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The Bush Era Nightmare Won't End Until Obama Embraces True Transparency

By Frank Rich, The New York Times. Posted May 18, 2009.


No matter how hard President Obama tries to turn the page on the previous administration, he can't. Until there is true accountability.

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To paraphrase Al Pacino in "Godfather III," just when we thought we were out, the Bush mob keeps pulling us back in. And will keep doing so. No matter how hard President Obama tries to turn the page on the previous administration, he can't. Until there is true transparency and true accountability, revelations of that unresolved eight-year nightmare will keep raining down drip by drip, disrupting the new administration's high ambitions.

That's why the president's flip-flop on the release of detainee abuse photos — whatever his motivation — is a fool's errand. The pictures will eventually emerge anyway, either because of leaks (if they haven't started already) or because the federal appeals court decision upholding their release remains in force. And here's a bet: These images will not prove the most shocking evidence of Bush administration sins still to come.

There are many dots yet to be connected, and not just on torture. This Sunday, GQ magazine is posting on its Web site an article adding new details to the ample dossier on how Donald Rumsfeld's corrupt and incompetent Defense Department cost American lives and compromised national security. The piece is not the work of a partisan but the Texan journalist Robert Draper, author of "Dead Certain," the 2007 Bush biography that had the blessing (and cooperation) of the former president and his top brass. It draws on interviews with more than a dozen high-level Bush loyalists.

Draper reports that Rumsfeld's monomaniacal determination to protect his Pentagon turf led him to hobble and antagonize America's most willing allies in Iraq, Britain and Australia, and even to undermine his own soldiers. But Draper's biggest find is a collection of daily cover sheets that Rumsfeld approved for the Secretary of Defense Worldwide Intelligence Update, a highly classified digest prepared for a tiny audience, including the president, and often delivered by hand to the White House by the defense secretary himself. These cover sheets greeted Bush each day with triumphal color photos of the war headlined by biblical quotations. GQ is posting 11 of them, and they are seriously creepy.

Take the one dated April 3, 2003, two weeks into the invasion, just as Shock and Awe hit its first potholes. Two days earlier, on April 1, a panicky Pentagon had begun spreading its hyped, fictional account of the rescue of Pvt. Jessica Lynch to distract from troubling news of setbacks. On April 2, Gen. Joseph Hoar, the commander in chief of the United States Central Command from 1991-94, had declared on the Times Op-Ed page that Rumsfeld had sent too few troops to Iraq. And so the Worldwide Intelligence Update for April 3 bullied Bush with Joshua 1:9: "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go." (Including, as it happened, into a quagmire.)

What's up with that? As Draper writes, Rumsfeld is not known for ostentatious displays of piety. He was cynically playing the religious angle to seduce and manipulate a president who frequently quoted the Bible. But the secretary's actions were not just oily; he was also taking a risk with national security. If these official daily collages of Crusade-like messaging and war imagery had been leaked, they would have reinforced the Muslim world's apocalyptic fear that America was waging a religious war. As one alarmed Pentagon hand told Draper, the fallout "would be as bad as Abu Ghraib."


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View:
Where Is It Written?
Posted by: Revolutionary (Direct) Democracy on May 18, 2009 12:07 AM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
What makes you think the "Bush era nightmare" is EVER going to end? The same people are still in charge, with a new talking head.


FREE AMERICA

VOCA, NOW !!

REVOLUTIONARY (DIRECT) DEMOCRACY

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: Where Is It Written? Posted by: willymack
» I see your posts all the time Posted by: linecrosser
What's PUMA
Posted by: Perry Logan on May 18, 2009 3:11 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
for "I told you so"?

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

It's all about poltics
Posted by: 2thepoint on May 18, 2009 3:53 AM   
Current rating: 1    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Obama's "flip flop" on the photo issue actually makes sense.

Unfortunately they will emerge. But what president want to be responsible for the enormous rise in anti American sentiment in the Arab world and the resulting abuse of American's abroad. It's perfect ammo for the GOP to use against the dems.. Anti American dems put our troops at risk!

He knows showing the photos it's the irresponsible thing to do. So he leaves it up to the ACLU, they're an anti American group anyway, and he can blame the fall out on them.

Pretty smart for a community organizer. Most of the American public is against the photos and memos being made public. It's only fringe groups that care nothing about America or our troops that think this needs to be done.

