Quite honestly, two of the very few things that Obama has done so far that I have approved of is the ban on torture and other extra-legal procedures of obtaining information, and the proposed closure of Guantanamo. But, both these approvals have to be strongly qualified.
Obama has not banned extraordinary rendition conducted by the CIA to torture prisoners and extract information. The closure of Guantanamo Bay, as such, does not mean much, as long as the CIA and the Pentagon can fly terrorists to other countries, detain them for as long as they want, torture them, and do whatever they want with them.
Basically, the closure implies that for Obama it is NOT OK for Americans to torture, but others can. As long as the torture is done out of the reach of American law, it is all fine and dandy. Obama claims that torture is wrong, but, hey, CIA torturers got a “get out of jail free card.” Guantanamo Bay looks bad for the Obama PR department, but detentions centers in Macedonia, for instance, are fine, because nobody can and will actually prove their existence.
The exemption of CIA agents from prosecution is a clear signal that Obama does not really want to ban torture. He claims “those who carried out their duties relying in good faith upon legal advice from the Department of Justice” should not be punished. Legal advice validating torture does not give anybody the moral and ethical authority to torture anyone.
Just because your boss says torture is ok, does it become ok for you to torture?
Torture is wrong. It can never be justified. Torture of any form is illegal, under American law, international law, and the laws of most countries. It is also quite unnecessary. With the progress science has made over the past few decades, there are drugs available that provide the same results with few or no side effects. Apparently, truth serums are considered torture, but it can be argued that any form of physical or mental torture, such as water boarding, can have a far more damaging effect on the recipient than a mere short term drug.
