The fallout continues from the Senate report on CIA
torture: This El Pais
editorial argues
that this is Obama's chance to finally close Guantanamo.
CIA Torture Report:
Now is Obama's Chance to Shutter Guantanamo (El Pais, Spain)
"The United
States cannot present itself as a pioneer of freedom as long as its most
important globally-active organization is constantly committing atrocities. … Any
potential advantage the superpower gains as a result of the unfettered activities
of the CIA against terror suspects can never outweigh the global discredit these
activities do to its global reputation. President Obama will never have a
better excuse to close down Guantanamo. This was one of his first campaign
promises, and six years later is has yet to be fulfilled."
The summary of the
monumental U.S. Senate investigation into CIA torture after September 11 is
just as devastating as we expected it would be after leaks first emerged in
April. It essentially says that the spy agency's methods were as widespread as they
were brutal; that they failed to uncover substantial information for the fight
against Islamist terrorism; and that the powerful agency lied to the White
House and Congress about the scope of its actions. Under the Bush Doctrine - and in a
state of panic sparked by 9-11, between 2001 and 2009 the CIA tortured terror
suspects with impunity in secret prisons across half the world.
Posted by Worldmeets.US
Nervousness in Washington delayed release of the report. Completed
nearly two years ago, the White House and Senate have been locked in a struggle
over which details of the document should be disclosed and which should not. During
this tug of war, the CIA sought to remove evidence and hacked into Senate computer
systems. Before the committee chaired by Senator Diane Feinstein, Secretary of
State John Kerry insisted that before giving a final green light to publication,
Senators think twice. The CIA is now preparing a counter-report to restore its
image.
When he reached the White House, Obama outlawed the agency's
secret detention and interrogation program, but none of its agents have been
brought to justice. If one thing has become clear, it is the imperative of putting
the CIA under the relentless scrutiny of an agency from outside the U.S. government.
The United States cannot present itself as a pioneer of freedom as long as its
most important globally-active organization is constantly committing atrocities.
Any potential advantage the superpower gains as a result of
the unfettered activities of the CIA against terror suspects can never outweigh
the global discredit these activities do to its global reputation. President
Obama will never have a better excuse to close down Guantanamo. This was one of
his first campaign promises, and six years later is has yet to be fulfilled.
