Torture: Leadership Requires Accountability, All the Way to the Top; Gov Richardson

[seasat]

We learned this week that the CIA destroyed tapes of American officials committing torture. The American people deserve to know whether laws were violated and whether the President was directly involved in illegal activities. Torture is a black and white moral issue. A failure to act decisively in this case will be an unacceptable failure of leadership.
...
Perhaps one reason that Bush and Cheney have been so comfortable with torture is that they feel they will never be held accountable for their actions.
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As you read this, hundreds of thousands of American men and women are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. Every day that they stay, they remain in harm's way in a hostile land. And every day that we don't hold people accountable for allowing torture in our name, we place them in ever greater danger. For if we no longer abide by international law, how can we expect or demand that someone else follow it?

America's reputation, liberties, and moral leadership continue to be assaulted by Vice President Cheney and President Bush. If this Congress again fails to get to the bottom of these outrages, I will begin serious investigations as President on January 20th, 2009. We can and must find out who is responsible. If necessary, there will be prosecutions. No one is above the law. No one.

This the second post in a series by Governor Richardson at Huffington Post. His first in the series was Iraq: The Elephant in Room.

[VP505]

1. Wonder why

the Gov doesn't practice what he preaches?

[L. Coyote]

2. "whether the President was directly involved in illegal activities"

The rhetoric has turned the tide. I'm seeing this everywhere now, with less caution from non-candidates!

[L. Coyote]

3. Error: you can only recommend threads which were started in the past 24 hours