Talk Walker

One of the main problems I have with President Bush insisting on being able to torture “known terrorists” has to do with the foundation of his assertion the people in custody are indeed terrorists.

It has already been established the U.S. had questionable and faulty intelligence regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq, and the possiblity of a Post-War insurgency, not to mention the Bush Administration ignored intelligence regarding Al Queda activity pre-9/11. Yet, they insist on being able to use torture on “known terrorists” currently in custody to glean information that would ”protect the American people,” and  forgiveness for “techniques” already executed.

While it is possible there are some known terrorists, it is just as likely some are someone’s uncle, brother, father or grandfather who got caught in a massive “sweep,” when the U.S. invaded Afghanistan.  The former have been in custody for approximately four years, so their information is already dated and limited, and the latter should not be forced to surrender their human rights because the President has a right to know. There have already been new articles of a Canadian, American film-maker and AP photographer who were arrested and held in military/CIA custody for at least five months, as possible Al Queda operatives.

Given this Adminstration’s track record with intelligence (both personal and military), we should not give them permission to torture anybody, nor should we forgive any past mistakes and misjudgements.

 This is America.

A few weeks ago, Arianna Huffington commented at her blog , with puzzlement at  Israel’s Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s recent conversion from a “wise man” to an apparent Bush clone. Quite astutely she had previously assessed Olmert as an independent intellectual, and praised him for his “willingness to stand up to the hard-liners.” She admired his support for a unilateral withdrawel of  Israeli settlers from the Gaza Strip and part of the West Bank, as part of a  ”push for a difficult solution that he believed was the only way for Israel to achieve a lasting peace.”

She was more than taken aback to hear him shift gears, when he told the people of Lebanon last month :  “We regret the pain caused to so many of you, the fact that you had to flee your homes and places of residence and the unintentional harm to innocents, but we do not apologize for it.”

What stood out to her was how much this sounded like Bush. Conversely, many others wondered aloud if the President was now adopting Israel’s foreign policy as its own. Little did she know, how much she was right on the money. According to consortium.news.com, Israeli leaders are privately complaining our President ”egged” Olmert to invade and bomb Lebanon.

Little wonder President Bush was so supportive of Israel bombing Lebanon to “dismantle Hezbollah.”  It was his idea in the first place. Given how over-extended our military is in Iraq, I have often wondered how President Bush planned to carry on the same against Iran. Enter Israel, soon-to-be our only ally in the Middle East. What better way than to have them initiate a proxy war in Lebanon in the name of “self-defense?” Support by the American people and Congress was assured for Israel, and Bush’s support for Olmert would be unquestioned. Then, they could push onto Syria, and when the time was right, go for Iran.

The only trouble was, neither Bush, his neocons, nor Israel had anticipated the strength, support and viability of Hezbollah. Like Iraq, they must have thought it would over in a week or so. However, after a month of destroying Lebanon’s infrastructure, Hezbollah was still capable of lobbing 200 Katusha rockets into northern Israel the day before the ceasefire was to go into effect.

With support for Israel waning, juxtaposed to a more unified Arabic countries and strengthened Hezbollah, it was time to pull out, pull back and save your ass. Once again, we see Bush’s fingerprints: a destroyed economy, thousands of women and children dead, and democracy in retreat.

What the world is now seeing are the fruits the Bush-Cheney cabals’ labors, a puppeteer with no realistic vision, other than being elected President. It’s time for a change. Nothing is more disheartening than knowing our country now looks to the world like a mouse that roars, that is losing its teeth.

While I am relieved the British were able to thwart a large-scale terrorist plot to bomb up to 10 U.S.-bound, trans-Atlantic planes, I am also concerned this Administration will use it as an argument to take away for of our rights to privacy, or justify our foreign policy in Iraq.

President Bush used the moment, while addressing a fundraiser in Wisconsin, to sell current covert and invasive NSA security measures (read spying on Americans).

“We’ve taken a lot of measures to protect the American people. But obviously we still aren’t completely safe, because there are people that still plot and people who want to harm us for what we believe in.”

There may be people who want to harm us, but I suspect it is less for what we believe in, than the harm we have done to them and their regional allies — not to mention standing by as Israel bombs, invades and occupies Lebanon under the guise of disarming and destroying  Hezbollah.

Chris Matthews, on Hardball today, seemed intent on insisting this foil was evidence wiretapping was integral to exposing the plot and terrorists. That much may be true, but the way he is conflating this to justify warrantless wiretaps makes me more than a little nervous.

I have scoured various news outlets, and have yet to find anything that says the British MI5 discovered the plot through blanket, warrantless wiretaps. What I did find was British intelligence agencies had “conducted a major covert counterterrorist operation pursuing leads in the case” for the past several months. This does not sound warrantless.

Fortunately, Democrats are no longer cowering in a corner, afraid to challenge the GOP’s perceptions.

Senator Harry Reid of Nevada said, contrary to this event justifying our presence in Iraq, being there has drained the US of vital resources for battling terrorism.

“The Iraq war has diverted our focus and more than $300 billion in resources from the war on terrorism and has created a rallying cry for international terrorists. This latest plot demonstrates the need for the Bush administration and the Congress to change course in Iraq and ensure that we are taking all the steps necessary to protect Americans at home and across the world.”

Heads up, America. We need to be listening to these words, now more than ever.