Presidential Indecision

President Obama seems to be having a hard time deciding what to do about the whole issue of interrogation methods, who authorized them under the Bush Administration and what, if anything, to do about the legal consequences of those decisions. Initially, that is to say, when he first took office three months ago, the President's instincts were that we should not be prosecuting public officials of previous administrations for decisions on these matters.

The President came out early against prosecutions. His Attorney-General, Eric Holder, also came out a few weeks ago against the idea of prosecuting Bush era officials. The reasoning behind both of those positions was clear. There were national security issues to consider (i.e. it will be harmful to release certain documents that reveal sources, methods, etc...) and, although it may "feel good" to punish those that made policy in the last administration, it may actually undercut our security to do so. Competing interests.

There was also the general notion that it is a bad idea for newly installed public officials to prosecute public officials of previous administrations for making decisions during the heat of the battle, when that battle involves keeping America safe from terrorism. And, when it is altogether unclear at the time the decisions must be made what exactly is the nature of the threat. As long as those public officials are making decisions in good faith and without malice, the thought goes, who are we, years later, to second guess their decision making.

This is a complex area, but in a nutshell, prosecuting public officials later for decisions made under stressful circumstances in a period of national insecurity, will do nothing but drive good people away from the idea of serving in Government. And, possibly punish the very people who may have been instrumental in keeping us safe for the past seven years.

So . . . taking this all into consideration . . . the President must have gotten an earful from the part of his constituency which is more concerned with, and focused on, hanging some scalps on the wall. Because Obama has suddenly decided that, now, the question of prosecutions is an open book. He quickly corrected himself the next day by saying that what he meant to say was that it was up to the Attorney-General to decide if prosecutions are merited. Don't be surprised to see another few statements from the President on this matter.

He can not decide what to do. His instincts, which guided his initial stance on this issue, tell him one thing. His consituency on the left tells him quite another. Since he has already let down this constituency, big time, with his decisions to send more troops to Afghanistan and to let the military advise him on the best way to extricate us from Iraq, rather than pretending that he knows more than the professionals on these matters. The left, which got him to the White House, is pissed. And, he's feeling the heat.

This is the only explanation behind his waffling.