When Obama was asked on Friday about Manning's treatment, he said in part: "I've actually asked the Pentagon whether or not the procedures . . . are appropriate. They assured me they are." When George W. Bush, in his book, attempted to justify his torture regime, he wrote, as summarized byNewsweek's Jacob Weisberg: "When [Bush] asked 'the most senior legal officers in the U.S. government' to review interrogation methods, 'they assured me they did not constitute torture.' Case closed. You can't argue with the choices Bush defends in this book, because he doesn't argue them himself. He describes, asserts, and cites any authority handy, usually the authority he hired to defend his decisions". (Greenwald)
It only makes sense at this point to be angry at Obama if you believe he has any real power. We're way past that. It should be clear now that has as little control over national security as Bush did, and his excuses for the government's unconscionable policies are therefore equally and predictably moronic. Both just say whatever goofy thing the permanent security establishment tells them to say–they don't have any choice. The praetorian guard is running the palace, not defending it.
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