A couple responses before I retire for the evening:
That one email that claims we were considered by the world a leader in human rights is overstating the case. The world saw Roosevelt put the Japanese- Americans in internment camps. The world was denouncing us for My Lai and other events in Vietnam. Amnesty International always seemed to have a bad word for us. I don’t see that we were held in so high regard before, and no matter what we do, the world will always find some reason to criticize us.
And:
Interesting column on how we talk about torture.
One other distinction that is often overlooked is the difference between obtaining evidence (for a criminal trial) and information (as a basis for operations). Many anti-torture critics frequently dismiss the whole problem by saying “torture never works, they’ll tell you anything to make you stop.” Well, the latter may well be true, and for just that reason I do hope we don’t admit testimony obtained under torture into our courts. But if the terrorist tells you is the address of the next suicide bomber, and you go there and find a guy with a death video and a bomb-belt, well, torture worked, didn’t it?
And:
This is a perfect example of what happens when the Parties become more concerned with being re-elected than with what is good for this country. The Democrats and their supporters within the intelligence community should have brought these complaints out in private. Rather than all that crying, whining and comparisons to the Nazi’s. If they were that concerned with America’s reputation then why when they tried to save it, the did it in such a damaging way? We really need a mature leadership in the Democratic party; they are killing this country.