Glenn Greenwald: 'Fear mongering' factions (including Democrats) aim to keep Bush terror policies

from Glenn Greenwald: http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Greenwald_Groups_fear_mongering_to_keep_1212.html


Friday December 12, 2008

"If you look back at the history of Guantanamo," Greenwald told MSNBC's Rachel Maddow on Thursday, "the one thing that was missing was any haste to try any of the detainees. ... And suddenly what you have ... is this extraordinary rush to commence all of these military commissions, including against some of the most controversial detainees ... so that by the time Obama is inaugurated, these commissions will have commenced but not have concluded."

Time magazine recently ran an op-ed titled "Trying to Tie Obama's Hands on Gitmo," which reported that the general in charge has scheduled 17 "complex war-crimes cases" and will add even more to the docket before January 20.

Greenwald agreed that the same people who brought us the war on terror, the invasion of Iraq, and warrantless wiretapping "are joining together to now tell Americans if we close Guantanamo that they are likely to be in danger, unless we empower the president to literally put people into prison for life with no charges of any kind or create new secret national security courts."

"It's pure fear-mongering," Greenwald said of these efforts. "There's no reason whatsoever that these detainees can't be transferred to the American justice system and tried in our courts of law."

Greenwald and Maddow also noted that it is not just Republicans or conservatives who are pushing these ideas. Even the supposedly liberal Brookings Institution and the Democratic chairman of the House Intelligence Committee have recently been promoting the continuation of Bush administration terrorism policies and personnel.

"One of the things that often gets overlooked," stated Greenwald, "because these programs are typically blamed on the Bush administration, and rightfully so ... is the extent of the complicity on the part of the leading Congressional Democrats . . ."


more: http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Greenwald_Groups_fear_mongering_to_keep_1212.html

And for lowering our moral place in the world.

Sort of what we here at DU have been yelling about for eight years now...But don't worry their powder is dry and "Impeachment is OFF the Table"

. . . on the extent and scope of their renditions and detentions which obscures the extent of their encouragement or ordering of illegal or improper interrogations. Congress should, at least, be held accountable for their acquiescence of the administration without having that information available for debate or discussion as they crafted their legislative and administrative responses.