Investigating the Interrogators

An editorial written by an unnamed author in the Los Angeles Times is entitled "Investigating the interrogators" and discusses how the Justice Department should deal with the interrogators known to have tortured inmates at Guantanamo Bay. The editorial indicates that startling new evidence has surfaced indicting George W. Bush's own Justice Department in the use of torture. Apparently the Department defined torture extremely loosely, and as such was able to authorize methods of coercion including waterboarding, "facial slaps, sleep deprivation, stress positions, and the placement of Zubaydah, who has a phobia about insects, in a 'confinement box' with one." The evidence presented in the article is startling.

The article takes an unequivocal stance, and one that I firmly agree with: Obama's Justice Department must take legal action against these interrogators. The author is talking directly to the Justice Department, and his or her message is heard loud and clear. Obama has thus far avoided a tricky political situation by simply stating that we must "look forward, not back." However, the correct way to "look forward" in a position like this is to, without hesitation, firmly and strongly condemn the wrongs of the past. Only by denouncing past crimes can amends be made. While Obama has done a fantastic job changing America's message abroad, the abuses at Guantanamo remain one stumbling point. If Obama continues to do nothing about the interrogators, he is essentially turning a blind eye to what the author calls "one of the most shameful chapters in the war against terrorism." In this sense, Obama is hardly better than Bush at all. Sure, he didn't order the abuses, but he is hardly willing to admit they were wrong in any meaningful way.

The saddest part of this affair is that it is clear that Obama is unwilling to act mainly because of the political repercussions. While Obama can tout his "looking forward" rhetoric, it is obvious that he understands the need to apologize and correct for past wrongs. After all, Obama has at least offered an official apology to Native Americans, an Act that has been brewing for many years. Obama knows that the right course of action is to prosecute the coercive interrogators, and if he is unwilling to do so, then the Justice Department must take the lead.