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TechnoratiMcChrystal was Cheney's Chief Assassin
Seymour Hersh says that Dick Cheney headed a secret assassination wing and the head of the wing has just been named as the new commander in Afghanistan.
![[]](http://www.commondreams.org/files/article_images/assassin.jpg "assassin.jpg")
In an interview with GulfNews, (the Persian Gulf's largest daily English language newspaper published from Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates) on May 12, 2009 Pulitzer prize-winning American investigative journalist, Seymour Hersh, said that there is a special unit called the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) that does high-value targeting of men that are known to be involved in anti-American activities, or are believed to be planning such activities.
According to Hersh, the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) was headed by former US vice president Dick Cheney and the former head of JSOC, Lieutenant General Stanley McChrystal who has just been named the new commander in charge of the war in Afghanistan.
McChrystal, a West Pointer who became a Green Beret not long after graduation, following a stint as a platoon leader in the 82nd Airborne Division, is currently director of Staff at the Pentagon, the executive to Joint staff to the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Most of what General McChrystal has done over a 33-year career remains classified, including service between 2003 and 2008 as commander of the Joint Special Operations Command, an elite unit so clandestine that the Pentagon for years refused to acknowledge its existence.
On July 22, 2006, Human Rights Watch issued a report titled "No blood, no foul" about American torture practices at three facilities in Iraq. One of them was Camp Nama, which was operated by the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), under the direction of then Major General Stanley McChrystal.
McChrystal was officially based at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, but he was a frequent visitor to Camp Nama and other Special Forces bases in Iraq and Afghanistan where forces under his command were based.
An interrogator at Camp Nama known as Jeff described locking prisoners in shipping containers for 24 hours at a time in extreme heat; exposing them to extreme cold with periodic soaking in cold water; bombardment with bright lights and loud music; sleep deprivation; and severe beatings.
When he and other interrogators went to the colonel in charge and expressed concern that this kind of treatment was not legal, and that they might be investigated by the military's Criminal Investigation Division or the International Committee of the Red Cross, the colonel told them he had "this directly from General McChrystal and the Pentagon that there's no way that the Red Cross could get in."
In the July 2, 2006 report, When Human Rights Watch asked whether the interrogator knew whether the colonel was receiving orders or pressures to use the abusive tactics, Jeff said that his understanding was that there was some form of pressure to use aggressive techniques coming from higher up the chain of command; however neither he nor other interrogators were briefed on the particular source.
"We really didn't know too much about it. We knew that we were only like a few steps away in the chain of command from the Pentagon, but it was a little unclear, especially to the interrogators who weren't really part of that task force."
The interrogator said that he did see Gen. Stanley McChrystal, commander of US Joint Special Operations forces in Iraq, visiting the Nama facility on several occasions. "I saw him a couple of times. I know what he looks like."
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is the international body charged under international law with monitoring compliance with the Geneva Conventions, and it, therefore, has the right to inspect all facilities where people are detained in a country that is at war or under military occupation.
To hide prisoners or facilities from the ICRC or to deny access to them is a serious war crime. But many US prisons in Iraq have held "ghost" prisoners whose imprisonment has not been reported to the ICRC, and these "ghosts" have usually been precisely the ones subjected to the worst torture. Camp Nama, run by McChrystal's JSOC, was an entire "ghost" facility.
The decision by Obama's administration to appoint General McChrystal as the new commander in charge of the war in Afghanistan and retaining the military commission for the US war-on-terror detainees held in the Guantanamo Bay prison are the latest examples of the new US administration walking in Bush's foot steps with regards to torture and denial of habeas corpus.
88 Comments so far
Show AllRegardless of whether Obama is a sell-out or not, and I've called him as much wihtin weeks of his election, the fact remains that it is far too early for him to take on the power structure, at least the military part of it. He needs to build a powerbase, and insinuate his people into the system before he can move the supertanker as he called it.
Even Reagan turned into a hippie arms-reduced and his guys called him senile for it.
