A number of readers have taken me to task for not calling for the prosecution of George Bush et al for war crimes. Glenn Greenwald has now piled on. Let me say this: I would have no moral, legal or spiritual problem with the Obama Administration pursuing this course of action, if they so choose. I do have a practical problem with it...and so does Obama, which is why he won't pursue this for a very good reason: there are much bigger things at stake. We are in the midst of an economic crisis. We have a multitude of problems overseas to be resolved. And there are enormous political opportunities available as well--like the enactment of universal health insurance. Anything that diverts attention from these priorities, or makes it more difficult to build the consensus necessary to get them accomplished, has to be set aside. The stakes are just too high.
Klein continues:
[...]when the Abu Ghraib abuses were made public, I wrote this column, clearly denouncing his Administration. It is the sort of column that Greenwald never cites, never includes in what appears to be, but isn't, the exhaustive research he stuffs into his briefs. He is a lawyer, making a case and feels no need to include information that might weaken his case, even if it would give his readers a better sense of the truth. Some of his cases hold water. His case against me, however, should be tossed out of court.
Greenwald is not overwhelmingly partisan -- he's overwhelmingly adherent to his own doctrine, by which any flaw, misstep, word spoken (or unspoken), or wink can be used as evidence that you're on equal footing with Joseph Goebbels. It's fun to read, but I realize how it could get tiresome if you're one of the most foremost journalists, and you're hated by many on both the right and the left, and Greenwald is constantly chucking potshots at you.
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As for Obama not pursuing prosecutions against Bush and co., I'm a two-sided coin. On the one hand, it is obviously something that cannot be done right now, and, as such, something that won't be done ever. Losing the political capital would just be retarded. Yet, imagine a world in which we were sitting at 5.2% unemployment, a stable housing market, a healthy GDP, a status quo in Israel, and a bright outlook in Iraq. Would Obama look into this then? Doubtful.
