About Me
It's all about finding strength from within. It's about learning from the past, persevering in the present and having the ganas, or desire, to flourish in the future. I'm an American, but I'm also Indigenous, Mexican, French and German and that's a wonderful thing. One can't be anything if one doesnt know who they are. For centuries people have been trying to break through barriers and I've gone and continue to go through them as if they dont exist.
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Dick Cheney: The Real Threat To Americas Future.
posted Thursday, 21 May 2009
Why would any thing that Dick Cheney has to say even matter, unless it means taking down the Republican Party down once and for all, then keep talking. It's amazing that for eight years America didn't even know we had a vice president and now he's showing up everywhere attempting to defend Bush's administration and legacy. He talks about how they had two wars and Hurricane Katrina to deal with as an excuse for the lack of attention paid to the hidden recession we were in during their administration while coming back asking for more money to fund the war that should have never happened to begin with. Billions to rebuild Iraq and fund Haliburton, using American soldiers and tax payers money to fund their private interest. They did not care about domestic issues involving American people. So now we are paying for their lack of....you name it, they were not fit to be leaders of the world's greatest nation. We never saw him when he was in office, and I’d like to see it stay that way.
Obama and Cheney's remarks on terrorismThe president and the former vice president speak out on the Constitution, values, waterboarding and the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.2:46 PM PDT, May 21, 2009
President Obama and former Vice President Dick Cheney both addressed the war on terrorism in remarks delivered Thursday in Washington. Obama spoke at the National Archives, Cheney at the American Enterprise Institute. Some brief excerpts:
On the Constitution
Obama: I took an oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution as commander in chief, and as a citizen, I know that we must never -- ever -- turn our back on its enduring principles for expedience sake.
I make this claim not simply as a matter of idealism. We uphold our most cherished values not only because doing so is right, but because it strengthens our country and keeps us safe.
Cheney: Torture was never permitted. And the methods were given careful legal review before they were approved. Interrogators had authoritative guidance on the line between toughness and torture, and they knew to stay on the right side of it.
Even before the interrogation program began, and throughout its operation, it was closely reviewed to ensure that every method used was in full compliance with the Constitution, with our statutes, and treaty obligations. On numerous occasions, leading members of Congress, including the current speaker of the House, were briefed on the program and on the methods.
On values
Obama: Unfortunately, faced with an uncertain threat, our government made a series of hasty decisions. And I believe that those decisions were motivated by a sincere desire to protect the American people.
But I also believe that too often our government made decisions based upon fear rather than foresight, and all too often trimmed facts and evidence to fit ideological predispositions. Instead of strategically applying our power and our principles, we too often set those principles aside as luxuries that we could no longer afford. And in this season of fear, too many of us -- Democrats and Republicans; politicians, journalists and citizens -- fell silent.
Cheney: For all that we've lost in this conflict, the United States has never lost its moral bearings. And when the moral reckoning turns to the men known as high-value terrorists, I can assure you they were neither innocent nor victims. As for those who asked them questions and got answers, they did the right thing, they made our country safer, and a lot of Americans are alive today because of them.
On waterboarding
Obama: I know some have argued that brutal methods like waterboarding were necessary to keep us safe. I could not disagree more. As commander in chief, I see the intelligence, I bear responsibility for keeping this country safe, and I reject the assertion that these are the most effective means of interrogation.
What's more, they undermine the rule of law. They alienate us in the world. They serve as a recruitment tool for terrorists, and increase the will of our enemies to fight us, while decreasing the will of others to work with America.
Cheney: It is a fact that only detainees of the highest intelligence value were ever subjected to enhanced interrogation. You've heard endlessly about waterboarding. It happened to three terrorists. One of them was Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the mastermind of 9/11, who has also boasted about his beheading of Daniel Pearl.
We had a lot of blind spots after the attacks on our country, things we didn't know about Al Qaeda. We didn't know about Al Qaeda's plans, but Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and a few others did know.
On Guantanamo
Obama: So the record is clear: Rather than keep us safer, the prison at Guantanamo has weakened American national security. It is a rallying cry for our enemies. It sets back the willingness of our allies to work with us in fighting an enemy that operates in scores of countries. By any measure, the costs of keeping it open far exceed the complications involved in closing it. That is why I argued that it should be closed throughout my campaign. And that is why I ordered it closed within one year.
Cheney: The administration has found that it's easy to receive applause in Europe for closing Guantanamo, but it's tricky to come up with an alternative that will serve the interests of justice and America's national security. . . .
Keep in mind that these are hardened terrorists picked up overseas since 9/11. The ones that were considered low risk were released a long time ago. And among these, it turns out that many were treated too leniently, because they cut a straight path back to their prior line of work and have conducted murderous attacks in the Middle East. An estimated 14% of those released previously are believed to be back in the business of jihad.
Sources: White House, American Enterprise Institute
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-excerpts22-2009may22,0,5268366.story
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