Obama's going to pick his fights. I personally think that you engender respect in your enemies by fighting them as well as pandering to them, but it is still very early. The problem, of course, is that, as time goes on, he can't claim the policies weren't his, even if he can say he tried it the moronic right-wing's way.
The military is in full psycho mode, and they need to be taken off the crack slowly. Letting other dems take the heat helps as well. That said, Obam is the president of the US, not Sweden.
With each new revelation about Obama it is difficulot not to become absolutely cynical about the prospect that anything good can come of the "Yes We Can" slogan. Actually when i hear the masses shouting in unision "Yes We Can" i can't help but think of it as yet another mindless utterance like "Heil Hitler!", but with a happy face.
I'm proud that i did not vote for Obama and remain a Nadar's Raider. One only has to look at that phot clip of McCrystal to release whatd kind of a person, I hesitate to say 'human being', he is. Tough, ruthless and without morality or ethics.
And yet this is who Obama has decided to put at the head of this illegal war and occupation of Afghanistan and attacks in Pakistan. Obama's face is the happy face of the kinder, gentler way of doing exactly what Bush/Cheney and their Mcchrystal thugs did before.
Obama is but the latest smart marketed brand. An FDR he ain't and never will be. Sadly, with every new twist and turn, he is showing just how weak and unprincipled he is and how much he is a puppet of the same coporate forces that rule Congress and the countrhy with an iron fist.
With each new revelation about Obama it is difficulot not to become absolutely cynical about the prospect that anything good can come of the "Yes We Can" slogan. Actually when i hear the masses shouting in unision "Yes We Can" i can't help but think of it as yet another mindless utterance like "Heil Hitler!", but with a happy face.
I'm proud that i did not vote for Obama and remain a Nadar's Raider. One only has to look at that phot clip of McCrystal to release whatd kind of a person, I hesitate to say 'human being', he is. Tough, ruthless and without morality or ethics.
And yet this is who Obama has decided to put at the head of this illegal war and occupation of Afghanistan and attacks in Pakistan. Obama's face is the happy face of the kinder, gentler way of doing exactly what Bush/Cheney and their Mcchrystal thugs did before.
Obama is but the latest smart marketed brand. An FDR he ain't and never will be. Sadly, with every new twist and turn, he is showing just how weak and unprincipled he is and how much he is a puppet of the same coporate forces that rule Congress and the countrhy with an iron fist.
Pardon me for a grammatical nitpick -- but this sentence
>>Seymour Hersh says that Dick Cheney headed a secret assassination wing and the head of the wing has just been named as the new commander in Afghanistan.<<
actually parses out as saying "Dick Cheney is the new commander in Afghanistan."
I think maybe you meant something more like this:
>>The man who, according to Seymour Hersh, headed a secret assassination squad that reported to Dick Cheney has just been named as the new commander in Afghanistan.<<
Well, for another grammatical nitpick, you seem to consider "headed" with "heads".
How about putting this trained killer of men in the front line where he can really lead America into the graveyard of empires?
This is some scary shit. More so for us than for the Afghans, who know how to deal with invaders.
Joe
I have seen that face before. I have HAD that face: Death is the furtherest thing from his mind. He has business to attend to.
If some angel offered to transport him to a battlefield where he was certain to be killed he would welcome that offer as being a gift from God.
More evidence that the USA is indeed the Evil Empire--always was, and intends to continue. Obama is easilly as vile as Bush, Cheney or Reagan, Johnson or Clinton.
There will be no peace in the world until the USA Empire is defeated.
I remember decades ago when we were hearing about the CIA under Reagan and others freely engaged in assassination and wars in other countries with no legal authorization. Then we found out about Reagan's secret war in Nicaragua being financed by sales of seized drugs in California. This turned into the Ollie North scandal.
Here we are again thanks to the same old, same old Republican Party wanting to extend the executive branch power way beyond the constitution, just like Reagan and just like Nixon. And the only way we are going to prevent this from happening again in the future is that we confront Cheney in court on abuses of power and war crimes. Short of this confrontation, Cheney is going to continue going around the country lying his butt off about the real Bush administration track record.