Obama , I agree with you on this one. Next, keep Gitmo open. you spoke before you understood what was really happening. Listen to Webb!!!

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: It's all about poltics Posted by: Diecash1
» RE: It's all about poltics Posted by: 2thepoint
» RE: It's all about poltics Posted by: left_libertarian
Sheer Nonsense
Posted by: DrBrian on May 18, 2009 4:20 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
2thepoint, do you really believe that release of some photos of things that everyone already knows happened a long time ago will enrage our enemies, but they will be delighted that we're continuing to abuse detainees and hold them without trial, slaughtering civilians, escalating the war in Afghanistan and violating our own laws with promises of impunity for torturers and murderers? This is sheer nonsense.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Tell Holder: investigate Bush-era torture
Posted by: greenferret on May 18, 2009 5:01 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
A new ABC poll shows that a majority of Americans favor investigating whether Bush administration officials broke the law regarding torture. An independent investigation would reaffirm the basic American principle that no one is above the law.

Join GreenChange.org in calling on Attorney General Holder to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate whether Bush administration officials violated laws prohibiting torture.

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Obama's KLEPTOCRATS
Posted by: Mister_PsyOps on May 18, 2009 5:33 AM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Frank Rich is spinning limited hangout red herrings yet again.

Accountability would mean pulling the lid off a 9/11 coverup that is the greatest criminal snow job since before the Tonkin Gulf sting for Vietnam War. Rich and his corrupted Washington-MSM carnival starring the NY Times (in this case) will never go there and neither will Alternet.

Torturing more or less innocent Muslim nobodies for the crimes of 9/11 into its 9/11 "war on terror" genocide killing wars has become a fetish that the U.S. was actually proud of and now is somewhat embarrassed by for the wrong reasons.

Patriots Question 9/11

architects and engineers 911 truth

The fact is "war on terror" (war on a noun) is clearly a farce and a fraud that is at least 1,000 lies old according to the Center for Public Integrity. We are virtually commanded to believe the 9/11 story told by the Washington-MSM circus. A fairy tale that cannot be questioned any more than "war on terror" with both are so full of holes, contradictions and double-talk extortion only an unthinking clod could believe either.

This is the state of faux "democracy" in America. A land of deception by professional liars for gullible patsies that will not challenge the hand that spoon-feeds them new lies for old. No matter how tainted and bloody the brutal hand grows, nothing will happen.

Nothing will happen until the Orwellian nightmare breaks the U.S. wide open via more Wall Street power grabs and centralized corporate monopoly seizure of the nation. That’s called Fascism for Fascists. And by then most if not all options will be lost.



“The truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the state."
Joseph Goebbels (minister of propaganda in Nazi Germany, 1897-1945)

“When the truth is replaced by silence, the silence is a lie.”
Yevgeny Yevtushenko (Soviet dissident, poet and filmmaker. Yevtushenko was the first Russian to publicly speak out against police state Stalinism (1933-).

“Those who manipulate the unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. We are governed, our minds molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested by men we have never heard of.”
Edward L. Bernays (Sigmund Freud’s nephew and the father of psy-ops and modern propaganda. Bernay’s techniques sold WWI to Americans thru the “Committee on Public Information” and were employed by Goebbels under Hitler. Bernays partnered with William Paley to run CBS via CIA mass media manipulation “Operation Mockingbird”. Quote: Bernay book “Propaganda” 1928)

“The minority, the ruling class at present, has the schools and press, usually the Church as well, under its thumb. This enables it to organize and sway the emotions of the masses, and make its tool of them.”
Doctor Albert Einstein (in a letter to Sigmund Freud 7/30/1932. 1879-1955)

