A Christian Liberal is NOT an oxymoron.

Posted by XT on December 28th, 2007 in President

How do you tell when a politician is lying? Watch their lips. If they are moving, they are lying.

So President Bush has found his cajones and vetoed the military budget because - get this - it might open the Government of Iraq to having their assets seized in response to lawsuits from American soldiers who were tortured by the Saddam Hussein. There’s a lot to say about this.

First, it displays President Bush’s previous stance on the budget to be nothing more than rhetoric. Previously, the President said he needed a “clean” bill - one without a withdrawal date. Well, apparently, that wasn’t his real concern. Either he lied then or he’s lying now. But it’s still a lie.

Second, it shows that President Bush could care less about the fate suffered by our soldiers. This is the Administration, after all, that has allowed the DoD and Veteran’s facilities to suffer and fall into disrepair so bad that it borders on criminal. Now he’s made it crystal clear that even torture will be protected. “Hey, they volunteered!” - right (Senate Minority Leader) Mitch McConnell?

But rarely is the reason given publicly the real reason for political action. It makes no sense that the current government of Iraq - created under a new Constitution - would be held accountable for the actions of a previous dictator that held onto power through coercion and fear. It isn’t about our veterans suing Iraq at all.

But it is about the use of torture. But I believe the plaintiffs that the President fears are those Iraqis who are now living proof of the hollow nature of the President’s denial of torture. The last thing the President wants is for some anonymous Iraqi to file a lien against US funds on their way to Iraq to be held in trust against future torture charges. The last thing the President wants is an Iraqi citizen filing a lawsuit to be compensated for the torture suffered since Saddam Hussein’s government fell. The last thing the President wants is to be shown a complete and utter failure, a liar, and a fraud.

That’s what this is about.

Technorati Tags: President Bush, veto, Iraq