Many are disappointed in Obama not insisting that officials who ordered torture of suspects be sent to trial. Many progressives feel that if people like Cheney were actually punished then more would realize that some of the things done with his encouragement were wrong.

However, let’s say former President Bush during a trial was sobbing that he had no idea what was going on, as Cheney perhaps two or three others were being tried as well. And during the trial Cheney continued his proudly declarations that denying terror suspects their rights kept America safe for seven years as he continued to claim that Obama’s civil liberties approach is bound to lead to another attack. Many Americans like the TV drama “24” where the hero Jack Bauer tortures the bad guys. One study was amazed that some soldiers even several interrogators at Guantanamo Bay got the idea on how to behave to looking at that drama,
http://phillyimc.org/en/torture-debate-over-it-and-tv-show-24
Another words it is actually possible that some jurors might vote not to convict.

Some of the false information gained under harsh interrogation techniques by being believed such as the false claim that Saddam was part of 9/11, clearly harmed the US’s position in the world, but this fact may not be part of what the jury would considers.

Let’s say instead that there is a South African type Truth Commission, where Cheney etc. can only be jailed for what he leaves out and can’t plead the 5th since immunity is already granted, and then all the dirt starts to gets revealed back including many Cold War secrets. Then Cheney is sued by the relatives of victims the way O. J. Simpson was. One of the accusations against Cheney is that he ordered the two 9/11 planes heading toward Washington DC not to be shot down. If Senator Layhee’s Judicial Committee conducting the truth commission discovers this to be true, and the relatives of the three Pentagon employees who died when the Pentagon was hit sue Cheney for monetary compensation, Cheney would have trouble declaring how proud he was.

Historically we lost some Constitutional rights during war then gained them back after peace was restored, but World War II, was quickly followed by McCarthyism and the Cold War, then 9/11.

I hope Obama is can accomplish enough. There is no guarantee that during the next presidential election, or in eight years someone with no respect for historic rights won’t be in charge, next time it won’t be a naive, slightly slow-witted president nominally in charge of it all.

Bin Laden vowed to drive the US out of sacred Saudi territory, but in 2003 Bush withdrew troops from Saudi Arabia, and any terror attack that had been planned for the following year had to be postponed to prevent an adrenaline inspired US from returning troops to Saudi territory. After that bin Laden was succeeding at slowly pushing the Muslim world toward militancy, as he was confident that ever more US money spent on smarter and smarter weapons would bankrupt the US like they believed they did the Soviet Union. A second terror attack under Bush would have introduced a wild card to the equation.

Today, Al Qeada doesn’t like the way Obama is separating them from their former friends, and encouraging moderate Muslims. Cheney and Rush Limbaugh proclaiming a new terror attack will be Obama’s fault may be seen by al Qaeda as an opportunity.

Cheney and Limbaugh are constantly stating hypothetical reasons for another attack, perhaps if we proclaim counter reasons there may be another attack, it might actually discourage al Qeada from thinking another attack on the US, at this point, would help them get the world they want.

Right wing radio and blogs are looking for a Willie Horton incident to derail Obama with,
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/node/17679
such as al Qaeda claiming a released detainee is an al Qaeda leader like al Qaeda pretended that James al-Badawi who was sent to Yemen to be executed, but escaped was declared second in command in an al Qaeda Internet tape just following Obama’s announcement he was closing Guantanamo followed by silence since.

By the way I hate to be a little critical of Obama at this point, but somehow we got to stop spending ever more money on smarter and smarter weapons, as our economy is in danger of collapse, since one of al Qaeda’s goals is to bankrupt the US the way the Afghans believe they bankrupted the Soviet Union. In reality I wish I knew how to criticize a few things I see Obama doing wrong in such a way that it won’t aid those who are trying to stop what he is doing right.

Thank you, Obama, for all you accomplished so far.

See, “Why no second terror attack domestically? A question doves are taunted with”,
http://capitolhillblue.com/node/17651
“Cheney is ‘evil,’ his fearmongering is ‘assisting’ al Qaeda”,
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/node/15268
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/blog2419
RichardKanePA