CIA torturers won't be prosecuted if they acted "in good faith."

posted Thursday, 16 April 2009

The Obama administration has decided that they will not prosecute CIA torturers who acted "in good faith." What this means is that Obama made a deal with the CIA to get the memos released -- the administration would release the memos and they would agree not to prosecute the agents in return. There is an important principle here -- the protection of our country is not partisan, and our men and women who put their lives on the line should not be prosecuted for mistakes of past administrations. But there is another principle at work -- the notion that all war crimes must be brought to justice and the notion that following orders is not a defense against the commission of war crimes.

The Obama administration is acting completely consistent with their character -- Obama wants to be seen as a healer instead of a punisher. As such, mercy is more important in his world view than punishing everyone. And yet, if we talk about healing, what about healing for the people who were tortured? Don't they count? It is not enough just to release them and pretend that nothing happened -- most of the people who have been released have had their lives shattered forever. Therefore, some recompense is absolutely necessary for them to get their lives back in order.

For the US to have sanctioned such a horrific policy as torture, there must have been plenty of instances of bad faith down the line. What the Obama administration must do is conduct a thorough review of Bush's torture policies and determine who acted in good faith and who acted in bad faith and prosecute accordingly.

tags: george w bush cia barack obama eric holder torture guantanamo bay

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CIA torturers won't be prosecuted if they acted "in good faith."