The Obama era began in earnest last week, with bold action such as closing the Guantanamo Bay prison camp and promising to end torture. In its very first days, the new administration has begun to lift the veil of secrecy surrounding executive branch operations, and has made great strides forward on fundamental challenges such as energy and the environment, and above all the national economic crisis left in the wake of the Bush Presidency. While great challenges and much hard work remain, the way forward is bright and clear.
As we proceed, however, the question remains how best to respond to the severe challenge posed to our constitutional structure, and to our national honor, by the Bush administration's actions, and in particular its national security programs. Faced with a record of widespread warrantless surveillance inside the United States, brutal interrogation policies condemned by the administration's own head of the Guantanamo Bay military commissions as torture, and flawed rendition practices that resulted in innocent men being abducted and handed to other countries to face barbaric abuse, what actions will we take to meet our commitment to the rule of law and reclaim our standing as a moral leader among nations?
I have previously explained my view that a full review of the record must be conducted by an experienced and independent prosecutor, and should focus on the senior policymakers and lawyers who ordered and approved these actions. Others, such as my fellow Michigander Senator Carl Levin, have suggested similar measures. This approach is compelled in my opinion by the basic notion that, if crimes were committed, those responsible should be held accountable - after all, is there any principle of American freedom more fundamental than the rule that no person is above the law? If this independent review concludes that the Bush Administration's legal constructs make prosecution impossible for some, so be it, but the matter should be given a proper look before such judgments are made one way or the other.
Some commentators - including even those firmly opposed to criminal investigation - support the creation of an independent Commission with appropriate clearances and subpoena power to review the existing record, make policy recommendations, and publish an authoritative account of these events. I have introduced a bill in the House that would create such a commission, and I believe this sort of public accounting is critical as well.
There remain those, however, who would have us simply move on. Some fear the consequences of a true accounting, or worry that taking time to reckon with the sins of the past will hinder us in meeting the challenges of the future. Others argue that the facts are already known, and further review will accomplish little. Often, the call for further review of the Bush administration's actions is dismissed as partisan payback, kicking an unpopular President when he's down.
I could not disagree more with these views. As a practical matter, I do not believe that empowering a commission or an independent prosecutor would burden the Congress or the executive or would hinder our efforts to meet the challenges of the day. To the contrary, allowing outside review of these matters by qualified independent experts will free us and President Obama to focus our efforts where they are most needed - on solving the problems before us and improving the lives of the American people.
Nor do I agree that the relevant facts are already known. While disparate investigations by Committees of congress, private organizations, and the press have uncovered many important facts, no single investigation has had access to the full range of information regarding the Bush administration's interrelated programs on surveillance, detention, interrogation, and rendition. The existence of a substantially developed factual record will simplify the work to come, but cannot replace it. Furthermore, much of this information, such as the Central Intelligence Agency's 2004 Inspector General report on interrogation, remains highly classified and hidden from the American people. An independent review is needed to determine the maximum information that can be publicly released.
Finally, I wholeheartedly reject the notion that further review will cause our intelligence services to retreat into a dangerous "cycle of timidity." A properly conducted investigation will help set appropriate boundaries for future behavior, consistent with our fundamental values and the command of our laws. Have we really become so fearful that expecting our government to use its power within the boundaries of law is deemed unreasonably "timid"?
This argument has another flaw. For all the worry of "cycles of timidity," is there no countervailing concern for "cycles of aggression," or "cycles of lawlessness"? In an era where detainees have been held in limbo for years based on flawed or non-existent evidence, where we have waterboarded prisoners, deprived them of sleep, and subjected them to unconscionable degradations and abuse, and where our most powerful technologies have been turned inward to spy on Americans and within the United States, without court order or warrant and in apparent violation of a clear federal statute, is our greatest fear really that our national security services may be unduly timid?
To me, the bottom line is this: If we move on now without fully documenting what occurred, without acknowledging the betrayal of our values, and without determining whether or not any laws have been broken, we cannot help but validate all that has gone on before. If we look at the Bush record and conclude that the book should simply be closed, we will be tacitly approving both the documented abuses and the additional misdeeds we will have chosen to leave uncovered.
