He is leaving it up to history. I am telling you dude, that shit is in the works that is not involving Obama and the attorney general. Plus man, you know the accused is going to have top notch defense teams and more than likely it will be dismissed! So all of this could be for nothing. I'll just say this, don't expect Bush or his minions to go traveling the world because they all have warrants for their arrest or shoes to throw at them.

The petition is at: http://www.democrats.com/no-amnesty-for-torturers?cid=ZGVtczI5MzkzNWRlbXM

AP: Releases latest numbers on Iraq War

Iraq: Key figures since the war began

This April was the deadliest month for US in Iraq in 7 months.

Iraq: Key figures since the war began
it

US military deaths in Iraq war at 4,278

U.S. TROOP LEVELS:

-October 2007: 170,000 at peak of troop buildup.

-April 30, 2009: 130,000.

CASUALTIES:

-Confirmed U.S. military deaths as of April 30, 2009: At least 4,281.

-Confirmed U.S. military wounded (hostile) as of April 30, 2009: 31,230.

-Confirmed U.S. military wounded (non-hostile, using medical air transport) as of April 4, 2009: 36,624.

-U.S. military deaths for April 2009: 18, up from last month's total of nine and making April the deadliest month for American forces in Iraq since September 2008, when 25 U.S. troops died. The AP began tracking this figure in March of 2003.

-Deaths of civilian employees of U.S. government contractors as of Dec, 31, 2008: 1,306.

-Iraqi deaths in April 2009 from war-related violence: at least 371, an 11 percent increase from last month's total of 335. 80 Iranian pilgrims were also killed this month in Iraq.

-Assassinated Iraqi academics as of April 22, 2009: 418

-Journalists killed on assignment as of April 30, 2009: 138.


OIL PRODUCTION:

-Prewar: 2.58 million barrels per day.

-April 29, 2009: 2.37 million barrels per day.

ELECTRICITY:

-Prewar nationwide: 3,958 megawatts. Hours per day (estimated): 4-8.

-April 21, 2009 nationwide: 4,990 megawatts. Hours per day: not available

-Prewar Baghdad: 2,500 megawatts. Hours per day (estimated): 16-24.

Note: Current nationwide figure for average hours of electricity per day and Baghdad figures for the average amount of electricity generated (megawatts) are no longer reported by the U.S. State Department's Iraq Weekly Status Report.

TELEPHONES:

-Prewar land lines: 833,000.

-April 30, 2009: 1,300,000.

-Prewar cell phones: 80,000.

-April 30, 2009: An estimated 17.7 million.

WATER:

-Prewar: 12.9 million people had potable water.

-April 30, 2009: 21.2 million people have potable water.

SEWERAGE:

-Prewar: 6.2 million people served.

-April 30, 2009: 11.3 million people served.

INTERNAL REFUGEES:

-April 29, 2009: At least 2.8 million people are currently displaced inside Iraq.

EMIGRANTS:

-Prewar: 500,000 Iraqis living abroad.

-April 29, 2009: Close to 2 million, mainly in Syria and Jordan.

All figures are the most recent available.

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Sources: The Associated Press, State Department, Defense Department, Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, The Brookings Institution, Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, International Organization for Migration, Committee to Protect Journalists, National Priorities Project, The Brussels Tribunal, and the U.S. Department of Labor.

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AP researchers Julie Reed and Rhonda Shafner in New York compiled this report.