I just emailed this letter to President Obama regarding military tribunals and torture photos. Immediate impetus was this editorial in the NYT.
Mr. President,
As your ardent supporter, I must add my voice to the many that are asking you why you have recently adopted position and made statements more appropriate to the administration we rejected so decisively--in this case, regarding military tribunals and the release of torture photos. Please, please change back to the position you adopted so vigorously regarding military tribunals: Tear down the disgraceful system Bush erected, don't try to modify it. Return us to the rule of law where criminals are tried in real courts, not kangaroo courts. Don't make the military tribunals more fair, because the Guantanamo detainees aren't soldiers--if guilty, then they are criminals and should be tried as such.
Regarding the photos: Trying to stuff them away won't work, and repercussions will be worse than if you show the world that we are once again a nation of conscience that owns up to its crimes. Don't echo Bush and say that the problem was limited to "a few individuals." Please. Don't give us the same nonsense he did. Get these crimes that were pervasive throughout the Bush war effort out into the sunlight, and show the world that we have changed.
These protests against the few actions you have taken that don't seem to live up to your campaign promises (as compared to the many that do) are not just coming from your "left wing supporters). They are more fundamental than political calculations admit. They come from people of conscience. I still feel that you, too, are the person of conscience I helped to elect.
Thank you.
Yours,
Graham Paul
