The Spin

A source from the Obama camp has stated that no charges are likely to be filed against the individuals who engaged in harsh interrogation techniques (or torture, if you'd prefer).

The article notes that there are Constitutional legal scholars who believe charges should be filed to help restore our international standing, such as Michael Ratnor, of Columbia Law school, who is also President of the Center for Human Rights. From the article: "The only way to prevent this from happening again is to make sure that those who were responsible for the torture program pay the price for it," Ratner said. "I don't see how we regain our moral stature by allowing those who were intimately involved in the torture programs to simply walk off the stage and lead lives where they are not held accountable"

Additionally, the article mentions that President Bush could issue pre-emptive pardons to protect those who were following orders.

This latter option sort of annoys me, because, if you consider what happened at Abu Ghraib, the very same thing could have happened and the individuals such as Private England could have been protected for following orders that they are not allowed to question. There should be consistency there.

I've said several times that I believe there should be an inquiry into what transpired during the Bush administration and whether what he and/or his staff, including Cheney, have ordered or authorized, explicitly or implicity, was legal under American Law and under the standards used for trying war criminals such as the Germans after WW2 and the Serbs after Kosovo. If there is found to be violations, then there needs to be repurcussions for those violations of the law as high up as they go. It's the best way to proceed.