McChrystal is just further proof that we do not have a government but a crime family. a crime syndicate that works behind the scenes, that has the real power.The President and Congress are with a few exceptions, nothing more than sychophantic,faithless puppets for this most egregious, cabal. The Mafia only kills their own, but these criminals kill innocent people, including women and children so I guess that is not fair to the Mafia.
Well doesn't he look like a grim-faced tough old buzzard! West Point, Airborne, and a Green Beret too!
He is still out of his league. The Afghans are (just like the Vietnamese were) more than a match for him, his torture-chamber interogators, nerd drone pilots sitting in air-conditioned confort somewhere in California or Nevade, and the "Sons of Goebels" psy-ops goons doing their best to pump up American troop morale while at the same time depressing the Afghan and Pakistani fighting spirit.
General McChrystal, welcome to the Westmoreland-Abrahms club of humiliated American Generals! If you were smart, you would have done a Schwartzkopf or Tommy "Redneck" Franks and retired or resigned your commmission while you still had the chance.
When you fail, you won't have a disident Congress or Senate, squishy-soft Pinko State Department, or hostile media to blame. They have all given you more than enough rope on which to hang yourself--and hang yourself you will.
Poet
What if BHO doesn't plan to "win" anything in Af/Pak? What if "all war all the time" is simply part of the strategy to empty the Treasury and kill the $$?
"Now I want you boys to go over there and spend money like there's no tomorrow. Give it away in shopping bags, deplete all your materials so we have to replace them, shoot/bomb/gas everything in sight, you know, have a good time. I'll shoot you an email when we run out of everything."
You mean this is just part of a larger strategy of consolidating domestic lock down and transferring all wealth to the top 1%? Naaaawww. Nobody'd do that...? Would they?
Wow!!! We are in a world of hurt.Obomber has shown his true colors (ALREADY) and they are not pretty. The left should start planning whom they will throw their support behind in 2012. I wish Kucinich would become an Independent.
Wanked:"I wish Kucinich would become an independent". Even if Kucinich ran for President on a third party ticket, I would predict he would lose as he almost exclusively appeals only to the disaffected left and from my perspective, the only way we could have a viable third party is it would have to appeal to the disaffected right as well. I would argue that a Nader Ron Paul ticket would have the best chance of success in 2012 and if they won they could appoint Kucinich Sec. of War( the euphemism is Sec. of Defense )and maybe he could change the name to Sec. of Peace and protection.
This, incidentally, may be THE most appalling, morally and ideologically, of Obama's appointments yet, and the competition for that distinction is great. Who better, so far, personifies the murderous America-first mindset, the ends-justify-the-means gaming of geopolitical tensions, the cynical play-God powerlust of the military-corporate Imperium that has wrought so much unhappiness on the planet--that is, the very things that a majority of Americans did after all express themselves to be against in voting for Obama?
Well put.
· Yr Obd't Servant
Bon Soir Clovis,maybe no one else would take the job! peace
"The decision by Obama's administration to appoint General McChrystal as the new commander in charge of the war in Afghanistan and retaining the military commission for the US war-on-terror detainees held in the Guantanamo Bay prison are the latest examples of the new US administration walking in Bush's foot steps with regards to torture and denial of habeas corpus."
Remember the line frequently used prior to the election that Obama really, really WANTS to do the right thing, but that "powerful interests" prevent him from doing so? Anyone still buy that? Is there any reason to assume Obama is secretly yo the left of his own policies?
After all, we didn't assume that about Bush.
next thing you know obama will find a slot for negroponte. i predict that ret. gen. wesley clark will find a slot in this administration shortly. clark is a neocon mole in the neolib regime.
Cheney announced he is running for Pelosi's seat.
I'm sure she'd happily give him a piece of it.
I'm appalled beyond words at this.
Obama rolls out the "El Salvador Option".
