Who's to blame for torture

Mark Danner had a weighty piece on torture this week that leaves me reassessing my position. I don't really believe that the last time the Bush administration used torture techniques was in 2003, but that aside, it's a good point that the blame for allowing this to happen doesn't rest solely on the Bush White House.

He makes a strong argument for an investigation but against immediate prosecution.

Like most mystiques built on secrecy, the mystique of torture will only disappear once a cold hard light has been shone on it by trustworthy people who can examine all the evidence and speak to the country with authority. We need an investigation that will ruthlessly analyze the controversial and persistent assertions that torture averted attacks and will place alongside them the evidence that it has done great harm to the United States, not only to the country's reputation for following and upholding the law but also to its ability to render justice. In torturing Khalid Sheik Mohammed and his fellows we have created a class of permanent martyrs, unjustly imprisoned in the eyes of the world because they cannot be legitimately tried and punished. We have let torture destroy justice.

Those who break the law should be punished. This includes those who torture no less than those who kill. But prosecutions of those who tortured, if they come before a public investigation, will not end the argument. On the contrary, they will appear to much of the country as yet another partisan turn in the bitter politics of national security, launched to persecute those who only did what was necessary to protect the country. They will encourage those who defend torture to espouse even more bitterly a corrosive counter-narrative according to which only those who torture can be trusted to protect Americans.

I've been thinking the opposite until now. By that I mean, I don't have much faith in government investigations and thought taking it straight to court would be more efficient. But I think he's right that going that route would only solidify the opposition. How to assemble a respected group of investigators however, is another question. I wonder if anyone would be credible to those who believe the only way to keep us safe is to take on the tactics of those we fight against.

[More posts daily at The Detroit News]