Obama Dares to Complain Against the Bush Administration

Obama wants to legally examine the torture of people in Guantanamo, legally going against the Bush administration on his own.

U.S. President-elect Barack Obama has not ruled out taking legal steps against possible human rights violations by the Bush administration. Obama emphasized on U.S. TV Channel ABC.

“I don’t believe that anybody is above the law,” he said. “We’re still evaluating how we’re going to approach the whole issue of interrogations, detentions, and so forth.”

Vice President Dick Cheney previously admitted that U.S. investigators applied the notorious “waterboarding” technique, which simulates drowning, to three terrorists in 2003. It had also been useful, as the U.S. Security forces obtained valuable information from top terrorists like Khalid Sheikh Mohammed that was very important for the protection of the U.S., Cheney said. He also said he did not view the harsh cross-examination techniques as torture.

Bush also defended these harsh methods as a tool in the war on terror. The new administration “must take a hard look at the realities of the world and the tools now in place to protect the United States from further attack,” he said.

Obama criticized Cheney, because, from his point of view, waterboarding is torture.

“Under my administration there will be no torture,” Obama said. He strengthened his decision to close the controversial Guantanamo Bay detention camp. This will be harder, “more difficult than people realize.” However, he will not be able to close the encampment in Cuba within the first 100 days of his presidency as he promised in the election campaign.

Obama will become President on Jan. 20. One main focal point of his politics, important to everyone, will be to make no more mistakes in the war against terrorism.