Perhaps this is the O'Bama Admin's way of "airing" Bush's "dirty laundry," by naming to, or leaving in, former Bushmen to posts that will bring their past deeds to the forefront.
Abe 4:56 ------------ Leaving them in? What so they continue war Crimes?
In reality an evil or incompetent person is quitely dismissed.
Obama calls him "MyKristol".
Obama needs to get some backbone, but I don't think it's gonna happen.
This is the exact guy we need, someone who knows how to win a damn war. None of this pussy footing around, find the enemy and kill him, period.
This is the main problem with the internet generation, they never got off to go outside and play so they don't understand reality...
I don't agree. By your reckoning I'm not "internet generation"--whatever that means; I'm WW2 generation and the generals who won that war were horrified at what they saw when they liberated the concentration camps. They didn't allow torture or ill-treatment of the captured enemy. They were also careful to identify the enemy; they didn't go running around Germany offering bounties for anyone the would-be recipients wanted to finger, as we did in Afghanistan, thus ensuring most of our victims in Gitmo were guilty of nothing more serious than being available when their neighbor decided to get rich quick--and perhaps get rid of a rival suitor or get possession of a disputed bit of land.
Rainborowe
Sioux Rose
RAINBOROWE: This is one area we agree in. Thank you for a highly intelligent post.
My pleasure!
Rainborowe
clear thinker May 16th, 2009 1:50 pm..............Get some help!
Which war do you think this punk knew how to win?
Clearly Murderous -------- Yes of course we need someone who helped create the rational for the deaths of one million people in an unnecessary and counterproductive war.
Yes we need someone willing to burn fifty babies for every dead opposition fighter.
Yes CLEARLY there has not been enough death and destruction.
The Bogey man in the Turban is under your bed. Please kill to save me.
BRING THEM ON ------ all the murderous demons in and out of uniform.
Go outside and play?
That's Neanderthal talk!
It's all done by wiggling a joystick in an air-conditioned Stateside facility these days. Ironic, huh? Where have YOU been?
Oh, once in a while they still get to bash someone's brains out with a rock, but the good old days are gone.
· Yr Obd't Servant
From the moment he became president, Obama could of changed course. He didn't!
If you think hiring the opposition to control them is a plan, it's the worst plan.
The worst thing you could do to is occupy a country with mixed messages to your commanders! Think of the chaos that creates!
I think maybe that might just be the plan.
General McChrystal is a virtuous man. The only error was in the targeting. If he'd been sent after Yoo, Bush, Addington, then, finally, gone after the dragon Cheney himself, he'd be a hero and we'd erect a statue of him in Trafalgar Square.
As one who voted for Obama and is disappointed, I nevertheless remember the horror of Bush/Cheney and know we are in a far less evil game now. Still evil? You bet, that is imperialism.
But Obama does not have hit-squads roaming the streets of Beirut or Moghadishu to my knowledge. He is not 'the decider,' cheney is in a hole (jackson) where he belongs, and the EPA has Lisa Jackson....The Supreme Court Appointment will be pivotal.
I'm astonished! I wouldn't want a torturer sent after anyone, even Bush, Cheney & co. Torture is evil no matter who does it to whom. You're using both Bush's and Nixon's justification for presidential law-breaking and it's just wrong. And covering up torture by suppressing the evidence is also wrong, as is Obama's silly "reason" which was no doubt fed him by the Pentagon.
Cheney is far from being "in a hole (jackson)"; last I heard he was on every TV screen in pretty well every time-slot bragging about his achievements as a latter-day Torquemada.
I just don't understand your reference to Obama not having "hit squads roaming the streets of Beirut and Mogadishu."
Rainborowe
McChrystal is a psychopathic freak.
"But Obama does not have hit-squads roaming the streets of Beirut or Moghadishu to my knowledge"
No, but he has them roaming the air of Pakistan.
"General McChrystal is a virtuous man."
Really? No military man in his position, no matter what the country is "a virtuous man". Making war the way these people do is avirtuous.