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» RE: Obama's KLEPTOCRATS Posted by: amacd
Using the people's digital media to educate the masses
Posted by: larazzafilms on May 18, 2009 5:37 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Once the article in the GQ Magazine is released, "we" who wish to have justice served as a union of a constitutional population, should use the digital media at our disposal to communicate effectively. Twitter, face book, my space and so on...it is as simple as cutting and pasting the informative article and post it on those media sites in efforts to reveal the needing to know truths and information which will be with held through mainstream media and from the population masses. Allow credible and accountable education to circulate through the world reaching six degrees of justice.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Let Interantional Courts get the Ball rolling-then Walk it Backwards.
Posted by: Purple Girl on May 18, 2009 5:38 AM   
Current rating: 1    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
As you quite aptly pointed out every facet making up our Democracy has been implicated as possibly Culpable in the crimes or their cover up.
Let the Internationals work on bringing Charges for Rendition,Black Site Prisons, Torture and assasinations. Then let's see how many accomplices are willing to not only help but provide states evidence on Treason, Abuse of Power and conspiracy.
We need to walk this very complicated and wide spread criminality backwards. We know the Domestic Crimes committed lent to the opportunity and inevitablity of War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity. If these Domestic High crimes had been derailed the Rest would never occurred. However, because so many are in protection mode- or denial- they have not be willing to come forward. When faced with Charges on the International level- they may be forth coming in turning over evidence. Better to be a Witness than a defendant in international court.
Letting the internationals prosecute these War Crimes will negate the issue being labled Political or a 'Witch Hunt'.Once those War Crimes are proven (and they will be) then we can prosecute for those activities which lead up to them. Let's be honest the Global Community, esp the re-ignited Radicals of these Terrorist Groups- will not be satisfied with our conducting of any War crime trials. Regardless of the outcome- there will always be a shady of doubt to their validity and thus another avenue to use for recruitment.
Honestly I no longer trust any branch, commission, agency or even an appointee to prosecute these Interantional War Crimes, at this point- so why should the International community. I have serious concerns that even the Domestic Cases will be investigated and prosecuted justly.

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Get to the bottom of it.
Posted by: swooshy on May 18, 2009 7:35 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
If we want to get to the bottom of any of this, we must find out once and for all everyone that was responsible for 9/11. There was a long line of failure here STARTING at the White House. The breakdown in our defenses was inexcusable.

The IDIOTIC escapade of Air Force One being chased by fighter jets over NYC should have started some questioning. The resignation of the person in charge was in order. WHY were there NO resignations or firings in the Bush administration after almost 3000 Americans were slaughtered?

All the Memorial Building for 9/11 in the world won't do justice to the victims. The best memorial in the world would be JUSTICE period.

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» The REAL point Posted by: truthlover
» Waterboard Silverstein Posted by: weathered
Scientists Find Unignited Explosive Residues in WTC Dust - Apr 22, 2009
Posted by: llucero on May 18, 2009 9:49 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Conclusive science-based forensic evidence disproving the official 9/11 conspiracy story and evidence that WTC 1, 2 and 3 were destroyed with Advanced Thermitic Material created by Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore Labs.

OMNI TV Interview

Richard Gage, AIA, of Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth lays out all the evidence for the controlled demolition of the 3 WTC high-rises on 9/11.

Go here for OMNI TV Interview: http://www.ae911truth.org/omnitv_interview.htm

Go here for full report "Scientists Find Unignited Explosive Residues in WTC Dust:" http://www.ae911truth.org/info/57

Red/Gray Chips Match Advanced Thermitic Materials Developed in US Government Labs

Berkeley, CA, April 23, 2009— A team of scientists that includes 9/11 luminaries Steven Jones, Kevin Ryan, and seven other authors from three countries announced this month the long-awaited publication of their 25-page article "Active Thermitic Material Discovered in Dust from the 9/11 World Trade Center Catastrophe."

The team analyzed dust samples that were collected from four locations near Ground Zero. One sample was collected ten minutes after the North Tower exploded, so it could not have been contaminated with particles from the cleanup efforts. All four samples contained the same unusual, tiny red/gray chips, which turned out to consist not only of the ingredients of conventional thermite but also carbon, silicon, and other elements.

The ingredients are all found in an ultra-fine-grained form that speeds the chemical reaction when the mixture is ignited. While conventional thermite is considered an incendiary, burning hot and fast at steel-melting 4500-degree temperatures, so-called "nano-thermite" or "super-thermite" mixtures can be explosive — as proudly noted in the Los Alamos announcement

According to lead author Niels Harrit, a professor of chemistry at the University of Copenhagen, "These new findings confirm and extend the earlier finding of previously molten, iron-rich microspheres in the World Trade Center dust. They provide strong forensic evidence that the official explanation of the WTC's destruction is wrong. Office fires and jet fuel cannot produce these highly engineered, dangerous particles."

