Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Obama Supports a Truth Commission Over a Congressional Hearing

Oh ye of little faith! President Obama has now indicated openness to the idea of charges for officials who approved the torture memos released last week, and while he does not support an inquiry process, his arguments for a truth commission over a Congressional hearing are fairly straightforward:
He suggested that if Congress feels the need for "a further accounting" of the interrogation program, it ought to be done "in a bipartisan fashion, outside of the typical hearing process that can sometimes break down and break it entirely along party lines."
I couldn't have said it better myself. Who knows, perhaps Senator Leahy will see some success after all...

3 comments:

TJE said...

"He stressed that he is not calling for a commission along those lines."

Kye said...

Correct--Obama opposes any investigation, but if there is to be one, he supports an independent inquiry over a Congressional hearing. This speaks to the central issue of our truth commission debate, as I recall.

TJE said...

a. nothing
b. congressional hearing
c. bipartisan commission