Whoever wants to know why President Obama is having such difficulty accomplishing reasonable projects needs only look to George W. Bush’s scandalous comments on the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee report concerning the mistreatment of suspected terrorists. Bush praised the CIA torturers for their Herculean efforts.
On the one hand, it’s hardly surprising. The bottom line is that Bush is trying to justify the torture anew and thereby justify his complicity in it. On the other hand, it’s just ignorant to say that he regrets nothing despite the fact the report clearly says waterboarding and other horrors not only maimed people, they were ineffective in providing useful information to intelligence officials in their effort to prevent further terrorist acts. Bush’s strategy is now officially what it has always been: Wrong.
Worse yet is the fact that he sees nothing in his failed policy worth apologizing for. He could have — should have — repaired the potholes. He could have served to bring the American people together rather than polarize them. Abroad, his reaction will serve only to further radicalize potential terrorists. But Bush prefers to remain steadfast and prove that he has neither understood nor learned anything from all this.
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