Politiek brengt veel ontgoochelingen. Obama begon aardig, maar het werd steeds duidelijker dat hij geen verschil maakt met republikeinse presidenten en oorlogsmisdadigers. De buitenlandse politiek van de VS is nog steeds in handen van de Clinton clan, die hun handen vies hebben gemaakt in Joegoslavië en Irak. De republikeinse presidenten – waaronder George W. Bush – hebben de imperialistische lijn tot het uiterste doorgetrokken. En Obama trekt de lijn van onrecht weer verder door na Bush. Obama is gewogen en te licht bevonden. Ook zijn verkiezingsbelofte om Guantánamo te sluiten is hij niet nagekomen. Hope? Forget it!
Bradley Manning vroeger en nu
Tony Greenstein: "You can gain an inkling of the kind of the state the United States really is, beneath the veneer of ‘democratic’ trappings, in the kind of treatment that Bradley Manning has received. Manning is widely believed to be the source of the WikiLeaks revelations and the person who decided that the fresh air of openness should intrude upon the lies and deceit that passes for US and Western Foreign policy.
His captors, after having kept him for months in solitary confinement, are apparently so worried he might now kill himself (they prefer to do that themselves) that they have forced him to sleep nude and parade naked outside his cell. One wonders how many other prisoners are suffering the same demeaning treatment?
It is well known that in order to ‘soften up’ a prisoner before torture that s/he is first stripped naked. Clothes or any other form of identity and belonging are removed. This should be the final nail in the coffin of those who had any illusions in our Nobel Peace Laureatte Obama."
WarIsACrime: "As Obama's crime of the destruction of Bradley Manning continues to unfold before our very eyes, Manning friend David House now tells us that over 8 months in isolation with movement and sleep restrictions placed on him have been having their intended effect. House has told MSNBC that by the end of January Manning appeared "catatonic" and that he had "severe problems communicating," with it having taken House nearly 45 minutes on a recent visit to engage in any meaningful way.
All for the crime of reporting war crimes and criminal behavior even among the highest-ranking military officials in Iraq.
Commander-in-Chief Obama, order Bradley Manning released!"
Wie een boodschap aan Obama wil sturen kan dat hier doen. Het is waarschijnlijk zinloos, maar toch noodzakelijk, misschien dat het toch helpt als miljoenen mensen het verzoek sturen om Manning vrij te laten. En vraag om een antwoord.
ACLU: "President Obama today issued an executive order that permits ongoing indefinite detention of Guantánamo detainees while establishing a periodic administrative review process for them. The administration also announced it will lift the ban on bringing new military commissions charges against detainees that don’t already have ongoing cases in the substandard system.
The American Civil Liberties Union has long called for Guantánamo to be shut down and opposes the indefinite detention of prisoners there, some of whom have been imprisoned by the U.S. without charge or trial for nine years. The ACLU has also long called for an end to the illegitimate military commissions and for the government to prosecute terrorism suspects in the federal criminal courts."
Update: Wie een bericht naar Obama stuurt krijgt geen antwoord terug. Dat was onder Bush wel anders. Op twee berichten aan Bush kreeg ik telkens een net antwoord terug. Obama laat niets van zich horen als de mail hem niet bevalt. Dat is typerend voor een president die nog erger liegt dan Bush ooit deed. Obama valt hopeloos door de mand. Voor mij maakt het weinig uit, maar zijn landgenoten staan wel in de kou. En in het buitenland vallen weer doden.