You actually don't know what Obama has. What he does have is a penchant for delivery and public relations. Nothing has changed save the facade on the rot. Sniff and the smell is still obvious.
Anybody really wonder why the "surge" worked in Iraq?
Now it will be repeated in Afghanistan.
But what is happening in Paksistan, under pressure from the Obama administration, which never thought Pakistan was "doing enough" is deplorable.
The main reason for dampening of violence during the surge was the bribing of Sunnis by Petreas to turn against Al Qaeda.
And that by that time most of Bagdad had already divided, through sectarian violence, into either mostly Shia or mostly Sunni areas.
In Afghanistan the problem is that Bush has always been paying the Warlords instead of building the nation.
"And that by that time most of Bagdad had already divided, through sectarian violence, into either mostly Shia or mostly Sunni areas."
Another way I've seen this put in a book is that everyone who could easily be murdered had been murdered by then.
But then I have also heard rumors of a new version of the Phoenix Program put to work in Baghdad at the time of the surge/Awakening. Does anyone know more details about that?
What a surprise??!!! DICK Cheney had a secret bunch of torturers/assassins working directly for him who ran around the world doing just that.
Obama is now proving that he is 'owned' by the same cabal.
We are soo-oo-oo screwed.
Only in America will they take a sleaze bag, professional bottom feeder like MCChrystal and promote him to the highest level of command---then take Lt Watda, and try him for refusing to obey an illegal order.
Then again, taking into consideration my often repeated "mantra" ----if America is to be history's negative example, then you really need to be NEGATIVE and WRONG; otherwise, your message looses its power.
From a promising beginning to now, America, your message is "Herculean"; your failure will be as well.
and when the dust and smoke have blown away or settled---humanity will never forget you
Good Luck America, you really need it.
"...high value targeting...men that...planning such activities."
This is the military attempting to achieve their goal of 'preventing future terrorism' by our announced or secret enemies.
Mr. Obama has brought a double threat to the team. This guy not only assassinates more efficiently but whitewashes as well.
The new general's effectiveness at winning wars cannot be evaluated as yet. His only victories so far have been over the Iraqi army and the American people. Talk about setting the bar low.
Congress started this insanity over 7 years ago and this week 60 members finally started taking some responsibility.
Bring America Back !!!! As Craig Brown says today
...'it just keeps getting Worse ...'
***The Beast of the mIlitary-industrial complex just keeps
rolling on and on and on ....
***Instead of curing and changing the DC Culture of Corrupton, Team Obama has been swallowed up by it, The Beast !
Today, Obama appoints Repubby Governor of Utah to a department head position!
Barak Obama looks more and more like a one-term Prez.
Just 120 days and his performance stinks.
Dear President Obysmal: You better start wondering what Hell is going to look like.
It would take a real patriot to show him the way...
As an envoy from there, he's probably already quite familiar with the decor.
And McChrystal is the man in Charge of the coverup of the close range friendly fire murder(?) of Football star Tillman.
So Obama replaces an inept liar, Mckiernan, with more ept torturing, assassinating liar.
And the fool "impeachment off the table" and "you are not getting single payer" Pelosi is taking the heat for Cheney et. al.
I bet Pelosi wishes now that she had impeached Bush and Cheney.
The Repugs would impeach a Democratic President for not tying his shoe laces.
Cheney is still in charge through the MSM.
Obama is a stupid fool for not enforcing the law and Constitution and his administration is unraveling right now because of his lack of integrity.
It is always better to make the ethical choice,no matter how painful it might seem, because in the long run the unethical choice, as giving dictatorial war criminals freedom, is much more painful.
Instead of the disruption of prosecuting the dictatorial war criminals and acheiving some good and justice, we have the democratic administration self destructing with the CIA and Pelosi calling each other liars.
Other than a handful of House reps and maybe one or two Senators (and that is being generous) it appears we are living in a one-party state. In economics, if only two firms dominate the market, it is almost certain that collusion will occur and the market will become heavily distorted. Simply put, the same for politics. What is our alternative, vote Republican. Third, fourth or fifth parties have no chance due to:
Winner takes all elections
Corporate domination of the media and blacklisting anyone who does not toe the line (think Dennis K., Cynthia M. etc.)
