Torture Debate over?

Debate is over but may set dangerous precedents

Transcript:

The ‘torture’ debate is over.  Whether it was effective or not – whether it was really torture or not  - doesn’t matter because president Obama has now declared it illegal.

But what’s the fallout likely to be? What are the unintended consequences of Obama’s decision?

First, intelligence professionals – from the military to the CIA – have in effect been told to cool it. Intelligence is a crucial weapon in this war but we’ve now seriously compromised our ability to gather it.

Second, there will likely be investigations – everything from nationally televised congressional hearings to special prosecutors to possibly even criminal charges against former officials perhaps extending to the very top of the Bush administration.

One of the greatest strengths of our nation is the peaceful transfer of power. But if an incoming administration can sit in judgment and second-guess the actions of a previous administration – especially those made during a time of crisis – where does it end? When they jail the former officials for doing things that were considered legitimate at the time? That sounds more like a banana republic than the United States.

By releasing the CIA documents President Obama has opened pandora’s box and set in motion a chain of events that could not only compromise our nation’s security, but also establish the precedent of putting a previous administration on trial.