By now everybody who's not in a coma knows that the Dept of Justice has appointed a special prosecutor to investigate the allegations of war crimes committed by the CIA and some of its contractors. The decision was made by Eric Holder in spite of President Obama's preference to only look forward. Months ago Obama ordered that torturers that did not exceed the limits established by a couple of Bush's DOJ lawyers would not be prosecuted. However, the CIA Inspector General's report from 2004 clearly shows that several CIA operatives and contractors far exceeded the DOJ limits established under Bush, which also violate both the Army Field Manual and international treaty.
Those who oppose prosecuting these war crimes warn that CIA personnel will be demoralized, reducing the effectiveness of the CIA. However, the majority of CIA personnel did not commit war crimes and a number of them refused to participate in spite of the directives received from their superiors. I am concerned that these people, the majority of the CIA, will be demoralized if, after having properly refused illegal orders, they see the guilty go unpunished. What message will we send to them if the crimes are not investigated and the guilty prosecuted - no matter whom the guilty are... no matter how high in our government they are now or were then?
I applaud Eric Holder for doing the right thing.
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