You know that black guy who stormed into the White House a few months back promising ‘A Change We Can Believe In?’ You know how he promised to put an end to the torture, close Guantanamo Bay and generally be a bit friendlier than Bush was?
Well, it seems he wants to pretend like none of that stuff ever happened. President and all round nice guy Barack Obama has thrown his support behind a bill soon to pass Congress that will allow the US government to suppress any photographic material that might implicate US military personnel in war crimes perpetrated outside of the country since 9/11.
The UN has repeatedly condemned the actions of the US military in recent years; Guantanamo Bay, Abu Ghraib and the invasion of Iraq have become disturbing chapters in a global war waged against a human emotion. All the while the Bush administration hid behind a draconian wall of silence.
The fact that Obama is willing to support this bill shows that he’s not willing to admit that the US made some mistakes. What’s that saying about learning from your mistakes, or being cursed to repeat them?
Let’s face it, the US fucked up. US troops, interrogators and prison wardens did some really messed up stuff and the truth needs to come out, if not to hold those involved responsible then to at least acknowledge that these events happened at all. Without doing that, there really can’t be any lasting ‘change.’
