The Washington Post this morning (February 17) carried a story about Congressional proposals to establish "truth commissions" to investigate the Bush administration's alleged abuses of power, especially prosecution of the war on terrorism. The authors, David Rivkin, Jr. and Lee Casey write "A growing chorus of critics is demanding the creation" of such a commission.
It is not quite clear who makes up this chorus. What is clear is that the two proposals floating in Congress are a dangerous precedent for the United States to buy into. The commission(s) would be outside the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government. We have had special commissions in the past, most notably the Warren Commission (who killed JFK?) and the commission on 9/11 failures (who screwed up?). The Warren Commission probably had it right: Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone, but that doesn't mean I believe all the testimony taken in that investigation any more than I believe all the testimony heard in the more recent 9/11 inquiry.
Such a commission would most likely be an almost open-ended witch hunt for something to pin on the Bush administration, to publicly crucify some officials in that administration, and indict one or two. I hold no brief for former President Bush, his administration or most of the people who ran it. But if we start each new administration with an investigation of the previous one then we encourage timidity, goal tending and likely turn imaginative, aggressive leaders into a "workers on routine" out of fear of what will follow when they leave office. This is not in the best interest of the country.
An administration does what it thinks best and it does what it has to do. History will record whether it was good or bad and history is not written months after the end of an administration or the start of a new one.
The Bush administration is gone. Let them go. Correct perceived abuses of power and move on. Congress ought to get on with providing leadership and cooperation with the new administration and helping to get the country moving again in the right direction. Fault finding and recriminations are a waste of resources.
