Closing Gitmo

“……..They risk the lives of our troops by making it less likely that others will surrender to them in battle, and more likely that Americans will be mistreated if they are captured……..” This is part of the argument made today by President Obama about why Gitmo needs to be closed. This quote makes some assumptions that just don’t exist in my opinion. The people we are fighting now have no respect for their own lives let alone ours. The Taliban and Al Qaeda are perfectly happy to die. The very worst thing that could happen to them is to be captured.
Many of the points in the speech today just don’t seem to jive with the historical records. On the day of 9/11 I clearly remember watching citizens across the Middle East in the streets handing out treats and cheering. His statement makes it seem like we were loved before Gitmo opened. Sadly, that is just not the case. After all, we never would have a Gitmo prison if we were not attacked on 9/11.
I agree with the President that much was done out of fear. The problem with his assessment of that is he isn’t the one that had to make these decisions the days, weeks, and months directly after the attacks. It is very easy to look back almost eight years after the fact and dissect the mistakes that were made. Fear for the safety of the American public was a natural reaction. Personally, I feel that if our leaders didn’t fear for my safety after 9/11, they should not be in a position of authority.
I am very interested to hear how he would have handled the prisoners who were picked up within months of 9/11. Especially, how he would have handled the interrogations of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. Monday morning quarterbacking is easy. We now know that we have not been attacked for almost eight years, at the time we didn’t know when the next attack would be coming or if it would be even more deadly. As Dick Cheney stated today, he was the one in the underground bunker at the white house watching 3,000 innocent people being murdered. President Obama was not.

Dear Madam Speaker

Dear Speaker Pelosi:

I am writing to you about all the different statements you have made about the torture issue over the past month. Frankly, I am a little sick of your excuses and half-truths. It has become glaringly obvious you knew about it as far back as 2002.
The months after 9/11 the people of this country were frightened. We did not know when it would happen again nor did we know if it would be an even more deadly attack. We were dealing with not only with the aftermath of that attack; we were also still reeling from the anthrax attacks.
Our federal government was rightfully designed to move slowly. In the aftermath we left that principle behind. We had knee jerk reactions; such as the patriot act. The goodwill between parties began to fade and we were back to politics as usual and the finger-pointing about where to place the blame had already begun.
I understand that the people in your district are some of the hardest left in the entire country, and would be unhappy about your knowledge of the cases of water-boarding. But, I doubt that they are happy about your current excuse making and possibly out-right lies. Some of the CIA spokespeople have publicly stated that techniques were described in considerable detail with slide shows to boot to 40 people; you among them. You have since had 13 votes on this issue and said not one word. Just last week you said that you had Jane Harmon write a letter. Why you didn’t write the letter yourself is beyond my comprehension. But be that as it may, just admit you knew about it and move on.
Many democrats at that point in time were willing to give the former administration and our agencies that are tasked to protect the American people a little slack. Rightly or wrongly that was the mind-set at the time.
For the good of everyone, just admit that you knew about it. The American public is not so stupid that we don’t know half-truths and excuses when we hear them. Please admit that your current stance has more to do with your hatred of former President Bush and your desire to keep your district happy than it does with the feelings you had at the time. Some may not forgive you, but I personally would have more respect for you if you were just honest about it and then we can all move on.
Sincerely,

Just a conservative girl.