Mr. President, no one is above the law. There is a reason lady justice has a blindfold on. Based on what we have all been reading and hearing about, it is clear that the law had no force and effect during President George W. Bush’s two terms. Through your own admission, the United States violated the Geneva Conventions; a set of treaties to which the United States is a consignatory. If this is the case, why do you refuse to appoint a special prosecutor to go after anyone, regardless of rank or position, that participated in the act of torture? After all, torture is torture and ignorance of the law is not a defense.
After World War II, we held the Germans to account for the atrocities they commited against the Jewish people. The Nürnberg trials were designed to ensure that nothing like that would ever happen again. Furthermore, the defense of “just following orders” was rejected. In fact, the UCMJ specifies that our military members follow “lawful” orders only. Yet, not even a century later, you are essentially granting a blanket pardon to those who tortured prisoners under our charge, whether they be CIA and/or Military. I wouldn’t be surprised if your next move would be to grant former President George W. Bush and former Vice President Dick Cheney a blanket pardon for authorizing such torture. Sir, that is tantamount to endorsing and commiting the crime yourself. You should be ashamed and you, like your predecessor, are not above the law. The Geneva Conventions, to which we are bound, clearly state that we must investigate and prosecute anyone who participates and/or authorizes torture. In my opinion, it doesn’t matter what political party someone belongs to or what their position is; if someone violates the law, they should be punished to the full extent of the law.
I can only hope that you have a sound strategy with regards to this matter. This is not and should not be a partisan witch hunt. However, we do need to go after anyone who violates the law, even if that includes a former President. After all, the U.S. President is just as subject to our laws as everyday citizens like myself. So, please do us all a favor and appoint a special prosecutor. If you just want to “look forward”, you might as well have pulled the trigger on torture yourself. A good comparison would have been to let all the Nazis go after World War II and say, instead, we just want to “look forward”. Put in that context, I don’t see how you, a man I believe to be a fundamentally descent person, could be convinced that would be acceptable.