Congratulations America! The President of the United States has confirmed that we are have been torturing people in secret CIA prisons for years, essentially violating the principles of the Geneva Convention, in order to make our nation “safer”.

I take great offense in the President’s logic to arrive at the decision that this type of behavior is acceptable for the following reasons:

1. We are a nation of civilized people. We have been blessed by the almighty creator with enormous wealth and prosperity. As a result of our favored treatment by God, there will always be someone in this world who wishes to see that good fortune turn into regret and shame for the people of this nation. That these people exist, Mr. President, does not excuse you or anyone else in this nation to treat any other person like a four-legged animal. You do not win by acting like the criminals yourself.

2. In treating people like animals, we have created a situation where the United States is now in more danger than before 9/11. Treating people in such a demeaning way does not soften their stance and hatred against the United States, it emboldens them.

3. How is it that for years this administration has lied and acted as though these secret CIA prisons did not exist, all the while they were clearly operational? The administraion slammed the reporter and blammed the media for exposing the existance of these camps. Running off-shore prisons where prisoners are abused and tortured undercover does not make them acceptable. Clearly this administration does not regret that they have sunk so low as to build such an infrastructure, instead regretting that someone leaked the information.

4. The President’s remarks sound as though he has been forced to alter his tactics by order of the Supreme Court, when in fact the Supreme Court has made a decision based on the letter of the law. Once again, it is not the President’s fault, but it is the fault of someone else (the Supreme Court).

5. The President’s request for new laws from Congress to provide “guidelines” for treating prisoners of his “war on terror” is not a signal that he wishes to abide by the law, it is a signal that he wants Congress to create laws excusing what he has done is doing. In other words, he wants to be excused from possible war crime charges in the future.

A truly pathetic display of how void this President and administration are of intellectual thought about fighting a logical war on terror. What a joke!

From AP newswires today comes word that the Pentagon is seeking bids from outside PR firms to analyze the news related to the Iraqi war and how it is reported in the United States and internationally.

Contractors also will be evaluated on how they will provide analytical reports and customized briefings to the military, “including, but not limited to tone (positive, neutral, negative) and scope of media coverage.”

The program comes during what has appeared to be a White House effort, before the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, to take the offensive against critics at a time of doubt about the future of Iraq.

The military last year was criticized for a public relations in Iraq that included hiring a consulting firm that paid Iraqi news media to carry news stories written by American troops. 

So, if the U.S. can’t win the war they will simply resort to monitoring the media and working to craft a more positive tone about the war in the media. Never mind that the administration has lied repeatedly to us. I guess if someone makes the story more positive the think we will suddenly begin believing the lies they still spout.