There's been a great deal of comment on the Obama administration's decision to end practices (eg, waterboarding) deemed to be torture, but not to investigate and possibly charge those who conducted such activities under the Bush administration. Some have argued that investigations leading to proseuctions would inevitable be political, partisan witch hunts and not justice. This thoughtful piece by a US Baptist minister and law professor argues the contrary.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. often said that an unjust law is no law at all. Every member of the U.S. military and national security operative knows that one is duty-bound to disobey an illegal order. Thus, the claim that anyone who counseled or committed acts of inhumanity or torture in the challenging aftermath of the 2001 terrorist attacks somehow relied on orders from the White House, the Pentagon or any other authority is immoral. The issue for President Obama and the nation is whether Americans have the integrity to demand that inhumanity and torture counseled and perpetrated in our names be investigated, prosecuted and punished. A just society will investigate and punish inhumanity and torture.
Read the whole article.
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