On Complacency

It's a sign of the times we live in that when a high ranking federal official accuses his superiors of criminal behavior it doesn't make the front page of the news.

Two military officers accused the Pentagon of falsifying the secret military tribunals to ensure convictions of four inmates of Guantanamo. They broke ranks with their fellow officers and ruined their military careers by appealing to the press after a year of unsuccessfully using military channels. These officers, both Majors, had been lawyers for the prosecution, not the defense. The only affect this would have had on them was to make their jobs very easy, but they blew the whistle.

In response, the Pentagon said that they had investigated themselves and found themselves not guilty. Very convincing. They then brushed the whole thing off, saying it was old news and the officers they had hired for this very important and very sensitive job must be "outrageous liars."

It shouldn't be a surprise that this isn't major news. Ever since Bush took office, defections of high-ranking trusted officials making accusations of high crimes have become commonplace. I'm beginning to think that if Dick Cheney were to say he saw George Bush personally order the torture of a prisoner, Bush would call him a liar, accuse him of sour grapes, of trying to get his job. The Republicans would close ranks behind him, and Cheney would be out of a job.

But at least that would make the front page.