I don’t think we should follow Jon Meacham’s ridiculous advice that we create a kind of Warren/September 11 Commission to determine if ‘lives were saved’ by torturing the bejeezus out of people. Even if that were the case, it wouldn’t be even slightly exculpatory. It might be a mitigating factor, but the laws against torture allow for no exceptions of any kind. But, if we had a Warren/September 11 Commission that actually wanted to determine what happened and how to prevent it from happening again, I might be able to support it. But who would serve on such a commission? The Warren Commission had a simple formula. One Democrat and one Republican each from both the House and the Senate, plus the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, plus the former CIA director, plus the former president of the World Bank. The 9/11 Commission relied on retired politicians and a few Establishment figures that had prior experience serving in government. I think we should keep active politicians off of any such panel, and I’d include any retired politicians that have gone on the record prejudging the case. I also think the panel should include some people that have no experience working in Washington and no friends to protect and no axes to grind. It obviously cannot include any former directors of Central Intelligence.
I actually like the idea of having the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court serving on the committee. Here are some other suggestions. For Democrats, I think the American people can trust former New Jersey senator and presidential candidate Bill Bradley. I think former Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott would be a decent pick. For Republicans, former National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft has retained his credibility and independence, but his close friendship with Poppy Bush presents too much of a conflict of interest. I would recommend former Kansas senator Nancy Kassebaum. Another good pick would be former vice-presidential candidate Jack Kemp of New York.
But to round out the committee, I think we need some non-Beltway wisdom. I’d find a constitutional law expert from an elite university who has somehow avoided publishing pieces on detainee policy. And how about the president of the American Medical Association, Nancy H. Nielsen, M.D.? We could call it the Bradley-Kemp Commission or something, and they could serve as co-chairs.
It would looks something like this:
Bill Bradley- Co-Chair
Jack Kemp- Co-Chair
John Roberts
Strobe Talbott
Nancy Kassebaum
Nancy H. Nielsen
Constitutional Law professor
If you want nine members, you can find two former members of the House, or reach out to find someone from the field of psychology and someone with experience in Intelligence matters.
You can make your own suggestions, including what you think they should focus their efforts on.
