Posted by Cockney Robin | Two dozen military and intelligence officials, diplomats, and law enforcement officials have written to the Senate asking that the Senate Judiciary Committee hold the nomination of Michael Mukasey to attorney general until such time as he has gained sufficient information on waterboarding to determine his position. In a letter addressed to Senators Specter and Leahy, they wrote:
Values that are extremely important to us as former intelligence
officers are at stake in your committee’s confirmation deliberations on
Judge Michael Mukasey. With hundreds of years of service in sensitive
national security activities behind us, we are deeply concerned that
your committee may move his nomination to the full Senate without
insisting that Mukasey declare himself on whether he believes the
practice of waterboarding is legal.
We feel this more acutely than most others, for in our careers we
have frequently had to navigate the delicate balance between morality
and expediency, all the while doing our best to abide by the values the
vast majority of Americans hold in common. We therefore believe we have
a particular moral obligation to speak out. We can say it no better
than four retired judge advocates general (two admirals and two
generals) who wrote you over the weekend, saying: “Waterboarding is
inhumane, it is torture, and it is illegal.” (quoted in No Quarter)
Hello? Is anyone listening? In the previous few weeks, a number of people who know what they are talking about---including one former instructor at SERE----have weighed in on the issue of waterboarding and every one of them has made exactly the same point: waterboarding---i.e., "simulated death by drowning"---is torture and illegal. How can any sane person go on saying that there isn't enough information to reach a reasoned conclusion on this score? (And why---given that it is illegal among civilised nations elsewhere in the world---was the question ever in doubt?)