Obama to Pardon Bush as Predecessor?

Echoes of Ford and Nixon Despite Track Record

It is generally considered a courtesy for a newly inaugurated President in the interests of ‘looking ahead’ to not dwell on the errors of his predecessor. The most extreme example of this was Gerald Ford’s pardon of Richard Nixon after the latter’s ignominious resignation. Arguably necessary for the health of the nation after its ‘long nightmare’, it was nevertheless handled badly, and Ford paid a price by becoming a one-term President.

Not to trivialize Nixon’s crimes (and part of the flawed pardon process meant there was no admission of guilt, no mention of the many crimes besides Watergate), the three articles of impeachment mentioned the actual break-in, cover-up, including the payment of ‘hush money’, misuse of the FBI and IRS, ignoring subpoenas, spying etc.. For these ‘crimes and misdemeanors’ he undoubtedly would have been impeached, but he resigned to avoid that outcome, and was pardoned. The matter was handled constitutionally, and people got back to their lives and the nation tried to move on.

But what of Mr. Bush? It could be argued that his domestic crimes far surpass anything done by the Nixon Administration, and while some saw Nixon, Kissinger, McNamara and others as international war criminals, there again Bush has far surpassed Nixon in the number and nature of crimes against humanity, if not the numbers of dead. Having stated that he would request that his new Attorney General investigate whether crimes were committed during the previous Administration, President Obama seems to be distancing himself from that view.

An investigation into America’s greatest terrorist attack would distract from the war on terror, said Bush. This would include: domestic spying, misuse of the FBI, ICE and other federal organizations, ignored subpoenas, illegal signing statements, treason, kidnapping (Italy has warrants out on 22 CIA operatives with regard to one case alone), illegal detention, torture...

Attacking Afghanistan and Iraq, collateral damage, Fallujah, murdering journalists, removing seriously ill patients from a hospital in order to make room for potential American casualties...American forces prevented ‘military-age’ males (roughly 12-65 years old) from leaving the city and then declared a ‘free-fire zone’ on anyone remaining. They used white phosphorus and thermobaric weapons. They used snipers against unarmed civilians. If it’s indeed time for change, then it’s time to stop pretending that America can do no wrong, and to bring criminals to justice, whoever they are