As the entire world now knows, President Barack Obama has released selected memos from the Bush Administration that detail certain aspects of the so-called "enhanced interrogation" ("torture," according to anyone who is honest) program.
The release of the memos has triggered a storm of controversy among liberals and conservatives. How Obama handles this will reveal a lot about his true intentions.
Back to the firestorm. Liberals want blood -- specifically, Bush Administration officials' blood, for approving and engaging in torturing of suspected al Queda operatives. (And, also, simply because they are Bush Administration officials.) Conservatives also want blood -- anyone's blood who threatens national security by releasing interrogation techniques which would, presumably, alert America's enemies about how we extract information from captives.
On Sunday, Rahm Emmanuel followed up the memos' release by stating unequivocally that prosecuting Bush Admin officials involved in the torture program was off the table. (Generating predictable outrage from the left.) Just 48 hours later, however, Obama wavered a bit on Emmanuel's stance, and indicated that he was not interested in prosecuting those who conducted the torture; however, he left open the possibility of prosecuting officials who provided legal justification for the torture. (Generating predictable outrage from the right.)
As I have written before, I am firmly opposed to torturing captives for two reasons: first, because it is not been shown to extract useful, actionable information; rather, the captive tends to "reveal" whatever he or she believes the guards want to hear. Secondly, and more importantly, I believe that torturing another person -- especially by the State, which can always concoct a reason in the name of "national security" -- is morally reprehensible. No government should ever have that authority -- especially since torture has been shown not to work.
One of the emerging debates about the government's torture program is whether or not actionable intelligence was obtained. The Bush Administration, no surprise, has been trumpeting that the program yielded information that helped stave off terrorist attacks.
Clearly, governmental inquiries of some type will occur to understand the "value" of the program, as well as its legality. Such detail will be important, in case future geopolitical circumstances devolve ... to the point where government officials determine that torturing captured enemies for their intelligence is worthwhile.
I see a government investigation proceeding in one of two ways: 1) a search for the truth (to guide future decisions, among other reasons), in which case the best approach would be to grant complete immunity to participants; or, 2) a criminal prosecution, in which case immunity would not be granted to all participants.
According to Emmanuel, the administration is not interested in pursuing a criminal investigation. According to Obama, those who provided the legal justification and cover for the torture might be prosecutable.
Granted, Congress operates independently of the executive branch, and may proceed along a path different from what Obama would prefer. Nevertheless, he will certainly share his preference regarding the direction and purpose of any inquiry. Where he ultimately leans will be quite telling.
So ... what shall it be -- truth, or consequences?
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It is interesting to note that Obama reversed himself after about 24 hours. The question begs as to why? I suspect this can be traced back to the far left such as Media Matters and Moveon.org both funded and manipulated by George Soros. I believe Obama has encountered howls of protest from his base and is trying to mollify them. This smacks of a total lack of leadership. Can you imagine if any administration can prosecute the previous administration for taking actions they believed was saving american lives(how about Truman and the atomic bomb, or Lincoln suspending Habeus Corpus during the Civil War?). Waterboarding was used as a hazing technique at the Virgina Military Academy (I am not sure if it is still in use)as well as used to train our intelligence officers. It is reported by many members of congress that routine congressional updates were given on the techniques being used and were not only authorized but encouraged, including by Nancy Pelosi who has selective memory. Anyone remember the photo of her in U.S. News and World Report running down the street outside of the Capitol with her eyes bugged out and her high heels in her hands on 9/11? She was terrified! You can bet she would have allowed anything at that time to save her skin, and would again if we are attacked again. True torture is not acceptable but waterboarding and sleep deprivation are not true torture, I would let them waterboard me anytime if it meant it could be shown it was safe as an iterrogation method (doctors were reported to have been present the 3 times it was used with no tissue damage), although it is probably now useless since it has been given away to our enemies. We were attacked on 9/11 because the Clinton administration stripped the CIA of many of its intelligence powers and generated fear relevant to covert actions. This is being reproduced today by the Obama administration and Eric Holder who pardoned FALN terrorists on Clintons last day in office. If anyone thinks there will not be repercussions from this in the future you are being naive. If the left and a weak kneed president are successful in this witch hunt I hope they are ready to deal with the consequences. I personally don't care for former Vice President Cheney, but he was forthright the other day, saying release all the documents and let them show what we gained for the use of the enhanced interrogation (for starters there is saving the Brooklyn bridge, which resulted from a combination of waterboarding, NSA taps and the cooperation of the NYPD in locating a door to access the underside of the bridge where an acytelene torch could be used to sabotage it, and the terrorist waterboarded, can't remember which one (but it was only used on three total) was found to have a diagram of the bridge and an acytelene torch)! This door is under guard to this day 24/7.
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