Un-regulated billion dollar election cycles where "selling out" to corporate interests is a prerequisite.
Highly disproportionate voting weights in the House and especially Senate. The number of reps/Senators do not reflect the huge population and demographic changes that have ocurred.
Not to mention the electoral college and the byzantine, crazy, non-standardized voting laws from county level, state level and federal level.
So, given that 2/3 majorities will not be forthcoming to amend these obstacles to democracy, what can one do? Vote R? Take a chance on an alternative candidate, although no one has heard of them? We are in a real dilemma
If we look to elections for our salvation, we are doomed. Its time and it has been time for a long while to hit the streets and stop cooperating with the system. Go on strike, refuse to pay taxes, and slow down the gears with non-cooperation. When the pain gets to be too much for them, we will see 'change we can believe in' and maybe even 'the audacity of hope'.
In Peace
But it has to be massive, coordinated, organized, targeted or else nobody notices. Some shmo doesn't pay her taxes and gets in trouble or a guy stops doing his job like Bartleby the Scrivner and gets labeled as a slacker. Who even notices or understands why?
My kids did not know what a grape was for 15 years. I was boycotting, but then realized nobody was paying attention, not even the farmworkers!
Joe
I think I read somewhere that Tillman's parents have spoken out against McChrystal.
-- I bet Pelosi wishes now that she had impeached Bush and Cheney. --
A while back, I postulated the following:
Pelosi should allow impeachment to occur. The Republicans will make their obvious partisan attacks about her personal stake in the proceedings.
Pelosi promises to serve out Bush's term and then retire from politics after Bush and Cheney are removed from office. The framing, the story, would be the woman who saved America.
Pelosi could have been a hero. The first woman President.
Instead, she's headed for zero.
Putting McChrystal under his command could be Obama's bid to control these assassins.
Exactly the way he's controlling the banksters!
Turning the Treasury into a division of Goldman-Sachs put THOSE bastards right under Obama's thumb!
Well, somebody's under SOMEBODY'S thumb, that's for sure-- no sense in getting all picky about who's the controller and who's the controlled!
· Yr Obd't Servant
Half of the 700 billion was handed out by Bush with no strings attached. Nobody seems to know what happened to the money. Obama is doling out the rest carefully, in an effort to maintain some stability and consumer confidence, thinking that the alternative would be worse.
I am very skeptical about anything done under Bush and sympathize with Obama for the mess he was left with though some of us seem to ignore the enormous conservative pressures surrounding him. He might be putting the onus on the ones who broke it to fix it.
I would have let the banks and corporations fail, rationalized the loss of half the TARP and let the chips fall where they may. But economics is a gamble and no one here can say for sure what the effect on the country would have been then.
Obama is swimming with sharks, but so far as the country and the world are concerned, he is staying afloat. Meantime I'm writing Congress and sending petitions to help him overcome the conservative blitz instead of helping him fail.
Seymore Hersh is risking his life, I expect Obama to do the same.
only sharks swim w/sharks.
you have some kind of ideological blinder prohibiting you from seeing the obvious. even the editors at CD seem to be on to obama's game (about friggin' time, too.)
obama inherited a mess from bush? indeed, he did. and so will obama's successor, and his/her successor, and so on. at least one might spare oneself the indignity of constantly apologizing for a rigged Game.
Ideological blinders and paranoia are first cousins.
it's only "paranoia" if obama is not doing what he's actually doing.
funny. funny, funny, funny. (your rationalizations, that is.)
in what other line of work do you get promoted to keep you from doing something your boss didn't like?
and, as commander in chief, isn't McKristalNacht already under the POTUS' command?
Which is why McChrystal worked for Cheney.
Come to think of it, it's why Obama has been made Propagandist in Chief for the corporate empire. He's ruthless, but also personable and takes instructions well.
