Obama Would "Immediately Review" Potential Of Crimes In Bush White House

Attytood's Will Bunch has a new interview with Barack Obama:

Tonight I had an opportunity to ask Barack Obama a question that is on the minds of many Americans, yet rarely rises to the surface in the great ruckus of the 2008 presidential race -- and that is whether an Obama administration would seek to prosecute officials of a former Bush administration on the revelations that they greenlighted torture, or for other potential crimes that took place in the White House.

Obama said that as president he would indeed ask his new Attorney General and his deputies to "immediately review the information that's already there" and determine if an inquiry is warranted -- but he also tread carefully on the issue, in line with his reputation for seeking to bridge the partisan divide. He worried that such a probe could be spun as "a partisan witch hunt." However, he said that equation changes if there was willful criminality, because "nobody is above the law."

Read the full transcript of the exchange here.

Comments

[terrorfied]

Obama.....­..The question is.....Wha­t was CDI doing at the tops of the WTC's 1 and 2 on Sept 8th and 9th 2001? You can change the subject to jet fuel, airplanes, conspiracy theories, tanker trucks, steel skeletons, what you saw on TV, pressurized airpspace, kool-aid, tin foil hats......­the question remains...­..What was Controlled Demolition Inc doing at the tops of the WTC's 1 and 2 the weekend before 911?

Distractors will do everything they can to never answer that question. Once you come to a horrific realization that 911 was a conspired, planned, and orchestrated mass murder everything that this Bush administration has done makes PERFECT sense. Everything. 911 was just simply ONE lie and crime among 1000's....­..although many in the inner circle call it the "big lie".

[ErikW65]

As if that existence would prove something? Weak, weak conspiracy.

I see you read my earlier post refuting the argument that jet fuel could not have caused the steel to melt.

[PatrickWalker]

You don't have to melt it, just weaken it.

Gravity does the rest as we all saw.

[terrorfied]

Again.....­readers...­.....these bloggers will do everything to NEVER answer the question. Answer the question..­..What was CDI Controlled Demolition Inc doing at the tops of the World Trade Centers on Sept 8th and 9th 2001? It’s a question not a conspiracy theory. As the readers are becoming aware it is the detractors that call it a conspiracy never the person asking the question.

Melting steel, airplanes, Saudi Arabian highjackers, norad, FAA, Mineta testimony, NIST,
FEMA.....h­as anything to do with the answer or the question..­...What was Controlled Demolition Inc doing at the tops of the World Trade Centers the weekend before 911? It is a question not a theory. It is a question never a weak or strong conspiracy. It is a question that has never been answered even by people like yourself who seem to have all the answers, explanations and "evidence". Just answer the question though your training and tactics suggest that posting personal attacks are the actual answers.

You realize that you will put demolition companies out of business if the world knew that all you would have to do is start a fire and weaken just a few steel beams and every building would disappear into rubble in its own footprint in less than an hour. So why would demolition companies be used at all? Focus on that rather than answering the one and only question..­..What was CDI doing at the tops of the WTC's 1 and 2 the weekend before 911?

[bjames]

Obama might want to be careful about saying that hes gonna to go after bush crime family. This kind of talk just might get him assasinated.

The bushes are tied into everything that Ike warned us about in his farewell address, Military industrial complex, Texas oil intrests, and the bush family connection to the CIA.

I definetly want him to throw these criminals in jail, but he might not want to say much about it until hes prez.

As a candidate on the campaign trail he is a far easier mark for the radicals (bushes) to assasinate then he would be in the safe confines of the white house!

[PatrickWalker]

Trust me. He has no intention of actually pursuing it.

If we was genuine, he knows there is nothing to review. Their crimes are all out in the open and proceedings could start tomorrow morning if they needed to. He just needs to foster the appearance of work when he fully knows his appointed attorney general will come out with something along the lines of well, "geez, we tried and there just isn't enough to pursue this."

This is just posturing on Obama's part.

[ErikW65]

Oh, you must be special indeed. You know all these things about Sen. Obama, huh?

You must have some axe to grind if you won't take this person at his word. Did you see the interview where Barack talks about basketball, and how you can tell something about a person by how they shoot hoops? At the end, he makes a statement about someone who keeps shooting, even though they don't really have a shot...

Sometimes you've got to read between the lines, not parse words for their worst possible meaning!

[GeorgeP922]

Yea I heard him whisper it to Mika right before the break, he said something like "I just read on HuffPo that Barack is willing to try the admin for warcrimes.­...." he said it in a low voice and very fast. I was getting ready for work so i missed his spin.

Damnit this is what should be on the headlines! This would so HELP Obama!

After an abysmal performance by our hard elected majority in the Congress, after prominent DEMOCRATS took impeachement off the table Barack is saying he is willing to ENFORCE the laws and our constitution and we hear nothing?

We should be jumping up and down!

This is a "gaffe" that the republicans can't step to.

The smoking guns are in on torture now as well as the downing street memos and plenty of other scathing evidence.

