Rejecting the Torture Legacy

Evan Perez wrote in the Wall Street Journal last week: "The White House isn't inclined to grant sweeping pardons for former administration officials involved in harsh interrogations and detentions of terror suspects, according to people familiar with the situation.

"Some Republicans have been pushing for President George W. Bush to grant pre-emptive clemency to officials who fear being investigated by Democratic critics. White House officials have countered that such pardons are unnecessary, these people say. The officials point to Justice Department legal opinions that supported the administration's methods of detaining and interrogating terror suspects."

Jonathan Turley, appearing on MSNBC's Rachel Maddow Show responded: "I don't believe that anyone seriously believes in the administration that what they did was legal. This is not a close legal question. Waterboarding is torture. It has been defined as a war crime by U.S. courts and foreign courts. There's no ambiguity in it. That's exactly why they have repeatedly tried to stop any court from reviewing any of this. . . .

"The question is the intestinal fortitude of the Democrats to stand with the rule of law."

An Interrogator's View

A former Air Force interrogator in Iraq used a pseudonym, Matthew Alexander, to write in a Washington Post opinion piece on Sunday that torture "betrays our traditions" and "just doesn't work. . . .

"Torture and abuse are against my moral fabric. The cliche still bears repeating: Such outrages are inconsistent with American principles. And then there's the pragmatic side: Torture and abuse cost American lives.

"I learned in Iraq that the No. 1 reason foreign fighters flocked there to fight were the abuses carried out at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo. Our policy of torture was directly and swiftly recruiting fighters for al-Qaeda in Iraq. The large majority of suicide bombings in Iraq are still carried out by these foreigners. They are also involved in most of the attacks on U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq. It's no exaggeration to say that at least half of our losses and casualties in that country have come at the hands of foreigners who joined the fray because of our program of detainee abuse. The number of U.S. soldiers who have died because of our torture policy will never be definitively known, but it is fair to say that it is close to the number of lives lost on Sept. 11, 2001. How anyone can say that torture keeps Americans safe is beyond me -- unless you don't count American soldiers as Americans. . . .

"Americans, including officers like myself, must fight to protect our values not only from al-Qaeda but also from those within our own country who would erode them."

Transition Watch

Susan Page writes for USA Today: "President-elect Barack Obama gets soaring marks for his handling of the transition and his choices for the Cabinet, a USA Today/Gallup Poll finds, even at a time the public is downbeat over the economy.

"More than three of four Americans, including a majority of Republicans, approve of the job Obama has done so far -- broad-based support he'll need as he faces tough decisions ahead. . . .

"In the poll, Americans by more than 3-1 say they trust Obama more than Bush to handle the economy. By 58%-33%, they support Obama's plan for a huge spending package to spur economic growth. . . .

"There's little concern Obama is relying too much on veterans of President Clinton's administration. By nearly 4-1, those polled predict the officials will make the incoming team more effective, not less so."