Yes!
I know that people who supported candidate feel some loyalty to him (or perhaps to their own choices) but how can you defend Obama so faithfully knowing that he is reneging on every promise of change he made. He doesn't need to bring a general under his command. Obama as the commander-in-chief can fire the general if he wants to, but he is going out and picking these guys to run things, just like he did with the bank bailouts--pick the people responsible for the fiasco to fix it. Or perhaps it's the other way around, they picked Obama so he wouldn't rock the boat and go along with the status quo but make glib rhetorical speeches for our consumption.
Whose command was McChrystal under before ,the Chinese?
Please ez it is way past time to still be defending such an unethical President.
"Please ez it is way past time to still be defending such an unethical President."
Maybe so, but some things bother me:
When surrounded by conservative crocodiles in the houses they bought, which would last longer, a liberal tiger or a liberal making like a croc?
Joining Repugs in taking potshots at our man seems counterproductive. Shouldn't we better pick our targets?
We elected Obama to fix everything conservatives destroyed, then we sit back, do nothing to help, attack him while ignoring his positive actions and expect one man to do it all without being assassinated or bought out like every other politician.
Are we looking for a savior or a martyr? I blame the system, not the man.
EZ, consider that since taking office, Obama has:
1. Reconstituted the Military Commissions.
2. Denied detainees Constitutional and Geneva Conventions protections.
3. Praised torturers and murderers as dedicated public servants and vowed to violate US law to protect them from prosecution.
4. Expanded Bush's State Secrets legal theory.
5. Continued illegally spying on Americans.
6. Continued to use USAPATRIOT Act powers and not called for repeal.
7. Retained Gates as Secretary of Defense despite his tainted record.
8. Promoted General McChrystal to commander in Afghanistan despite his tainted record.
9. Continued contracts with abusive, fraudulent private contractors.
10. Concealed evidence of war crimes.
11. Increased illegal attacks on Pakistan.
12. Increased drone attacks, with a horrific civilian death and injury rate, in both Afghanistan and Pakistan.
13. Not banned white phosphorus or cluster munitions.
14. Escalated the Afghan war.
15. Adopted Bush's Iraq war plan.
16. Threatened the UK with withholding of future intelligence if they pursue investigations of US wrongdoing.
17. Pressured Spain to discontinue its investigations.
BTW, DrB--that US "wrongdoing" was the systematic torture and murder of prisoners in contravention of a multitude of international conventions signed onto by the US and, therefore, also in contravention of the US Constitution, Article 6 par. 2.
And shame on the Brits for caving. They should have told Obama they'd get their own intelligence and not share it with the USA. As I remember, they did rather better in that regard than the USA did in the run-up to the Iraq invasion and the Afghan invasion.
Rainborowe
True. And he has a 67% approval rating. Would it be as high and would he get re-elected with a more progressive agenda? Isn't a second term the key? He says, "make me do it". Are you making him do it or are you joining Repugs to make him fail?
www.gallup.com/poll/116224/Obama-Approval-Rating-Increases.aspx
Is there any breakdown of that 62% figure?
I can't believe that ALL those who supported Obama were
without doubts and without fierce objection to much of
what he has done?
Obviously, they've got ahold of him -- strong hold.
However, he seems to be a willing victim!
"According to all myth, the female - not the male -- gives life"
Sioux Rose
EZE, my friend, the approval rating is more the result of that successful bamboozle derived from a marriage between a powerful PR campaign and a coopted mass media, than a TRUE reflection of a public consensus. Half the issues (make that 80% of the issues) are presented in manners subdued by low lights and half-truths. The disinformation campaign measured against the public's Pavlovian consent, is hardly something to cheer.
Polls and a candidate's election chances are usually in sync, so we can't disregard them even when the public has been brainwashed. And we can't disregard the fact that in our broken system, pols need Big Money bribes to win elections. Jesus would find it impossible to win an election in the US. In our rigged system of campaign financing, over 95% of bribes come from the Wall Street Casino.