[Bozwellian]

UH, any remember that guy from OHio...Den­nis K ? Think he has brought up such subject matterings and is now classified as a total whack job who too, is struggling to hold onto to HIS elected seat !!! So at this point, do NOT see an advantage to bring the subject up as to whether or not full investigations would be launched reagarding "war crimes" etc ...

[isisdawnra]

Thank God ..........­......We have Obama to count on.
It is so past due.....to make the bush crime family accountable.

[Benmyoho]

Not so fast. Most Hillary supporters won't vote for him should he be the nominee. So don't count your chickens yet. Besides, a president Obama rhymes with president Osama. It definitely stinks!

[ErikW65]

"Most"? Nice try at spinning. I think the poll numbers are much lower than 50%.
And to assume that most people will hold a person's name against them is pessimistically stupid. Voters are more sophisticated than they used to be. The Clintons' Rovian tactics have not been shown to be particularly effective against Sen. Obama. They mostly have backfired.

[sa]

you thought kerry was swiftboated -
wait until you see what they do to obama for this stance.

when bush was just trying to steal the whitehouse, they were beyond ruthless -
when bush's neck is literally on the line,
they will crucify him - obama.

like kerry's original swiftboat,
there may be a hail of bullets.

"swiftboating" will have come full circle.

[ErikW65]

Not this time! None of the plays out of the "Rove Playbook" are working on the new paradigm of direct-speaking defense that Sen. Obama is using.

[PatrickWalker]

How on earth can Obama be swiftboated on this position? Wright's comments sure, his associations with Ayers are problematic, and his "bitter" comments in SF are pure gold.

And, to be quite honest, I'm not sure there are a lot of Republicans that would even think of sticking their necks out to protect GWB. I'm sure many are trying to keep their heads down hoping this whole Bush mess blows away. I can't blame them at all.

[PKSSK]

Joe Scarborough made a blanket statement this morning that was very misleading about this article. As usual, he put the spin on a few words without reading the entire articl in its context. Again, Joe, like Fox News, proceeded to mislead the public by interjecting a few words out of context to serve him and his show with personal attention.

Very sad.

[eztempo]

He hadn't read this article at all -- only "heard that HuffingtonPost says Obama will go after Bush for war crimes" -- when I heard him make his comment this morning. But then I went to sleep, so I don't know if he eventually got around to actually reading the interview he was editorializing upon.

[bjames]

Typical republican, cant handle more than a sound bite!

[ramal]

Reviewing those crimes will extend far beyond the possible eight years of an Obama Presidency.

[PatrickWalker]

Amen to that.

[Jimbo62]

I do agree that if their were crimes committed, they need to be prosecuted. We are a nation of laws, right? Or at least we were until Bush started signing those signing statements and interpreting the laws for himself.

[TERRORISTBUSH]

Why would the Pope visit the biggest terrorist in the world?
The Pope appears proudly with the President on the front pages of newspapers today.
Bush needs to be held accountable for his HIGH CRIMES and TREASON!

[definitelyNOTmisterRIGHT]

because the vatican is criminal too!

[new logic]

remember the spanish inquisition? waterboarding?

[Jimbo62]

It sounds reasonable to me, but I'm sure the likes of Joe Scarborough and Hillary Clinton will twist and turn it into something completely different. Those republicans, which I know call Hillary, will try to take out all the stuff about not wanting a partisan witch hunt, and the difference between bad policy and crimes etc... and they will try to spin it to appeal to their republican base, of which Hillary is now a part.

[ErikW65]

Here come all the LeftWing (and RightWing) Obama opponents, making all kinds of demands of him before he'll get THEIR vote!

"I demand Sen. Obama launch an investigation of Bush/Cheney IMMEDIATELY or else he doesn't mean what he says!"

"I demand Sen. Obama deliver to me the head of Rev. Wright on a silver platter!"

"I demand he prove he's not a muslim (sic)"

Blah blah blah.

[LeftLeaner]

REVIEW means do NOTHING...­..........­..........­.......alw­ays has

[ErikW65]

"I demand that Obama commit to hiring a special prosecutor Immediately (so that the RW'ers can bash him more easily.)"

What a buch of BS.

[PatrickWalker]

He's right though. It's a noncommittal statement.

[ResidentChimp]

I hope Obama will run on that plank.

[ched]

Yes! I would love to see Obama go after the crooks. But then again, I'm just a bitter Pennsylvanian.

[darker]

It is PAST TIME TO BE BITTER.
And DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!! Enough of the media garbage and nonsensical "interpretations' that are stupidassed.
Vote COMMON SENSE for a change, not for republican propaganda b.s. for scared rabbits.

[candybar]

Are you kidding B. O. will be like all the men who have become president and join the crowd. In fact he already has.

[didereaux]

Obama is just another lying , sleazy politician­...he said last October in So. Carolina that he WOULD NOT have the DOJ investigate past administrations! Ah well, he won't get elected anyway, and so we will wind up with whoever is McCains VP choice...s­ince McCain cannot survive 4 years.

[PatrickWalker]

Can you back this up?

[kfdan]

Obama needs to be very careful and, by the way, if President watch out for a repeat of the pull back on security so very evident in the JFK assignation! You will be surrounded by enemies!