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How is it possible that people weren't held accountable for this? And how come the US government still hasn't tried to remedy the situation? Are those people go

How is it possible that people weren't held accountable for this? And how come the US government still hasn't tried to remedy the situation? Are those people going to be held in captivity with no charges until their death?

o10449366 7y ago
Simply put, in America the military is a cult/religion, and almost anything done in the name of "national security" can be excused. Look no further than the Navy SEALs that had their charges dropped for war crimes - as long as they're on "our" side Americans don't really care what atrocities the military complex commits.
- grantuna 7y ago
  I can think of one giant threat to national security that apparently they can do nothing about at the moment.
  - turk73 7y ago
    So the very person trying to drain this swamp, is, to you, the giant threat? That's unfortunate. Anyways, it's going to take the people rising up to stop the corruption. If you value freedom over comfort you will have to act. As far as pardoning that Navy SEAL goes, I think he got railroaded by a system that ties people's hands. His act saved lives in a war zone but what they were angry about was that he acted outside of his authority, which to the military is the biggest crime there. It is duplicitous to on the one hand require men to do terrible things and then on the other hand prosecute them for doing those same terrible things.
  - ncmncm 7y ago
    SEALs are backing that one.
- enraged_camel 7y ago
  The pardoning of Navy SEALs is not being excused at all. Trump has been receiving enormous and extraordinary amounts of backlash not just from both sides of the political spectrum, but also from inside the military itself.
- EncryptEntropy 7y ago
  “National Security” simply means to protect the state and in no way is about protecting civilian Americans.
irrational 7y ago
How is it possible that people weren't held accountable for this? Because they work for the government. And how come the US government still hasn't tried to remedy the situation? Because it's the government. Are those people going to be held in captivity with no charges until their death? Probably, because of the government. Note: Nothing was done during Obama's tenure. Neither a Republican nor a Democrat government is going to do anything about this.
- kombucha11 7y ago
  At least Obama tried to bring them to them mainland and house them old prisons etc which would've brought the inmates under the jurisdiction of non military courts and thus they would've gotten their day in court, a fair trial not military court bs. Sadly no one wanted to do this, talks of "I'm not going to let terrorists anywhere near my home!" were prevalent and the plan was dead. There is no easy way of choosing Guantanamo Bay given the military industrial complex.
  - mrguyorama 7y ago
    Wasn't it also because the republican senate stonewalled quite literally anything Obama tried to do, good or bad?
koheripbal 7y ago
Because in the wake of 9-11, you would have been very pressed to find any US adult who didnt support torturing terrorists in custody to prevent more attacks. The Patriot Act passed almost unanimously. You have to remember the _emotional_ impact of 9-11 to properly judge the people in charge at that time.
- fulafel 7y ago
  There were lots of people arguing against it, in public discourse.
- lm28469 7y ago
  That's called erosion of rights, and it only goes in one direction. That's why we should be very doubtful about these kind of laws/acts/&c.
- bilbo0s 7y ago
  I assume the guy who voted against the Patriot Act suffered the same emotional impact. It didn't prevent him seeing the long term deleterious impact of such laws, and he wisely voted against it. Judgement lapses happened obviously, but emotional impact is a lame excuse for judgement lapses in any steward.
- Miner49er 7y ago
  15ish percent voted nay in the House.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- Diederich 7y ago
  > Because in the wake of 9-11, you would have been very pressed to find any US adult who didnt support torturing terrorists in custody to prevent more attacks That's quite a bold statement. Even among my conservative leaning co-workers in the mid-west at the time, quite a number continued to be against torture, though only a few of us were also against the (second) war in Iraq. And, as others have said, it's pretty easy to find people standing against torture in the public discourse at the time. > You have to remember the _emotional_ impact of 9-11 .... We remember it well. Even so, many of us were not so blinded as to abandon our principles.
lm28469 7y ago
You can excuse anything in the US if you scream "patriotism", "terrorism" or "freedom" loud enough.
- tonetheman 7y ago
  Not enough upvotes for this comment. So true.
metabagel 7y ago
They can't be tried, because their torture would become an issue in the trial.