That is why there is nothing partisan about the call for further review. In the end, these acts were not taken by George Bush, or by John Yoo, or even by Dick Cheney - they were taken by the United States of America. By all of us. There is no avoiding the responsibility we all bear for what has been done, and for what we choose to do next.
Our country has never been perfect. This would not be the first time we were forced to take a hard look at difficult choices made in times of peril. But when we have done so before, it has made us stronger, both by improving our policies and our practices and, more fundamentally, by strengthening our moral core and by breathing new life into the principles of our founding.
The responsible way forward requires us to look back as we go.
I must admit that I am somewhat confused by your recently rediscovered moral clarity, since you spent most of the last two years in silence, when your leadership was most needed. When our leaders fail to speak to the challenges of our times, the people fail to organize to bring about the change we so desperately hope for.
In 2006, inspired by the Honorable John Conyers HR 636, his outrage over the Downing Street Memos, and his research compiled in "The Constitution in Crisis," a new generation of activists began clamoring for the restoration of the Constitution and the Rule of Law. They hoped to end torture, illegal domestic spying, allow a full investigation into the lies that lead us into the Iraq War, and make sure that our nation is one of Laws and not Men. Our leaders in Congress regained the majority, and then cowered in fear as enablers, crushing grassroots activism and failing to live up to their oaths to protect the Constitution from all enemies, foreign and domestic.
Instead of moral leadership from Congress, we got silence, when we needed action most. Hopefully this Op-Ed is a signal of your intent to begin leading again, because you are right.... and your leadership and voice are desperately needed.
Thank you.
It is one thing when a President commits a federal crime, perjury for example, it is quite another to go on a fishing expedition of a previous administration soley for the purpose of satisfying the anger of a segment of the population (folks like John Conyers and others) over the fact that they just didn't like the policies of the Bush Administration.
The intent is so transparent it is laugable.
You folks have to move on............literally........now. If you really want to have an investigation, why not start with Fannie/Freddie and figure out how for they got away being so poorly regulated despite efforts of the Bush Administration and others............that might be interesting.........don't ya think?
There is a perfect precedent for this. It is South Africa. The crimes of the Bush years pale into insignificance compared to the crimes committed by apartheid South Africa. (Read "Cry the Beloved Country" or watch the many films about Biko and others). Nelson Mandela was given the choice of prosecution or move on. He did neither. He established a "truth commission" that documented and learnt from the excesses of the past so that they could never be repeated in the future.
Come on America, we need a "truth commission" for the Bush years.
Help us on this path to freedom, Rep. Conyers!
Investigate if found that They broke laws Prosecute. Why should they be above the law
especially when most f their efforts were for personal GAIN.
To sweep this under the rug so to say & ignore the in your face attitude of laws don't apply to them is just another way of furthering the feeling of miss trust of our Government.
Too many burials & lives totally changed forever have taken place for this not to be investigated to the fullest.
This is OWED to the American People.
i believe many americans who profess to be patriots, but continually try to drag this country down, are much worse than those who have acted to keep us safe. so, if i can put those who wish to try the bush administration on trial, then let's let the merry go round spin!
In fact, Republicans are trying to convince us they miraculously revived their dead consciences after eight years of supporting EVERY Bush policy. Who is brain dead enough to believe them? Their consciences are still dead and they're the same lying thieves who have learned NOTHING from their losses, plus they're still attempting to OBSTRUCT AND DIVIDE this country. WAKE UP, AMERICANS.
Finally, only the public should get to decide to go to war. The people should get to vote--not just Congress. 535 people should not make that decision for 300 million of us. That should require a special vote. Then we will all be on board and willing to fight. Bush got Congress' approval for what should have been an illegal war. The Constitution should forbid our government from forcing us into something like that.
Rep. Conyers, I would like to see YOU head up health care! Thank you for being a voice for many as well as myself.
I thank you for your forthright feelings. I somehow believe that Hon. Kucinich is more determined to take heat, abuse and reprimand from his adversaries, although he is fully convinced that his beliefs are correct and his positions are fair. People of similar belief and conviction, like you and him, in public service, should team up now, more determined than ever, to solve a crisis. That is the call. I am sure the time is ripe to support the current president in his corrective agenda at home and abroad, as well as prosecute against the misdeeds and wrongdoings of those who have been irresponsible after gaining public trust. Twice.