[quote=afx114]
“We were just following orders” was the same argument made by the Nazi’s in Nuremberg (aka “The Nuremberg Defense”), and it did not hold up in a court of law.
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You’re making quite a leap (perhaps even an absurd one) when you compare the murder of millions of innocent folks with the waterboarding of 3 folks, who are still alive, who were themselves murderers of thousands.
[quote=afx114]
As for “moving on,” when a person commits a crime — be it murder, theft, whatever —
In a nation that is supposedly “a nation of laws” I don’t see how we can just say, “well, that was in the past, it’s cool man, we’re looking forward now.”
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Again a pretty sketchy comparison. We’re not talking about murder here. The interrogation techniques were specifically found legal by the attorney general at the time and other folks acted with that knowledge in persuance of their jobs and helping their fellow citizens. Your murder analogy is different: there is very little controversy over the definition of murder, and we’re not talking about retroactively declaring murder to be illegal.
If every citizen (let alone CIA agents) labored under the threat that whatever behavior they currently legally engage in could later be retroactively declared illegal, that would make it pretty difficult to get anything done. It’s my understanding that that kind of legal shenanigans is actually prohibited in the constitution.
Tell me this afx114: Do you think the special forces that shot the 3 pirates should be tried for murder? They didn’t waterboard anyone – no, worse, they shot 3 teenagers in the head! If not, why not? Because the captain’s life was in danger? Do you not think that the lives of many more citizens were similarly (and provably) in danger from the likes of the 3 Al Quaida guys? Is it only “legal” to take action when someone has a loaded AK-47 pointed at someone else’s head? Seems a dangerous line for a nation to try to walk. And who should define where the line lies? Folks at home on their comfy couch watching John Stewart?
