The whole administration is corrupt! Obama may as well have stepped on those prisoner's nuts himself!! How dare he not rush to prosecute Americans following orders?!?</snark>
There's been a whole lot of huffing and puffing on this website on this torture issue, so I feel inclined to put my two cents forth.
FLAMES AND HELLFIRE!
"How dare I not hate the new President over the torture issue?!" Many of you are probably asking this. Fair Question. Let me be straight on this. I fully understand and appreciate the passion being expressed over this issue. Torture should not be taken lightly and those responsible should be held as such. I do not argue that point. However, there are three conditions or stipulations, if you will, that I feel many of the members of this community have failed to fully consider, and which could hinder our ability to raise the ire of the rest of the country about this.
Firstly, I am astonished at the level of hostility in this community. I fully understand feeling some indignation and disappoitment in President Obama after hearing his hopeful speeches for so long. However, many people who once fervently supported him are now screamin' "Bloody Friggin Murder" and calling him a war criminal and violent torturer-in-chief. President Obama himself has not committed any crimes, let's remember that. I have the utmost confidence that he will act in whatever way he feels is appropriate, and will do what he sees as being in the best interest of the nation. If there's anything that we could've all been learning from the president this whole time, it's that we can disagree without being disgruntled, "sky-is-falling-and-he's-not-doing-anything" alarmists.
Secondly, we do have to consider somewhat the implications on the military. Granted, our agents and soldiers should not knowingly commit acts which are illegal. However, if these agents get prosecuted, it could potentially open the door for mass dissention in the ranks. The people who should be prosecuted are the authorities who gave the orders and told these agents and soldiers to torture, because they knew it was wrong, but had the authority to make others believe differently. You don't shoot the messenger, and you don't prosecute those following orders. I know that's the Nuremburg defense and I will get called a Nazi, and I'm not suggesting an absolute immunity for any soldier, ever. But if it is in enough of a morally gray area, the responsibility should be shifted to those who put the soldiers in that position. Soldiers know genocide is wrong, but how many would think that sleep depravation is morally reprehensible? Special forces soldiers go through training that involves many of these techniques being used on them.
Finally, I do not believe there is popular support in this country for the sorts of low-level prosecutions. One look at the mainstream media reveals little stomach on the part of the average american to prosecute fellow citizens. They are still viewed as having protected the country, even though in most cases the torture helped nothing. Many people still see the war on terror as being winable, and until that perception changes, I don't see a popular uprising to prosecute. The higher ups in the former administration? THAT I could see the people getting behind, but politics will make that more difficult for the administration.
Basically, my point is I think we all need to just calm down a bit, cheer ourselves up on the Holiday, and consider reasonable ways that we can get the current administration to hold the former accountable. It can be done, Obama does listen, but it's tough to hear when everyone is screaming at the top of their lungs.
Happy 4/20 everybody!