At least four top White House lawyers took part in discussions with the Central Intelligence Agency between 2003 and 2005 about whether to destroy videotapes showing the secret interrogations of two operatives from Al Qaeda, according to current and former administration and intelligence officials.
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Darius Rejali discusses the history of torture in America
If the spread of torture techniques suggests a blurry line between "us" and "them," it also teaches that there's no real boundary between "there" and "here." It would be ignoring history to assume that what happens in an American-run prison in Iraq will stay in Iraq. Soldiers who learn torture techniques abroad get jobs as police when they return, and the new developments in torture you read about today could yet be employed in a neighborhood near you.
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H/T to Tony for Pastor Dan's great challenge to our political leaders:
Do not think that I will defend you against charges of insufficient Christian belief if you are not willing to fight with every fiber of your being the American practice of torture, the same practice that caused the death of the Savior and Lord you and I claim to follow. Nothing could be more opposed to the Christian faith than allowing torture, directly or indirectly. If you let our interrogators torture their prisoners, you place your claim to discipleship in serious jeopardy. Stamp this curse out, once and for all.
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Perhaps the only Democrat with a spine has been Chris Dodd. He seems to have single-handedly stopped this ridiculous retroactive immunity disaster. At least for now.
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More Huck. One explanation as to why the right fears Huckabee too
The fear is losing. On some level, they know that these positions freak out mainstream America. That’s why Bush fumbled about on Roe v. Wade during the 2004 debates and could only bring himself to speak in code (“Dred Scott”). The backlash shows that these people – like much of the GOP establishment – are ashamed of this coalition. They're happy to make out with them behind the football bleachers on Saturday night, but ignore them in the lunchroom on Monday.
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