Torture: An "unwise decision."

[kpete]

Torture: An "unwise decision."
by noweasels
Thu Mar 27, 2008 at 10:33:16 PM PDT
..................


This photo was taken during one of the first (or perhaps the very first) of the flights transporting supposed terrorists to Guantanamo Bay.

The flag hanging over the heads of the hooded and shackled is the same flag that draped the coffins of my Dad and of both of my grandfathers. It made me sick to see it hanging in this photograph. When my Mom saw the similar photographs on television on Tuesday night, she said: "I cannot imagine what your Dad would have thought of this." And she had to leave the room.

But there is one reason I was glad to see that this photograph -- and other similar photographs -- have been preserved: because so much other evidence of the despicable and illegal behavior of our government has apparently been destroyed.

FROM THE NYT: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/28/washington/28intel.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

All of the court challenges are playing out against the backdrop of the criminal investigation, led by a veteran prosecutor, John H. Durham, who is examining whether destruction of the tapes was an illegal obstruction of justice. A separate investigation by the House Intelligence Committee will soon begin interviewing officials from the White House and the C.I.A., possibly under subpoena, about their roles in the destruction of the tapes.

(snip)

Mr. Hitz, the former C.I.A. inspector general, said the government’s legal woes could be traced to what he believed was an unwise decision to use harsh physical pressure during interrogations.

Those techniques had Justice Department approval. But a public backlash set in, which was a factor in the C.I.A.’s decision to destroy the tapes in late 2005.

An "unwise decision to use harsh physical pressure during interrogations." Public backlash against Americans engaging in torture --the new justification for defying the orders of a federal judge. What have we come to?

One only needs to look at the covered face of the American soldier on the right hand corner of the photograph to know.

more at:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/3/28/05544/6838/282/485854