90-9

That was the vote in the Senate. Why is Cheney fighting it? The American people are disgraced by the actions of an untrained few, so why fight it? Because you don't understand the public sentiment.

I have unpopular opinions of prisoner mistreatment. I'm a pragmatist. I believe in human rights. Like porn, torture is not so well-defined. I have a looser (though I'd argue, more honest and realistic) opinion of what constitutes torture. However, the downside of public disgust and shame at ANY possibility of the crime outweighs the potential gains of doing it. The easy tack is to say "Don't do it at all, ever, period!"

But I don't. My answer is "Leave interrogation to the professionals." Why on earth would you allow basic soldiers and reservists to be responsible for such a critical and sensitive duty? Truly skilled and trained experts (who know the law and the chinks) to address the problem. There are lines. And they should very rarely be crossed, and never by amateurs. Almost every rule is made to be broken, but let's not leave that judgement in the hands of kids out to impress some fat retired intel guys in cammies. Leave it to the unsentimental, professional, dispassionate hardasses. That won't be a popular opinion. I recognize and accept that. Torture should never be acceptable, but high stress situations should be applied to certain individuals in the interests of our troops, our allies, and innocent lives. It's not a clear line at all...that's why you need qualified interrogators. In the immortal words of Bob Sugar: It's not show friends...it's show business.

But in our own government, there should be no ambiguity. International law (and UCMJ) is clear. It is demeaning work for soldiers, it is demeaning to our country and citizens, and insulting to boot. 90-9, you jackass. The people have spoken.

You monkeyed up the investigations at Abu Ghraib, you've monkeyed up handling the aftermath, and now you are monkeying up the proper course corrections.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!