As an exercise in self control, leave aside every other argument against torture, and consider the argument Will Bunch makes this evening, because it’s really quite compelling. I certainly have no inside knowledge on any of this, but Bunch makes the perfectly reasonable argument that some very bad people can’t, or won’t, be tried and convicted because any real trial with real lawyers, judges and jurors would expose some very illegal acts committed by our government, likely destroying the government’s case. I pause a little here, because my faith is cracked and broken when it comes to the potential for public outrage over acts of torture, throwing a huge wrench in a few of my half formed conclusions.
Nevertheless, this leaves those of us who care about such things, stuck in the often unenviable position of demanding that every human being, no matter how awful, be accorded every right guaranteed them under US and international law. This is not always a popular notion, even in the most liberal of America’s enclaves. Some crimes are so awful that it’s hard not to think from the gut. It’s hard not to want retribution when a life has been taken from yours in the most brutal way imaginable. I know. I’ve been there. But that gets to an important point; there is no evil, homicidal bastard exemption in the constitution. There is no gut feeling exemption and there is no right to retribution. Read it over and over, and you’ll never find any of it in there. The brush used was, quite intentionally, broad. We ignore our basic principals at our own peril. Illegal acts of state breed more of the same, and if Bunch is right, we’ve got one hell of a problem on our hands. I’m likely a fool, but I still hold the belief that the most effective way to investigate, prosecute and detain criminals, even the really evil bastards, is to adhere to the letter of the law while doing so. Whatever.
Sorry if I’m a little incoherent here. I’m not feeling myself lately and this subject leaves my brain a bucket of slop. Nowhere to go but up, I suppose.