o10449366 7y ago

Simply put, in America the military is a cult/religion, and almost anything done in the name of "national security" can be excused. Look no further than the Navy SEALs that had their charges dropped for war crimes - as long as they're on "our" side Americans don't really care what atrocities the military complex commits.

grantuna 7y ago
I can think of one giant threat to national security that apparently they can do nothing about at the moment.
- turk73 7y ago
  So the very person trying to drain this swamp, is, to you, the giant threat? That's unfortunate. Anyways, it's going to take the people rising up to stop the corruption. If you value freedom over comfort you will have to act. As far as pardoning that Navy SEAL goes, I think he got railroaded by a system that ties people's hands. His act saved lives in a war zone but what they were angry about was that he acted outside of his authority, which to the military is the biggest crime there. It is duplicitous to on the one hand require men to do terrible things and then on the other hand prosecute them for doing those same terrible things.
- ncmncm 7y ago
  SEALs are backing that one.
enraged_camel 7y ago
The pardoning of Navy SEALs is not being excused at all. Trump has been receiving enormous and extraordinary amounts of backlash not just from both sides of the political spectrum, but also from inside the military itself.
EncryptEntropy 7y ago
“National Security” simply means to protect the state and in no way is about protecting civilian Americans.

irrational 7y ago

How is it possible that people weren't held accountable for this? Because they work for the government. And how come the US government still hasn't tried to remedy the situation? Because it's the government. Are those people going to be held in captivity with no charges until their death? Probably, because of the government. Note: Nothing was done during Obama's tenure. Neither a Republican nor a Democrat government is going to do anything about this.

kombucha11 7y ago
At least Obama tried to bring them to them mainland and house them old prisons etc which would've brought the inmates under the jurisdiction of non military courts and thus they would've gotten their day in court, a fair trial not military court bs. Sadly no one wanted to do this, talks of "I'm not going to let terrorists anywhere near my home!" were prevalent and the plan was dead. There is no easy way of choosing Guantanamo Bay given the military industrial complex.
- mrguyorama 7y ago
  Wasn't it also because the republican senate stonewalled quite literally anything Obama tried to do, good or bad?

koheripbal 7y ago

Because in the wake of 9-11, you would have been very pressed to find any US adult who didnt support torturing terrorists in custody to prevent more attacks. The Patriot Act passed almost unanimously. You have to remember the _emotional_ impact of 9-11 to properly judge the people in charge at that time.

fulafel 7y ago
There were lots of people arguing against it, in public discourse.
lm28469 7y ago
That's called erosion of rights, and it only goes in one direction. That's why we should be very doubtful about these kind of laws/acts/&c.
bilbo0s 7y ago
I assume the guy who voted against the Patriot Act suffered the same emotional impact. It didn't prevent him seeing the long term deleterious impact of such laws, and he wisely voted against it. Judgement lapses happened obviously, but emotional impact is a lame excuse for judgement lapses in any steward.
Miner49er 7y ago
15ish percent voted nay in the House.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
Diederich 7y ago
> Because in the wake of 9-11, you would have been very pressed to find any US adult who didnt support torturing terrorists in custody to prevent more attacks That's quite a bold statement. Even among my conservative leaning co-workers in the mid-west at the time, quite a number continued to be against torture, though only a few of us were also against the (second) war in Iraq. And, as others have said, it's pretty easy to find people standing against torture in the public discourse at the time. > You have to remember the _emotional_ impact of 9-11 .... We remember it well. Even so, many of us were not so blinded as to abandon our principles.

lm28469 7y ago

You can excuse anything in the US if you scream "patriotism", "terrorism" or "freedom" loud enough.

tonetheman 7y ago
Not enough upvotes for this comment. So true.

metabagel 7y ago

They can't be tried, because their torture would become an issue in the trial.