Justice Advised CIA in '02 About Legal Waterboarding
"Lawyers for the Bush administration told the CIA in 2002 that its officers could legally use waterboarding and other harsh measures while interrogating al-Qaeda suspects, as long as they acted "in good faith" and did not deliberately seek to inflict severe pain, according to a Justice Department memo made public yesterday.
The memo, apparently intended to assuage CIA concerns that its officers could someday face torture charges, said interrogators needed only to possess an "honest belief" that their actions did not cause severe suffering. And the honest belief did not have to be based on reality.
--------------
Bush looked for ways to legalize criminal behavior, so this is not news. What would be news is if CIA agents actually came forward on their own whose stomachs turned when told to use waterboarding. You know, those who have good, decent values and could not suspend their "honest belief" that waterboarding anyone was not torture. I cannot believe that decent people would be able to commit such acts. Because of this I'm sure those decent people were TOLD to suspend "honest belief", and if they disobeyed they would face consequences for having a moral core.
But no one will come forward. Not one.
I wouldn't bet a nickel on it.
Comments are closed for this post.
