NEWSMAX / AP: The United States tortured al Qaida detainees captured after the 9/11 attacks, President Obama acknowledged Friday, in some of his most expansive comments to date about a controversial set of CIA practices that he banned after taking office…
Addressing the impending release of a Senate report that criticizes CIA treatment of detainees, Obama said he believed the mistreatment happened because of the pressure national security officials felt to forestall another attack. He said Americans should not be too “sanctimonious,” about passing judgment through the lens of a seemingly safer present day.
That posture, which he expressed as a candidate for national office in 2008 and early in his presidency, explains why Obama did not push to pursue criminal charges against the Bush era officials who carried out the CIA program. To this day, many of those officials insist that what they did was not torture, which is a felony under U.S. law… (more)
EDITOR: President Obama wisely addresses the past and places it in context, not to excuse but to better understand. The approach goes far to bring about reconciliation and restore trust. This is something that the Lancaster Newspapers, Inc. has refused to do concerning their despicable Convention Center Project role, past and present.
