On torture General Petraeus, in a stunning admission, acknowledged that the U.S. has violated the Geneva Conventions and international law. General Sanchez, the former top coalition commander in Iraq, has called for a truth commission to investigate abusive interrogation practices. Former President Jimmy Carter disagreed with Obama’s decision not to release the photos and failure to fully investigate torture and abuse to determine whether prosecution is necessary. Unfortunately, President Obama is doing all he can to block release of the photos, supporting a bill co-sponsored by Senators Joe Lieberman and Lindsay Graham that will re-write the Freedom of Information Act so prevent release of the torture and abuse photos.
And, Obama is even going further than Bush when it comes to the Guantanamo Bay prisoners. Not only is he retaining the military tribunals, which he said he opposed, but perhaps the worst aspect of his policy is long term imprisonment without trial which he calls preventive detention. Why is Obama doing this? Because some prisoners have been abused and tortured and as a result if they are brought to trial the truth will come out and the evidence not be allowed in court. So, Obama’s solution – keep those who were tortured incarcerated without trial.
On Israel, Obama has created a small divide with “our unsinkable battleship in the Middle East” as Alexander Haig called Israel. He is urging Israel to stop expanding the settlements, something that is not a breakthrough in new policy. Israel is refusing, as they always have. But, Obama is saying nothing about the illegal security wall, the ongoing abuse of the people of Gaza, the continued demolition of homes in the West Bank and Jerusalem nor is he threatening to do anything if Israel continues on its land-stealing path. Indeed, he promises to continue to provide all the funding Israel has sought as well as provide all the weapons they need. Thus, Obama’s actions continue to make the U.S. a facilitator of Israel’s abuse of the Palestinian people.
When it comes to the military budget, the Obama administration is seeking more funds – not less. And, the budget submitted by the administration continues the practice of falsity with the understating military and homeland security costs. He is, so far, continuing the practice of seeking supplemental funding for wars. The Congress is about to approve nearly another $100 billion for the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Obama has said nothing about reducing the massive network of nearly 1,000 U.S. military bases around the world that are the foundation of U.S. Empire.
Is the news bad enough yet?
Perhaps the worst news is the relative silence of the peace movement. Yes, some are criticizing, but some are still holding out hope that Obama is different. Others of us pointed out that buried beneath the peace-friendly rhetoric during the campaign were Obama’s promises of escalation. Now, more and more are seeing he meant what he said when it came to his support for a hawkish U.S. foreign policy.
Can you imagine the uproar if President Bush had taken these actions? It is time for the peace movement to wake up to the reality that President Obama is no ally. He has a militaristic national security team that Republicans have praised. His policies in some ways are more militaristic than George W. Bush’s were. It is time for the peace movement to re-awaken and challenge Obama on all of these wrongheaded war policies.
The peace movement needs to consistently let its representatives know that we oppose these actions and organize events to push them to end the ongoing wars and apply the rule of law to torture. It is time for a return to civil disobedience but now the focus of the peace movement must be Democrats who control the Presidency, House and Senate and are responsible.
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