Illegitimate Presidency

The talking points surrounding the Inauguration meant that Barack Obama was NOT officially POTUS after taking the oath, as the wording was wrong. Now rectified, the agenda to close Guantanamo Bay has been ordered and the top US official post of Secretary of State has been confirmed : Hilary Rodham Clinton


Guantanamo Bay has been the main talking point, where Obama has ordered the closure of Guantanamo Bay, the "gulag of our times".

It seems pretty clear that there were some forces behind the Bush Administration's inability to close Guantanamo - the stubborness of one Dick Cheny (suprise, suprise), and the fact that the Bush administration started the operation in the first place. John Bellinger, an advisor to Condeleezza Rice, shares his regret and frustrations over Guantanamo.

It would appear, I would expect, that Obama has retook the oath before signing the executive decision to close the detention centre. Though the era of change has begun, I fear that this is all a little more than symbolism by the Obama Administration.

If a 'perfectly logical' plan to set up the centre in the first place descended into such controversy where torture was used and accepted, if Bellinger's words are to be beleived, then we cannot ignore this possibility again. I can't fathom personally how the religious neo-conservatives can resort to such violence and inhumane nature - surely God judges at the end of the day.

The infamous legacy that this leaves behind will remain with Bush administration though I do not feel that the anti-Americans out there will see it that way. There is a history of US interventionism and dare I say 'imperalism' over the course of the twentieth century.

Having argued for a new era of openness from his administration and the closure of Guantanamo Bay, this is a good start by the Obama administration. Torture is indefensible - there are moral imperatives and all humans have rights - not simply those kept to and enshrined by national constitutions, bills of rights. The BBC is even asking readers, "Do you agree that Guantanamo prison should be closed?"

The bottom line is, people would say anything under torture to make someone stop. Its an involuntary human reflex, like jerking your hand away from something that's too hot. How anyone can ever justify something like this is beyond me.