Reply #29: I support prosecutions ONLY if they begin at the top.

[appal_jack]

I support prosecutions ONLY if they begin at the top. Begin with Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Yoo. They created the climate of torture and abuse; they must be held accountable first. otherwise, we get the show trials and fall guys, a la Lindy-whats-her-name after Abu Ghraib. What was she, like a Private? Bad apples my ass, this fish rotted from the head.

While the practices of the individual CIA officers who conducted torture are reprehensible, they were given orders by a president who had the support of Congress. We can all talk about the need to refuse illegal orders, and the Geneva Conventions, and universal human rights, but the pressure on mid-level workers are enormous. Very few of us (and even probably even fewer of those in a hierarchical organization like the CIA) have the guts to refuse an order that seems lawful (remember: orders given by a president who had the support of Congress). Add career goals, a mortgage, family obligations, etc., and how are these officers supposd to buck the groupthink and herd mentality? Anyone who refused would have been summarily fired, forced into silence, and then the job would be done by the next in line.

Hold those at the top accountable!

-app