Doug Henwood wrote: > > On Jan 12, 2009, at 11:08 AM, Julio Huato wrote: > > > I have no idea whether Obama will use his power to prosecute Cheney, > > Bush, etc. > > Of course he won't. This is as certain a bet as anything on earth. > There are so many reasons why: BHO's own caution and conservatism, the > interest of any politician in not setting a precedent for his or her > successors, unwillingness to scare the national security > professionals, and the permanent interests of imperial power, just to > name a few.
I don't know if torture figured in U.S. Army tactics during the "Indian Wars," but it became standard practice with the pacification of the Philippines. I believe there have been studies, though I can't remember one now, of the reasons colonial powers inevitably adopt torture as policy (and arrmies of occupation, except in very special instances) are in the same postion as colonial administrations). As I said in my preceding post, Bush policy was new only in its openness. But whatever governments (conservative or liberal) may do, it is an extreme instance of the treason of the intellectuals for left writers to mask or apologize either for torturers or for politicians who 'cover up' for torturers. That ought to be one function at least of intellectuals: to maintain at leas a formal allegiance to civilized consensus. Carrol _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
