Yesterday's actions by President Obama lead MSNBC to make the call that the United States has essentially ended George W. Bush's war against terrorism. What did Mr. Obama do? With the stroke of his pen on several executive orders, he halted the notion that a president can circumvent long-standing U.S. laws simply by declaring war;The end of the war on terror? I've always been dubious of applying that term to this fight. How exactly does one go to war against a noun? ("An alliance of adjectives and adverbs beat back the enemy in a major battle today...") But, I digress...
He nullified every legal order and opinion on interrogations issued by any lawyer in the executive branch after Sept. 11, 2001, thus closing the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, restoring habeas corpus and due process, and ending the practice of extraordinary rendition (making American citizens "disappear" by sending them to prisons in far away countries on little evidence and then torturing them while there).
What the President did yesterday was return the rule of law to the process. By doing so, he has started to piece back together the shredded Constitution our previous administration left behind; and (just as important) he let the world know that the lawlessness of the Bush years is gone, that the grown ups are back in charge and that the America they once knew is back.
But the fight itself still goes on. In fact, our moral standing to wage it just got stronger as a result of Obama's actions yesterday.
Update: Transcribed comments and video from yesterday...
The individuals who are standing behind me, represent Flag Officers who came to both Joe and myself, and all the candidates, and made a passionate plea that we restore the standards of due process and the core Constitutional values that have made this country great even in the midst of war, even in dealing with terrorism. They made an extraordinary impression on me. They are outstanding Americans who have fought and defended this country, and for them to fight on behalf of our Constitutional ideals and values, I think is exceptional, so I wanted to make sure that they were here to witness the signing of this Executive Order.Video of the President's signing ceremony and his comments can be seen by clicking here.
... to improve intelligence gathering "as well as promote safe and humane treatment of individuals in U.S. custody ... assures compliance with treaty obligations of the U.S., including the Geneva Conventions ... effectively insures that anybody detained by the U.S.," will be interrogated abiding by the Army Field Manual. "We can abide by a rule that says 'We don't torture,'"
The message that we are sending around the world is that the United States intends to prosecute the ongoing struggle against violence and terrorism, and we are going to do so vigilantly, we are going to do so effectively, and we are going to do so in a manner that is consistent with our values and our ideals ... We think that it is precisely our ideals that give us the strength and the moral high ground to be able to effectively deal with the unthinking violence that we see emanating from terrorist organizations around the world. We intend to win this fight and we're going to win it on our terms.
