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Aladdin Sane · 05-21-2009, 05:33 AM

I'm beginning to think I should have voted for Mr. Obama:

1. President Obama is keeping George W. Bush's military tribunals for terror detainees after calling them an "enormous failure" and a "legal black hole." His campaign claimed last summer that "court systems . . . are capable of convicting terrorists."

2. Under executive orders issued by Obama recently, the CIA still has authority to carry out renditions. Current U.S. intelligence officials said that the rendition program might be poised to play an expanded role under the Obama administration.

3. He insisted in 2007 that Congress mandate "consequences" for "a failure to meet various benchmarks and milestones" on aid to Iraq. Earlier this month he fought off legislatively mandated benchmarks in the $97 billion funding bill for Iraq and Afghanistan.

4. He agreed on April 23 to release investigative photos of detainee abuse. Then he announced he wouldn’t.

5. Mr. Obama condemned Mr. Bush's counterinsurgency strategy in Iraq, insisting it could not succeed. Earlier this year, Mr. Obama ordered more troops to Afghanistan. He isn't calling it a "surge" but that's what it is. He is applying in Afghanistan the counterinsurgency strategy Mr. Bush used in Iraq.

6. And just this morning (from the NY Times)—
WASHINGTON — President Obama told human rights advocates at the White House on Wednesday that he was mulling the need for a “preventive detention” system that would establish a legal basis for the United States to incarcerate terrorism suspects who are deemed a threat to national security but cannot be tried, two participants in the private session said.
***
The two participants, outsiders who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the session was intended to be off the record, said they left the meeting dismayed.
***
“He was almost ruminating over the need for statutory change to the laws so that we can deal with individuals who we can’t charge and detain,” one participant said. “We’ve known this is on the horizon for many years, but we were able to hold it off with George Bush. The idea that we might find ourselves fighting with the Obama administration over these powers is really stunning.”

The other participant said Mr. Obama did not seem to be thinking about preventive detention for terrorism suspects now held at Guantnamo Bay, but rather for those captured in the future, in settings other than a legitimate battlefield like Afghanistan…

05-21-2009, 05:33 AM	#71 (permalink)
Aladdin Sane Degenerate Location: San Marvelous	I'm beginning to think I should have voted for Mr. Obama: 1. President Obama is keeping George W. Bush's military tribunals for terror detainees after calling them an "enormous failure" and a "legal black hole." His campaign claimed last summer that "court systems . . . are capable of convicting terrorists." 2. Under executive orders issued by Obama recently, the CIA still has authority to carry out renditions. Current U.S. intelligence officials said that the rendition program might be poised to play an expanded role under the Obama administration. 3. He insisted in 2007 that Congress mandate "consequences" for "a failure to meet various benchmarks and milestones" on aid to Iraq. Earlier this month he fought off legislatively mandated benchmarks in the $97 billion funding bill for Iraq and Afghanistan. 4. He agreed on April 23 to release investigative photos of detainee abuse. Then he announced he wouldn’t. 5. Mr. Obama condemned Mr. Bush's counterinsurgency strategy in Iraq, insisting it could not succeed. Earlier this year, Mr. Obama ordered more troops to Afghanistan. He isn't calling it a "surge" but that's what it is. He is applying in Afghanistan the counterinsurgency strategy Mr. Bush used in Iraq. 6. And just this morning (from the NY Times)— WASHINGTON — President Obama told human rights advocates at the White House on Wednesday that he was mulling the need for a “preventive detention” system that would establish a legal basis for the United States to incarcerate terrorism suspects who are deemed a threat to national security but cannot be tried, two participants in the private session said. * The two participants, outsiders who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the session was intended to be off the record, said they left the meeting dismayed. * “He was almost ruminating over the need for statutory change to the laws so that we can deal with individuals who we can’t charge and detain,” one participant said. “We’ve known this is on the horizon for many years, but we were able to hold it off with George Bush. The idea that we might find ourselves fighting with the Obama administration over these powers is really stunning.” The other participant said Mr. Obama did not seem to be thinking about preventive detention for terrorism suspects now held at Guantnamo Bay, but rather for those captured in the future, in settings other than a legitimate battlefield like Afghanistan… __________________ Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.