Yet another campaign promise tossed under the bus, and this one is a biggie.
On Tuesday, April 21st, President Obama stated that he could support an inquiry into the methods used to gather information from terrorists after 9/11. Specifically, Obama left the door wide open to go after certain Bush Administration officials for prosecution. This is in direct opposition to what Obama had originally said while running for President. During that time, Obama claimed he did not want to see any prosecution of CIA agents and/or other interrogators who took part in certain interrogation tactics that some disapproved of. Obama wanted to "move forward."
So now a complete turnaround. This should come as no surprise, since Obama just cannot seem to adhere to many of his pre-election promises. Obama tends to say something one day, then do a complete about-face later on. It's a pattern that is becoming very common. However, in breaking this promise, Obama is leaving America very vulnerable to another terrorist attack. Another 9/11. What the president is doing is wrong. He is trying to placate the folks at moveon.org and other rabid lefties, while neglecting the national security of America. Obama has to realize that he cannot keep lefties happy and America safe at the same time. It doesn't work. The two are like oil and water. Here are several reasons why America is less safe because of our President:
1) The CIA and others will be hesitant in going forward to get information out of captured terrorists. They realize they need to protect themselves from future prosecution from the very people they are trying to keep safe.
2) Our enemies are getting specific information on what the CIA/military will be allowed to do to them if they are captured. They can prepare. They don't have to worry about being captured and giving up valuable information anymore.
3) Rather than focusing on combating terrorists and protecting America, the President has chosen to placate the left. In the process, he is further dividing the country. Obama is the most polarizing president this nation has ever seen, and this recent action does not help in bringing the country together. The fact is, we are being driven further apart.
4) America seems to be headed back to the pre-9/11 days. Terrorists and terrorism were looked upon like criminal activities. The war on terror didn't exist. America wasn't paying attention. We seem to be going in that direction again, and we seem more intent on punishing the people who are risking their lives to keep us safe than focusing on fighting the terrorists that want to kill us.
5) The United States military already has to adhere to "rules of engagement," giving the enemy a slight edge in combat situations. How in the future will such investigations and thoughts of liability affect our fighting men and women? Will they be hesitant in doing their jobs? Will they be second-guessing everything they do? They may eventually refuse to do anything that could lead to their own prosecution - at the hands of their own government. How reprehensible. Rather than supporting our fighting efforts, our own President seems to be undermining them.
One key issue that revealed Obama's true intentions is the fact that he recently chose to release four memos detailing terrorist interrogation techniques. It is by the release of these memos that the left has gone apoplectic and is now demanding to see Bush officials prosecuted. Unfortunately, the so-called "transparent" governing style of Barack Obama didn't allow for the release of other memos clearly showing that the interrogation techniques used in the war on terror worked. In addition, a memo that Dennis Blair, Obama's Director of National Intelligence, released was actually altered by the Obama Administration before it was published. The Obama administration left out Blair's assessment that the interrogations produced actionable and critical information. What Blair had to say contradicted Obama's claim that the interrogation methods produced no data. This was a lie on Obama's part.
There are also many memos out there waiting to be de-classified that tell how several terrorist attacks were thwarted due to information gathered from harsh interrogation techniques. How many American lives were saved? Hundreds? Thousands? The American people have the right to see these results from these interrogations, rather than just the information Obama is providing on the techniques themselves.
How convenient for Obama and his administration to publish memos that only present one side of the issue. Does anyone really remember 9/11? It appears as though Mr. Obama and many on the left have forgotten. Maybe Barack should be forced to sit and listen to the 911 calls which came out of the World Trade Center towers on that fateful day. America was attacked. Thousands of innocent lives were lost. And at the time, it was believed that another major attack was imminent. The Bush Administration acted immediately in the best interests of protecting our country. The interrogation methods approved - not just by our President - but by many of our highest-ranking Democrat and Republican politicians, served to allow intelligence gathering that prevented further mass killings on our soil. That is a fact. As mentioned before, even Obama's Director of National Intelligence agreed. Dennis Blair pointed out that most of what America learned about al-Qaeda after 9/11 came from waterboarding Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Abu Zubaydah. To quote Blair: "High value information came from interrogations in which those methods were used and provided a deeper understanding of the al Qaeda organization that was attacking this country."
Obama is putting the desires of some of his supporters above the safety of our country. What kind of leader is Obama? Judging from this recent plan to go after and prosecute lawyers who simply wrote their opinions on terrorist interrogation techniques, it doesn't appear that Obama has the best interest of America at heart. Coming at the heels of his recent "apology tours" - in which Obama went to various foreign countries and apologized for all the wrongs of America (or what Obama perceives to be the evils of his own country), should really have many Americans concerned. Embracing our enemies like Hugo Chavez doesn't help, either. And now this.
America has a weak President, intent on making America weaker. Another 9/11 is indeed a real possibility.