The question is why might Obama release some of this story, but not all of it. If his intentions were to provide the public with true understanding of how our country came to legally justify and practice torture on top level members of al-Qaida, then at the very least he could expect to give us the full truth, especially if his administration has access to it. Not some of it, not half of it 8212; all of it.

Obama has released literally no follow-up; the outcomes from all of those interrogations are still confidential. Those outcomes make up the intelligence the CIA gained from interrogating high-ranking terrorists. I want to know how many lives were saved. Our country deserves to know.

Those documents would change everything we know about waterboarding, coercive interrogation and the “war on terror.” It’s possible, even likely, that Obama is not releasing the rest of those memos because he knows their results, and is afraid of how they might change our opinion about prosecuting the Bush six. Right now, Obama and his administration have exactly what they wanted from releasing memos about the CIA: a public cry for retribution. So the answer to the question is simple: the remaining memos are a threat to the Democrats’ revenge for the war they ironically authorized along with the Republicans.

During an interview on Fox News, former Vice President Dick Cheney said, “I know specifically of reports that I read, that I saw, that lay out what we learned through the interrogation process and what the consequences were for the country.”

Cheney was the acting vice president while this policy was implemented and he was deeply involved in the process. Cheney would not push for the disclosure of more information that would compromise the intimate details of how the CIA works for the viewing of the international community if he did not think there was something the public needed to know. Cheney thinks the information is so important he made the request to the National Archives to declassify the CIA documents on March 31 8212; a request that has been stalled and punted in case no one has the political support to do anything about it.

This is not a game. The “truth” is worth nothing after it has been filtered, cut down and tapered for the sole interests of a political party, and right now that is what we have 8212; a set of memos released only to get the public to call for prosecution and simplify blame.

This is a chance to honestly reflect the true history of one of our nation’s darkest moments and the Obama administration is treating our requests like they have already given us what we needed. Nothing could be further from the truth. They also pretend they do not have access to the rest, as if they are powerless. The Obama administration’s top intelligence official, Dennis Blair, privately told intelligence employees that “high value information” was obtained through the harsh interrogation techniques. If he knows, Obama knows. Our country is still in this war, so we must portray it for what it is, without filters. We should know what we are paying taxes for.

This must be resolved. Our people deserve nothing less than the full truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. I know it takes a level of audacity to be honest and forthright to the people, but I thought that was what this entire “change” in office was all about.
Apparently not.

8212;Tom Hammel is a political science freshman.

8212;This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Daily Aztec. Send e-mail to letters@thedailyaztec.com. Anonymous letters will not be printed 8212; include your full name, major and year in school.