Obama knows the money-power can make him or destroy him regardless of how much his libs bitch. He knows he needs another four years to undo the conservative disaster and is trying to catch more flies with honey like he did at Notre Dame today and walking a fine line while juggling plenty of big issues at the same time.
Obama could sell out like most pols do, or he could be a smarter political chess player than we give him credit for. If he's as smart as he seems to be, he must be a liberal.
But which side will any politician take, the side of progressives combined with right wingers that only give him grief, or the side of an oligarchy that gives him everything he or she could ever want and kill him physically or politically if he doesn't take their side? That is why I'm for direct democracy and referendums that bypass politicians.
If your not man enough to fight the system you should not be in the game.
Obama is surrounding himself with the enemy. No sane warrior does that.
Hear here, I always thought this bipartisan dream crap would fail and it has completely failed the progressive coalition that elected Obama.Glen you nailed it.I wonder if the president has read "The art of War' peace
I always thought the bipartisan crap was just that: crap. We have a Republican party so far to the right and so obstructionist that any meeting was bound to be on their turf, and so it has proved to be, a grand surrender to the right wing of the GOP on issue after issue.
I am not surprised by this. I held my nose and voted for Obama last time when my preferred candidate dropped out, but I will not vote for Obama next time unless he changes substantially and reverses his many Republican decisions so far. With Rahm Emanuel guarding the gate that's not likely. Obama is looking more and more like a one-term president. In fact he's out-doing Jimmy Carter in that respect and he's barely gotten started.
Rainborowe
and the smart blame the system for the man
Unfriggin believable! The more things "change", the more things stay the same....er get worse!
I think the next move will be to appoint ex prez Bush to be ambassador to Afghanistan...what do you think??
Actually, NO! We all knew this about Obama BEFORE the election. No surprises here. But the Democrats figured their Messiah was not of the Empire and the military industrial complex. Do they get it yet? Of course not. And in 2012, they'll tell you that YOU HAVE NO CHOICE- YOU HAVE TO VOTE DEMOCRATIC! And, they will, and... there will be more of the same. Nader was right and is right. He may not be the candidate in 2012, but he's right. The duopoly is but One Large Corporate Party.
I was a fan of Nader myself and still am. I voted for him in 2000 but as soon as abandoned the Green Party, I gave up and switched back to voting for Kerry in 2004 to see what he'll be like. Couldn't get a test of his presidency so Obama 2008 it was. I see the results pouring in and well, they're not good so far. However, I'll still hold out until 2012. I have voted for 3rd parties on House and Senate seats though I voted for Franken this time and hope he makes it to the Senate to tilt the party a little more to the left. You remind me of JenniferBedingfield who loved Nader so much and who'd always be in that "I told you so" mode. I respect you Nader fans and yes, I am ashamed that Nader like the other 3rd party candidates haven't been given a chance even on the debates. I just don't know if we will even have a 3rd party let alone a good one ala Nadar's to vote for. If there can be a strong one to take his place, we might have one to look more forward to. Otherwise, depending on who the GOP nominates, I might just hold my nose and vote Obama again or simply not vote.
Do not get me wrong....I knew Obama was a sell out from day one. I just did not expect him to show his hand so boldly this early on. Then again, I guess he figured that any nation that would allow the shrub to control them for eight years will let any leader get away with anything! I would forget about any satisfaction through the corrupt electoral process...the only hope is massive protest progressing to whatever it takes.
"I knew Obama was a sell out from day one. I just did not expect him to show his hand so boldly this early on."
I could not think of two sentences that better describe my own thoughts on Obama. I did not vote for him, and yet I am truly amazed at how fast he has dashed any sense of hope or change. I figured he would have eased into it a bit more.
I so agree! The bad news is coming fast and furious now - almost accelerating exponentially!
No, really, it's a great idea but George Wanker Bush is a coward's coward. He would never take the job since he would have to live in a combat zone. If he could be headquartered in a saloon in Dallas, then maybe he'd accept. Why not ask Cheesedick Cheney?