Mukasey-Torture: Ends Justify The Means

[kpete]

Ends Justify the Means

This may be the most revealing bit of Michael Mukasey's testimony today: Whether waterboarding is torture, the attorney general says, requires a balancing test of the costs v. the benefits.

So there you have it. In the view of the Justice Department, there is no categorical prohibition against the torture of detainees, even under the Detainee Treatment Act.

Waterboarding has become proxy for a whole host of torture methods that traditionally would be considered torture, and so the balancing test set out by the attorney general is not limited to waterboarding.

Late Update: Sen. Durbin followed up on this line of questioning. Mukasey basically put Congress on notice that they have to outlaw waterboarding or quit asking questions about it.

more at:

[lonestarnot]

1. This is a fucking outrage!

link missing.

[EmperorHasNoClothes]

2. The U.S. does not torture?

Remember that, Mukasey? Torture is illegal, by both U.S. and international law. Splitting hairs by saying waterboarding is not explicitly outlawed, or pretending that it is not torture, is despicable.