Hindsight is great, especially when it comes to political expediency. President Obama and his surrogate, Attorney General Eric Holder, are in the process of determining how many good faith attorneys, operatives and advisors in the previous administration and the CIA will be held criminally liable for their interrogation activities and advice.
Never mind that the activities and advice in question likely saved the lives of many US citizens and our soldiers on the frontline. Instead of being praised for successes and excused for excesses, these patriots have become the targets of a new witch hunt, set to be sacrificed at the altar of Obama’s unrivalled public relations juggernaut.
Of course, Obama and his coterie hold no exclusive title to hindsight. And history often delivers far more powerful indictments than even the US Attorney General.
Consider an Obama administration that fails to reverse the recession and continues to court the tragic consequences of Iran’s nuclear ambitions and suicidal Jihadism. An administration that insists on hampering and handicapping the CIA, the FBI and the military’s ability to prosecute this war and achieve its intelligence requirements in the most pragmatic and effective manner, leading – most likely – to another wave of terrorist strikes. Such unfortunate events would not only obliterate the sycophantic love affair America now has with Obama and produce a likely change in government. They would also expose this administration to charges – if not legal, then certainly moral – of gross negligence and irresponsibility, of causing many American deaths and recklessly sacrificing national security as well.
Despite what your kids learn in university, hindsight can be 20/20 for Republicans as well. The past is not the only source of reckoning – the future counts as well. Eric Holder beware.
