As they only proved, once again, that the words "yoo" and "torture" in the same sentence make commenters get rather unhinged.Orin Kerr.
Honestly, I can't get too excited about waterboarding Khalid Sheikh Mohammed who, by all appearances, murdered 3,000 people and made a giant hole in Manhattan. And give Cheney some credit, for at least asking some lawyers what he might be able to get away with.
6 comments:
Honestly, I can't get too excited about waterboarding Khalid Sheikh Mohammed who, by all appearances, murdered 3,000 people and made a giant hole in Manhattan.
I suppose it's the principle of not torturing one's enemies that I get too excited about.
How much excited is too much, btw? I do love excitement. It's much better than staunchly defending fundamental moral principles, or arguing from political realist premises for the self-destructiveness of overtly adopting a policy of torture. Give me excitement over those boring things any old day.
What I find far more offensive -- on the basis of those same principles -- are the strategies employed by the former vice president and his supporters to undermine the legitimacy of the current administration's approach to national security and foreign policy problems.
And give Cheney some credit, for at least asking some lawyers what he might be able to get away with.
I am not a lawyer, as Rick Esenberg likes to point out, but asking a lawyer is not exactly like searching your conscience. You can always find a lawyer who will give you the answer you want, if you are willing to pay and look hard enough.
Lot of truth in that, and to my mind it remains an open question how much coercion -- real, imagined, or even subconscious -- the authors of these memos perceived. They're smart people and must have contemplated the potential political damage the consequences of their advice might have but ultimately decided on balance their approach would protect the nation.
So at least they can't be faulted for their conscious motives.
Jack Balkin's assessment is brutal:
"Put differently, there is at least one member of the previous Administration walking around that is an admitted war criminal, although, to be sure, confessing to the elements of a war crime on television apparently does not, at least in this country, lead to any serious danger that one will actually be prosecuted for such crimes."
Not only does it not seem that Cheney is likely to avoid any chance of prosecution because 'it might be perceived as political', but the journalists act as if his opinion still should matter.
It takes a special kind of foolishness to listen to Dick Cheney. We have a lot of media that are that special kind.
Post a Comment