far from "deconstructing the war on terror", obama is clearly pursuing it with the same vigour, ideological backing and deception as the previous administration. bush's first war, in afghanistan, and last war, in pakistan, are now obama's wars--with thousands more US troops to be deployed, more bombing and more slaughter of civilians.
far from "shutting down the CIA's secret prison network", obama's executive orders actually give the CIA authority to carry out renditions, abductions and transfers of prisoners in secret without the threat of legal obstruction. as the los angeles times disclosed, "current and former intelligence officials said the rendition program might be poised to play an expanded role." a semantic sleight of hand is that "long term prisons" are changed to "short term prisons"; and while americans are now banned from directly torturing people, foreigners working for the US are not.
obama has retained bush's "right" to imprison anyone, without trial or charges. no "ghost prisoners" are being released or are due to be tried before a civilian court. his nominee for attorney-general has endorsed an extension of bush's totalitarian USA patriot act, which allows federal agents to demand americans' library and bookshop records. the man of "change" is changing little. // john pilger, 03.24.09, ICH
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