Bush, Cheney and Rumsfield Knew They Were Innocent?

Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, senior aide to the Bush administration's initial Secretary of State, Colin Powell, has submitted a signed declaration in support of a lawsuit brought on behalf of a former Guantanamo Bay detainee, declaring that President Bush, Vice President Cheney, and Secretary of Defense Rumsfield, all knew they were holding scores of completely innocent men at the Guantanamo facility, but intentionally kept them incarcerated for political reasons.

Declarations in a civil lawsuit are submitted "under penalty of law." That means they are equivalent to testimony given under oath. Declarations must also be based on personal knowledge. Given these requirements, this is an extraordinary charge for a former Bush administration official to level. Even more remarkable is the fact that Col. Wilkerson's charge has gone mostly unreported by the U.S. media.

With all of the other information revealed about the Bush administration's post 9/11 behavior, I am inclined to believe Col. Wilkerson. That doesn't mean we should summarily conclude that what he said is true. But the fact that these allegations were made under oath, by a high ranking official of the Bush administration, should be cause for investigation. Such conduct by our elected leaders threatens the very essence of our constitutional democracy.

What greatly concerns me is there appears to be a national conspiracy to ignore such allegations. No comments from the Obama administration. Little to no coverage of the story in the U.S. media - particularly in comparison to its coverage in rest of the world. No concern among the population at large - who probably doesn't know about the charge, but wouldn't much care if it did.

This is a bad sign for our form of government.

Joe H.