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| Boston terrorism |
These days, it is difficult to find common ground on almost anything
among Democrats and Republicans, as President Obama has seen time and
time again. Partisan wrangling is especially intense around issues of
national security. Indeed, President Obama famously (and I believe,
erroneously) opposed any official effort to examine the abuses of
detainees after 9/11 out of concern that it would devolve into partisan
bickering that would derail other items on his agenda. Yet on this task
force, Republicans and Democrats agreed—unanimously—that the United
States’s most senior officials are responsible for war crimes and abuses
of fundamental human rights—torture, enforced disappearances and cruel,
inhuman and degrading treatment.
The task force report comes at a propitious time. Since 9/11, many
have asked how the United States would respond to “the next attack,”
with most predicting a devolving spiral of human rights violations and
overreactions. But such a response is far from inevitable. Common Dreams
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