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"Enhanced Interrogation Techniques" Memos Released
I recommend everyone check out the four memos that Obama declassified yesterday. No matter which side you're on, they add a really important aspect to the debate by defining exactly what we're all arguing about - a key detail we didn't really have before this.
Three dealt with specific techniques and how they were applied to detainees. These offer an important insight - adding context to the debate over whether this treatment was justified, simply by defining just what that treatment was.
The fourth looked at, in depth, the legal justification for why this treatment did not violate both the U.S. Constitution and the UN Convention Against Torture. It's really fascinating.
These memos are only lightly redacted, a rarity for such recently created top secret stuff, and I hope they will better ground the debate over the treatment of suspected terrorists in more than the rampant conjecture present on both sides.
Enjoy!
1 comments:
Very good summary of the Bradbury memo in your blog Tim.
It seems to me that the use of these coercive techniques are employed in a similar framework to the Just War theory:
-Last resort
-Just authority
-Right intent (ticking time bomb)
-Reasonable chance of success(they wouldnt use it if it didn't work)
-Proportionality (if the interrogation is successful the lives saved are proportionate to the means used)
-distinction between combatants and civilians (these prisoners are being held as illegal combatants)
-Post facto (again, these are illegal combatants being interrogated
These criteria, however, could be used to justify any means of coercive interrogation, including what we know as torture.
Bradbury's logic seems to be fuzzy at times, but the thrust of his argument seems to be sound.
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