Sen. Webb Sides With Right-Wing Claims On Truth Commission And Gitmo

[ProSense]

Sen. Webb Sides With Right-Wing Claims On Truth Commission And Gitmo

When President Obama announced on his second day in office that he would close the Guantanamo Bay prison within a year, Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) said on MSNBC that Obama had “given a reasonable timeline here.” He praised Obama for “helping us reassert ourselves around the world as a moral beacon, in terms of how people are being handled.”

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However, on ABC’s “This Week” today, Webb reversed course and appeared to condemn the Obama administration for “creating artificial timelines” to close Guantanamo, where he said detainees should stay. He also objected to a truth commission on torture. On the most important national security issues, Webb sided with the right wing:

ON TRUTH COMMISSION

STEPHANOPOULOS: That’s the irony here , Senator Webb, as Speaker Gingrich says, investigate. He wants a separate House investigation. Speaker Pelosi says, fine, let’s have a truth commission, the one that Senator Kyl doesn’t want. Where do you stand on this?

WEBB: I just don’t think it’s that big a deal. <...>

STEPHANOPOULOS: So, no truth commission?

WEBB: I think this will resolve itself without something like that.

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Anything Less Than Absolute Moral Clarity from Democrats Will Enshrine Bush's Abuses

[villager]

1. How democratic to have "two" "distinct" parties in America!

n/t

[bottomtheweaver]

2. Isn't Webb a PNAC signatory?

I loved that rebuttal he have to one of Shrub's SOTU speeches a few years back, but this guy seems way to close to the permanent war establishment. That's why I was very glad he didn't get the veep slot which would have frankly worried me.

[DinahMoeHum]

3. No, he's not.

n/t

[bottomtheweaver]

4. Apparently Webb was navy secretary under Reagan

and is in fact one of the original PNAC signatories. There's an April 2007 DU thread that discusses the matter here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=3200954&mesg_id=3200954

[DinahMoeHum]

6. Not one of the ORIGINAL 25 signatories, though.

and he defected, remember?

[bottomtheweaver]

7. But one of the 133 PNAC singnatories.

Yes, I know he changed parties, but so did Specter. And once you get mixed up with the intel crowd you generally stay in it, that is if you want to keep living.

[DinahMoeHum]

8. I think you should read bertman's statement below (#5)

n/t

[bottomtheweaver]

10. Webb on torture: "I just don't think it's that big a deal."

It is a big deal. So is Gitmo. These are serious, terrible crimes and anyone who tries to deny that, for whatever reason, is dead wrong and unfit for public office, nice though they may be.

[DinahMoeHum]

11. Erica Williams of the Center for American Progress didn't think so either

and CAP ain't exactly a RW bastion.
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/?source=rss

and at least she acknowledged her mistake:
http://abeautifulfire.blogspot.com/2009/05/terror-apologist-invaded-my-body.html

Give Webb the same chance to acknowledge a mistake, OK? I'm sure he'll come around to the same conclusion. Nobody's perfect.

[ThomWV]

9. I believe he was a registered Republican up to about 3 years ago.

[bertman]

5. After listening to what Senator Webb said, I didn't find his statements to be out of line.

There's a good chance that President Obama and his team, in their zeal to shut down Gitmo, didn't think everything through to the last point and are now backtracking to be sure they don't screw the pooch.

It sure sounded simple as hell to just shut down Gitmo, but now the realities are rearing their heads and we're trying to deal with them. I say give President Obama credit for what he has done and let him work out the best way to resolve all of this.

BushCo left a very shitty, complicated mess for our new administration to sort out. It's going to be tricky and missteps will be made, but being able to regroup and change course is a positive thing if you're still moving toward the right goals. Which I think they are. So far.