To anyone who thinks releasing the torture report will cause people to be killed...

[hootinholler]

You have it backwards entirely. Torture itself is what the problem, what causes people to kill.

Our lack of dealing with it, covering it up instead of punishing the torturers, is what will cause people to get dead. The report will not be a recruiting tool, the torture is the recruiting tool, that it went unpunished makes that tool more powerful.

It should be published, unexpurgated, without redaction, because it is illegal to classify something because it is embarrassing or illegal. Those responsible should be punished, the President should apologize and we should make reparations where we can.

That is the right way to handle this. Remember cover-ups are worse than the crimes? It applies here as well. Until we do that, then there will be those who hate us, who want to punish us, and they have the right side of that.

[11 Bravo]

1. I believe the report should be released, but I am not so naive ...

as to ignore the fact that there are those who will use it as a pretext for further bloodshed.

[mylye2222]

3. In fact relased or not

Middle Easters will continue to hate America.

[GliderGuider]

4. There are always pretexts for bloodshed.

We're humans - shedding blood is what we do. We just find whatever pretexts are convenient to justify it to our "civilized" minds.

[Martin Eden]

21. Yes. Using it as a pretext doesn't make it the motivation.

That's a very important distinction. Those intent on spilling blood were going to do it anyway.

How many terrorists (or potential terrorists) don't already know our government routinely tortured prisoners in the "war on terror"?

[RationalMan]

12. I completely agree.......

This release will likely result in some additional attacks and deaths. That is most unfortunate but the truth must come out. As Americans the only way we can be free is if our government operates out in the open. The more secret our government is about its activities the less free we are. That freedom comes at a cost. In this case in harm and or death to American property and persons.

But the militant Islamists will use any excuse to perpetrate their violence. If it wasn't this report it would be because someone sneezed on a Koran or questioned the authenticity of the Prophet.

We have to stop using the excuse that shining light on our government's misdeeds will lead to more deaths. It is only when our government stops engaging in misdeeds will we no longer have anything to release. If there is nothing to release then no one else will be hurt.

[msanthrope]

16. Exactly how I feel. nt

[Scuba]

2. K&R

[n2doc]

5. Funny, we don't seem to have the same problem with drone killings

We kill 20+ bystanders for every 'sanctioned' drone killing. That might have something to do with attacks on Americans.

[G_j]

10. +1000

[randome]

11. Funny how those attackers never mention that, though.

[hr][font color="blue"][center]Stop looking for heroes. BE one.[/center][/font][hr]

[Rex]

6. Heaven forbid the people that came up with the program and implemented it be punished!

"And it's important for us not to feel too sanctimonious in retrospect about the tough job that those folks had. And a lot of those folks were working hard under enormous pressure and are real patriots."

Seriously I get it, the CIA is your team but they are NOT patriots...the people that tortured innocent lives are animals. It is shameful to see him even cover for such barbaric criminal behavior.

I guess it is too much to expect Congress to do anything, they seem to bumble around just enough to earn a paycheck and nothing more.

[CJCRANE]

7. I think it's more about keeping the American people in the dark

about what was done in their name.

If we don't know what our government is doing or has done then we're just running blind and not living in a democracy. We will just continue to make more and more mistakes ad infinitum.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

8. Or, if they release it and arrest and try the torturers and their masters...

It could show us to be a nation of laws & principles rather than a nation of murder and torture.

[Octafish]

9. + Justice

As opposed to Just-Us.

[hootinholler]

19. That would go a long way. n/t

[grahamhgreen]

20. +1

[hifiguy]

13. K/R!

[Vox Moi]

14. No 'Exceptionalism' on this issue: we own it.

I'm thinking of how the American army forced German citizens to walk through the concentration camps so they could see for themselves what was done in their name.

We held the Nazis accountable Nuremberg and we sat in judgement of them, extolling our virtues of accountability and rule of law. We hung them, imprisoned them and documented their crimes in open court for posterity.

Nobody argued that this would give Germans a bad name or subject them to reprisals.

Americans were very proud of Nuremberg but if we then say that we are exempt from the standards of justice we demand of other people, we make a mockery of ourselves.

Making public the findings on torture is something much less than the level of accountability we demanded of the Germans and if we are to continue to beat our chests for being The Best Country in History, we damn well should act like it.

[spanone]

15. our old republican buddy mike rogers is spewing this bullshit...republican cover

here he is demonstrating the size of his brain.

[99Forever]

17. But... but.. but...

... we must Look Forward.

Don't the people we tortured and their families and friends get that?

[Vattel]

18. If Obama and Kerry don't want a violent response,

they should get serious about accountability or at least contrition. Instead, Obama chooses to describe those who authorized torture as "real patriots" who were making difficult decisions under enormous pressure while performing "tough jobs." He even cautions Americans not to be "sanctimonious" in their criticism of the criminals. If the world viewed the USA as truly recognizing the horror and stupidity of what we did, and seeking accountability, the risk of violence would be much lower.

[randome]

22. ISIS is not killing people because of American torture. Neither is Al Qaeda.

So your initial premise is wrong. But I think the report should be released and we should take our lumps.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]I'm always right. When I'm wrong I admit it.
So then I'm right about being wrong.[/center][/font][hr]