The Torture Memos: Truth and Consequences
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Pressure is building to prosecute former Justice Department lawyers for supporting harsh interrogation techniques. We look at that and other issues posed by the release of controversial legal memos. Also, despite concerns that South Africa's on the decline, the ruling party has won again. We hear about the prospects for change.
Banner image: Anti-Iraq war protesters act out water boarding torture on March 19, 2008 in front of the White House in Washington, DC, during a demonstration, one of many protests across the capital to mark the 5th anniversary of the war in Iraq. Photo: Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images
Making News
Suicide Bombing, Arrest of Abu Omar Baghdadi in Iraq ()
Iraqi forces claim they've arrested a top al-Qaeda leader. At the same time, his suicide bombers killed more than 70 people in and around Baghdad. Liz Sly is reporting from Baghdad for the Los Angeles Times.
Guests:
Main Topic
The Torture Memos: Truth and Consequences ()
President Obama says Attorney General Eric Holder will have to decide if lawyers in the Bush Justice Department should be prosecuted for memos justifying harsh interrogation techniques. This week, the Senate Intelligence Committee revealed that dissenting legal views were brushed aside by the Bush White House. The release of the memos has raised a host of troubling questions. Did the memos justify war crimes? Should the lawyers who wrote them be prosecuted? Were the interrogation methods being used before the memos were written? Did the methods, including waterboarding, produce information that made American safer? Would other methods have been more reliable? If Obama says some people should be prosecuted while others are spared, is he “politicizing” the issue? Is he violating the law?
Guests:
- Philip Zelikow: Executive Director, 911 Commission
- Jane Mayer: Investigative Reporter, The New Yorker
- Glenn Greenwald: Constitutional attorney, @ggreenwald
- