WASHINGTON – In a press conference held Friday, U.S. President Barack Obama said that after the horrific attacks of September 11, 2001, “we crossed a line” and tortured suspected terrorists.
Obama was referencing information that may soon be released in a U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee report. The “report has been transmitted, the declassified version that will be released at the pleasure of the Senate committee,” Obama said, and may have have been attempting to soften the reaction to revelations that could be in the report.
“With respect to the larger point of the report itself,” Obama explained, “even before I came into office I was very clear that in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 we did some things that were wrong. We did a whole lot of things that were right, but we tortured some folks. We did some things that were contrary to our values.
“When we engaged in some of these enhanced interrogation techniques, techniques that I believe and I think any fair-minded person would believe were torture, we crossed a line. And that needs to be — that needs to be understood and accepted. And we have to, as a country, take responsibility for that so that, hopefully, we don’t do it again in the future.”
President Obama said that in the hysteria and fear that followed the terrorist attacks, her could “understand” why the aggressive interrogations were undertaken.
“I think it’s important when we look back to recall how afraid people were after the Twin Towers fell and the Pentagon had been hit and the plane in Pennsylvania had fallen, and people did not know whether more attacks were imminent, and there was enormous pressure on our law enforcement and our national security teams to try to deal with this. And it’s important for us not to feel too sanctimonious in retrospect about the tough job that those folks had. And a lot of those folks were working hard under enormous pressure and are real patriots.
“But having said all that, we did some things that were wrong. And that’s what that report reflects. And that’s the reason why, after I took office, one of the first things I did was to ban some of the extraordinary interrogation techniques that are the subject of that report.
“And my hope is, is that this report reminds us once again that the character of our country has to be measured in part not by what we do when things are easy, but what we do when things are hard.”
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41 thoughts on “Obama: U.S. “crossed a line” and tortured after 9-11”
“Essentially white people need to pull out their wallets and start paying, unconditionally and indefinitely”
I’ll wait to see if and when any of your checks clear the bank. As always….your talk is the cheap part of any brilliant solutions you propose.
What about the Chinese? There are other races out there that were slaves too. I think it’s a crutch, a whoa is me I am the victim then you OWE me. Suck it up and move on. If they were the slaves personally then ok but they were not the slaves.
You don’t have to have been on a southern plantation to be a slave, if you are dependent on government entitlements you just have a different kind of slave owner. And, thanks to the way our government throws out handouts like they are candy at a parade, we are now becoming a nation made up of those who will sit on the butts and expect others will take care of them…..forever.
Buzz I should refine that statement: States along with any traceable descendants, businesses, industries, inheritances / wealth reserves, including the Federal Government if applicable, who/that participated or profited from slavery in any form should be required to pay all traceable descendants of American African slaves, both here or abroad a RECOMPENSE stipend for the equivalent time period slavery existed. Most Iowans would be exempt I would think.
The post 9/11 effort at revenge and retribution by those “Patriots” that Obama speaks about sealed the deal that America was in fact NOT a Christian nation. A Christian nation would have turned the other cheek by accepting the losses, pulled out of lands they were exploiting, and secured its borders following wiser, less intrusive policies. But since the Bush/Cheney operation had this planned all along, the exact opposite occurred. America became MORE intrusive and exploitative.
Peter, I wish you eggheads would stop blaming bush, I guess if that’s all you got then so be it. It actually started back with kennedy and then every single president since. It isn’t just bush’s fault or the republicans fault. It goes back to both parties.
So forgive me when I call bullshit on Americans describing themselves as ‘Christians’. Christ faced down Roman Centurions and held to his tenets while being whipped with barbs, eventually dying a horrible crucifixion death. Americans need only devise alternative home-grown energy sources, withdraw from foreign lands, and act in a more humble manner, and they REFUSE. All the technology and convenience at our doorstep but they’d rather go meddle with Arabs to get that Black Gold.
I didn’t call you out on the Christian comment but the lets blame bush.
I was authoring my second comment when you posted yours; it was a continuation. Yes, I’m sure every President has done his share of controversial things, but Bush / Cheney / Rumsfeld / Wolfowitz / Rice / Powell / Bremer take the cake. I won’t go as far as to condemn the memory of the fallen, only to wake up the commoners to prevent such ignorant policies (and Presidencies) from every occurring again. Thus far, I’m not convinced America won’t do stupid things again.
Who was the first president to actually come out and talk about the US becoming part of the new world order?
Young padawan, you have much to learn. Forget about such trivial matters of rhetoric. At this point concentrate on survival. Get your respirator w/ extra cartridges, nitrile gloves, body suit w/ face mask, and water purification system. My Earthship consulting fees are $40 an hour.
Pedawan?? I am Jedi from another land. What I am saying is that bush sr started talking about the new world order back in 1990, even everybody’s favorite Regan did somethings that he thought was right but was actually wrong, and don’t even get me started on carter. The reason I am in the past right now is that ALL the left does is blame bush, they are in the past. I say who cares how but deal with the now or tomorrow.
If you really believe what you wrote, then tell the GOP to “stop obstructing Obama, get over Obama winning, and start working on issues to move our country forward;insulating us from real world threats.” The GOP has done nothing but pout, and pander to the white far right. You know it, I know it, we all know it. Most should be fired (along w/ many Democrats). I stand with you for 2nd Amendment Rights & Border Control. The task now is Homeland Security and Domestic Energy.
There you go again playing the blame game. The GOP does their job, good or bad they are passing bills, it’s the head parasite in the senate that refuses to do anything so now it’s the GOP’s fault. Obama does not have the best interest of our country at heart so you saying that the GOP is in his way, bravo. with all the things that are going wrong in the nation and in the world and he is upset that the reporters don’t ask him what he is doing for his birthday, somebody needs a spanking.
My hope is the Health Care Industry will become Christian again (and Buddhist) in their philosophy to help human kind recover from disease and suffering (not dogmatically but compassionately). They should be rewarded for good work performed, handsomely,but not allowed to exploit programs like Medicaid or Medicare to the tune of Billions. Same goes for the Pharmaceutical Industry. The industry got out of control, and socialization was needed to temper the vulgarity of it all.
The problem with the Health Care Industry is that it outsourced jobs to Filipino nurses, incorporated inner city minorities and generally ‘flash-trained’ students cutting costs and lowering care standards. Monopolization and price inflating drove the costs up. Administration and Doctor greed raked in huge profits, while delivering the cheapest “Chinese” care; the “Wal-Mart” philosophy. Insurance companies aren’t the main problem in my assessment. Exploitation by Care providers is.
(Sorry to go off topic) And I don’t intend to denigrate inner city minorities or Filipinos, but rather to illustrate that in an attempt to assimilate previously disenfranchised people into the medical workforce, a “breaking in” period occurred which took blacks and Hispanics a time period to get used to working in such positions, previously occupied by whites. This occurred at the expense of the patient. The importation of Filipinos was done purely for cost cutting.
A fat lazy trailer trash white woman or man is just as bad as an ignorant inner city black or Mexican and a detriment to the health care industry. From experience I’ve seen All those types working in a hospital setting when they shouldn’t be. I’ve been to large hospitals across the United States: Las Vegas, San Fransisco. Now you can pretend that my statements aren’t true and that I’m racist, or you can accept the reality that America has a racist past, and is trying to work thru it.
@Philly-I agree with your last statement about lazy, fat white trash and the healthcare system. It never ceases to amaze me that doctors and nurses who Re supposed to know better are so far out of shape. How can you console someone to lose weight and get is shape when you can barely waddle. Not all of them are that way, but enough are. Now, that being said, do not use race as a excuse for not doing your job.
At George Washington University hospital (where Dick Cheney was treated) in Washington D.C., my mother was left on a gurney in a hallway for about 8 hours as she was dying from liver failure and diabetic complications. The floor was filled with blacks working. She had to beg a fat black nurse to give her some water. They put her in a dirty unkempt room. She said the experience was horrible…and she has some of the best insurance available on the market;same kind Congress has.
So the way the hospital treated your mother, that was bush’s fault too? You need to learn to forgive alittle more.
@Philly-I can certainly understand why you feel the way you do about the medical profession. However, as someone who has spent more than my share of time in the hospital (several different hospitals) I will say that the nurses I have had have been excellent and very caring people no matter what race they were. That is not to say that you couldn’t end up in a mis-managed hospital where there are bad attitudes. Bad attitudes are normally created by bad management. No one iI know goes with one.
LVS that’s fine if you want to take a PC approach. Not everyone can shoot out the truth straight from the hip. My explanation is the deeper one, traced back multi generations to arrive at the predicament we are in today. This isn’t something to be taken lightly, especially in this present crisis of Ebola Outbreak. From what I’ve seen in some major cities, humans wouldn’t stand a chance if Ebola showed up in General Hospitals. It’d spread like wildfire.
No that was the fault of Post Traumatic Slavery Syndrome, as precipitated by America’s practice of enslavement and subsequent racist persecution. It was also the failure of the US Government to successfully pursue the relocation to Liberia post Emancipation Proclamation. Liberia could have been a fully funded sophisticated nation today, had America been serious about recompense. Karma continues to this…
(@maybe: my comment replied to the wrong thread)
So basically with all the current murderous violence, high incarceration costs of African Americans, grouped with prosecution costs, false imprisonment costs of exonerated prisoners, lawsuit costs, as well as victim impact statements from both African Americans as well as the victims of criminal African Americans…RACISM DOESN’T PAY.
It was Racist Americans who brought this upon themselves that all the rest of us are still paying for.
And let’s face it LVS, there’s been a HUGE push to stamp out racism in the past 50 years, with major strides occurring in the past twenty. Major media, economic, and cultural forces have gone to extraordinary lengths to try and include African Americans into the mainstream of American society. Their approach is to OVERRIDE the past iniquities of this country via inclusion-both present and future. This doesn’t address the actual act itself though, and thus karma continues.
White people (due to white guilt), strategized that by full participation into mainstream society, the sins of the past would disappear, and therefore conscientious white people would get to feel good about their country again. It’s almost like buying them off. Well, part of that process meant hiring African Americans into positions previously unheard of: including the medical profession. Special inner city programs and quotas were developed, and hospitals diminished in quality.
What I’m saying is that due to hypersensitivity to the sins of the past, there was a push to get disenfranchised minorities (especially African Americans) into positions of authority. White people needed to walk on eggshells, and some black people exploited their new found entry into the medical workforce (by being lazy and incompetent). The overall effect was a diminishing in quality. Once Pandora’s box was opened it was impossible to close. The process was unnatural and forced.
People may think “What an incredibly racist prick this guy is”, but that’s not the case. My objective is TRUE HEALING, not the forced and unnatural process that has transpired. I don’t accept white guilt because I wasn’t part of what happened; Many however were. I believe in formal REPARATIONS and punishments of industries, businesses, and descendants as well as an establishment of a true African Colony in America and in Africa with full political and legal control withstanding.
This “get over it” policy has worked for some, but not for others. I understand fully how it feels to be a victim. It’s something that will never go away. Some blacks don’t get hung up about their origins and have strived and thrived, but others it affects deeply, and they aren’t buying this “integration or else” policy promulgated by the white’s themselves. My solution is full autonomy and unconditional recompense. There is no other way to karmically satisfy the past but this.
Essentially white people need to pull out their wallets and start paying, unconditionally and indefinitely…well approximately the same time period that slavery existed in America, to every descendant of slavery. Sort of like giving Casinos to Native Americans or paychecks to Alaskan Natives for Oil, but less offensively and more directly.
The government already does that and they want more.
This is another thinly veiled attempt to take the focus off of Benghazi, NSA, the IRS, a spiraling out of control debt problem, border security etc., etc.
This guy’s policy’s have completely destroyed our once great country in the world. He has no business at all saying anything about foreign policy. He has made us a laughing stock around the world and totally destroyed our ability to defend our country.
LVS: Look at this for what it is: Political Payback. Obama is balancing this in front of the GOP to let them know that if they continue to badger and harass him with “lawsuits” and any other partisan bickering deemed threatening, that he and the Democratic Controlled Senate will revisit some of the illegal activity under the Bush Administration, which of course could open up the doors to prosecutions and Senate Hearings. Good for Obama for striking back.
Interesting how Obama in the name of unity and working together, was willing to forgive the Wall Street financial scoundrels who caused the 2008 crash, as well as those behind the Bush-era tortures, yet all this while the rancor by Republican Obstructionists continues:”Obama the non-American, Muslim,Communist,Socialist,Terrorist who we should gridlock and sue because he’s a black democrat with a funny sounding name.” Obama is finally striking back, as he should. PROSECUTE THEM ALL.
@Philly-If Obama and his puppet Harry Reid would work with congress there would be no problem, That is the way it is supposed to work. Reid will not allow anything to come to a vote if it isn’t what his lord and master wants. They should sue him and then impeach him. Look at his ratings. They are tanking everywhere on every issue. The man is a liar and the whole world knows it except for a few Kool Aid drinkers.
Another uninformed comment from LVS – what are the odds of that happening?
July 16th, 2014
“Obama remains largely popular in World opinion.
Half or more of the public in 43 countries surveyed in 2014 said they had confidence in him to do the right thing in world affairs.
Western Europeans’ views of Obama remain quite positive.
Asians’- half or more of the public opinions in nine of 11 Asian nations surveyed have confidence in Obama to do the right thing in world affairs.”
Are you getting your facts from msnbc or snopes.com or are you just plain making them up? @Peter, are you saying that 2 wrongs does make a right or are you just blaming it on bush again?
#Maybe:My intuition tells me that after being threatened to be sued by the Republican Congress along with all the gridlock, accusations, and obstruction, President Obama has had enough. He is bringing up sore spots of the past Administration’s policies, gently reminding them not to push too far. That’s how I interpret Obama bringing this subject up again (when he put it to bed in the past). You interpret it how you want. The Senate is striking back against the GOP and rightfully so.
After 9/11 people were afraid that it would happen again so the law makers overreacted and did some things that wasn’t right, the patriot act being one of them. They should have known better and maybe they did so yes bush jr did quite a bit that was wrong, maybe he did it for the right reasons or the wrong reasons but he isn’t the only one. Like I said, past presidents contributed to the way our country is all screwed up.