[Peace-discuss] CIA torturers get off

[Ricky Baldwin]

Very true.

 Ricky


"Speak your mind even if your voice shakes." - Maggie Kuhn




________________________________
From: John W. <jbw292002 at gmail.com>
To: Ricky Baldwin <baldwinricky at yahoo.com>
Cc: peace discuss <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net>
Sent: Thursday, April 16, 2009 8:50:02 PM
Subject: Re: [Peace-discuss] CIA torturers get off



On Thu, Apr 16, 2009 at 4:26 PM, Ricky Baldwin <baldwinricky at yahoo.com> wrote:


Disgusting!  Obama today announced that CIA torturers who used waterboarding would not be prosecuted.  Punishment, in general, is not something I like to advocate, but it's also important that nobody be above the law.  The very idea that you can get six years for giving the cops a false name and zippo for torture is nothing short of grotesque.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090416/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/torture_memos

 Ricky
For what it's worth, I think any punishment should be meted out to the higher-ups who ORDERED the waterboarding and other violations of law, and justified them with speeches and memos and legal briefs and so on.  I don't like to see low-level grunts take the fall for the big fish, which is what almost always happens.  

I've actually been in a position where I was ordered to do something of questionable legality/morality, with firing for insubordination the alternative to obeying the order, and I can assure you that it's not that easy to discern what's "right".  You have a gut feeling about it, but not necessarily enough to put your livelihood in jeopardy.   Sometimes the rightness or wrongness of a situation becomes clearer to you later on, when you're not in the heat of the moment.

John Wason



      
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