Taken together with all the other anomalies and contradictions in what we have been told, these new findings further support the international movement demanding a new, legitimate investigation of the 9/11 disaster. They also shed new light on statements by officials with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) denying that there is any evidence of explosives at the WTC. The findings underscore the absence from their reports of any mention of the molten metal caught on video flowing out of the South Tower before it came down, seen in the rubble by dozens of people, and corroborated by hot spots in NASA thermal images of Ground Zero.

What many 9/11 activists are not aware of is that some of the same NIST engineers who wrote those reports and issued that disingenuous denial actually worked on nanothermite. Even before the dust evidence came to light, the obvious speed, symmetry, explosiveness, and completeness of the destruction strongly pointed to explosives. How can these NIST engineers have ruled out explosive controlled demolition without even discussing it in their more than 10,000 pages of reports? Perhaps for the same reasons they ruled out consideration of key evidence from the very beginning.

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Not ONE good thing
Posted by: willymack on May 18, 2009 11:48 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Came out of the bush years. From the fraudulent "elections" of 2000 & 2004 to bush's last minute efforts to gut enviornmental protections, it's been nothing but disgrace and dishonor. The poison is everywhere, and is being kept from a cleanup by a rearguard of bushie loyalists who hope for a return to power sometime soon. What a mess.

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If you and I
Posted by: linecrosser on May 18, 2009 12:18 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
If we were to discuss how we could rob a bank, and then we never did take any actions towards actually doing it, we would be at least guilty of conspiracy to commit such act. Now if we got powerful attorneys, to write memos to present arguments that it wasn't illegal, then the attorneys would also be complicit in the conspiracy. It's been along time since I was in the military, so I can't remember (too lazy to look up) the details, but I do remember that by LAW, I was responsible for the safe guarding of any prisoner in my charge. Bush and Co. sat around trying to figure out how they could do it legally. They got attorneys to put it in writing. THEY'RE ALL GUILTY. You can't spin it any other way. America will not survive (like it was originally supposed to be) if we drag this out much longer. We must force the UN to prosecute, since everyone involved, past and present, seem to think that doing nothing is better than defending America from treason from within. What kind of sick mind sits around discussing how to legally torture someone. Hasn't the war on terror killed more innocent civilians than Sodom Hussein did. Let Bush and Co. swing.

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This is not a partisan issue
Posted by: reg373 on May 18, 2009 12:26 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Not if we are a nation of laws. While CIA underlings are not at issue for following orders, those who crafted any that are in fact against the laws of the United States, cannot be just given a wink & nod -- found a cool site; Balkingpoints ; incredible satellite view of earth

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COLLECTIVE AMNESIA ISN'T WORKING
Posted by: VZEQICVA on May 18, 2009 12:40 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
It seems that the majority of Americans won't let this die. Probably because it's still very much alive and well and impacting our lives every day. People are so involved in analyzing history that goes back to the Middle Ages, but reluctant to take a close look at the last 8 years. Why is it incomprehensible that the CIA lied? Everything during Bush's administration was based on lies. Why should they be the exception? George Tenet had a remarkable career cut short by getting tangled up in Bush's web. He got a Medal for disgracing himself. As for Cheney keeping us safe after Sept. 11, what's his excuse FOR Sept. 11. Should we have been torturing people as a preventative measure? I'm far from ready to put this to rest. Thanks, ANNA

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the "Nightmare" just got a new face (OBAMA)
Posted by: PointMan on May 18, 2009 4:20 PM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
NY Times is a disinfo rag. BushCo was just another puppet regime same as Obama's. No real policies behind hired stooge actors GW Bush or Obama have changed. Wall St. corporate crime continues to be bailed out and bogus "war on terror" will go on endlessly as the bloody Big Oil killing fields continue.

Yes, Americans are that stupid and that easy to fool.

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Was Bush duped by Cheney and Rumsfeld?
Posted by: Garvagh on May 18, 2009 4:28 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Great piece! Was Bush such an arrogant ignoramus that Cheney (and Rumsfeld) duped him into starting an elective war? Rumsfeld saw a chance to try out his new war strategy, and Cheney seems to have regarded endless war as a means of subverting the Constitution to enable permanent retention of an imperial presidency.

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