Opinion | Columnists
Showdown between past and present
Cheney has broken protocol by challenging Obama over his disclosure of CIA interrogation memos.
- By Joseph A. Kechichian, Special to Gulf News
- Published: 23:04 April 22, 2009
- Image Credit: Photo Illustration: Nino Jose Heredia/Gulf News
Tradition dictates that political opposition to any American administration comes from the Congress as previous leaders retire from public life. Most join lucrative lecture junkets to raise funds for their monuments, modestly known as Presidential Libraries and Museums, or to fill personal coffers.
Because so much has changed since Barack Obama was elected, and although George W. Bush has refrained from public criticisms to date, former vice president Dick Cheney seems to be filling the gap.
A few days after the publication of four secret Department of Justice memoranda to the CIA, detailing harsh tactics that amounted to torture, Cheney accused the Obama government of endangering the country by disclosing national secrets. In a bizarre interview with Sean Hannity on the Fox News Channel, Cheney asked the CIA to declassify reports documenting the intelligence gained from interrogations, essentially to prove that he was telling the truth while Obama was lying.
He declared that the American public should judge whether the methods used in the interrogations were useful or not. "I find it a little bit disturbing," he chimed, that "they didn't put out the memos that showed the success of the effort," confirming that there were statements that illustrated what was specifically gained from various torture methods.
Obama, for his part, came under strong pressure to authorise the creation of a bipartisan commission that would investigate Bush Administration lawyers who devised skewed legal guidelines to justify illegal schemes. While he reassured CIA officers that they would not be blamed for following legal advice, he called on America not to lose its 'moral bearings'.
During his CIA pep talk on Monday, Obama told his audience: "Don't be discouraged that we have to acknowledge potentially we've made some mistakes. That's how we learn. But the fact that we are willing to acknowledge them and then move forward, that is precisely why I am proud to be president of the United States and that's why you should be proud to be members of the CIA."
Obama refuted Cheney and his acolytes by further stating: "What makes the United States special and what makes you special is precisely the fact that we are willing to uphold our values and our ideals even when it's hard, not just when it's easy, even when we are afraid and under threat, not just when its expedient to do so. So yes, you've got a harder job and so do I, and that's OK. And over the long term, that is why I believe we will defeat our enemies, because we're on the better side of history."
This was akin to a political slap to Cheney, who abandoned general rules of decorum towards an incoming administration and now refuses to retreat to his Wyoming estate. Still, Obama and his team will quickly learn that such lofty sentiments are not enough, because declaring war on the Bush/Cheney team cannot be a haphazard effort.
The accused will fight back with a vengeance even if their efforts further damage America's standing around the world. For the sake of American democracy, which is a valuable commodity, it's time for Obama to adopt the Powell Doctrine in dealing with its domestic foes.
In another context, Powell insisted that one engages in war with every available resource to achieve decisive victory against an enemy. Thus, to minimise losses and end this ideological conflict quickly, the Obama Administration must force the weaker Bush team to capitulate. Throw everything you've got at them, then offer to provide humanitarian assistance, because that's what it will take.
Do not be bashful in reminding Cheney that he was adamant in August 2002, when he declared: "there is no doubt that Saddam Hussain now has weapons of mass destruction". Do not be shy in acknowledging that waterboarding Abu Zubaydah at least 83 times, and Khalid Shaikh Mohammad 183 times, was inexcusable. Be clear that such preferences were and are illegal as well as excessive and may now require that we revise our definitions of the words illegal and excessive in our dictionaries.
For it would be a mere travesty of justice to simply prosecute Bush administration lawyers who signed these memos. Obama should assert that John C. Yoo, Jay S. Bybee and Steven G. Bradbury placed their ethics aside and trampled on American values.
While it is not up to a president to rule out an inquiry into possible criminal activities that occur in the US, it is essential to identify the men and women who requested 'sound' legal advice. They are the ones who need to face the music because the US is truly a nation of laws and no one - no one - is above it. Obama should explain to his countrymen that the decision to torture heaped shame on the US, and that face-saving penalties for a few scapegoats will not remove this stain.
Ultimately, the Obama/Cheney showdown is not about Cheney or Bush or any other elected official, but about all Americans who are responsible for their government. For a democracy licenses its leaders to make decisions, and that is why there is now a simple and urgent need to cleanse the system of those who are willing to disregard laws, and ignore due process.
Dr Joseph A. Kechichian is a commentator and author of several books on Gulf affairs.
Your comments
It is funny that since he left politics, Cheney has made more political comments than when he was actually in. Let's not forget Powell himself when he lied to the UN and TV cameras and told lies about Iraq's WMD. I think the whole Bush administration should be prosecuted.
Ali
Dubai,UAE
Posted: April 23, 2009, 10:53
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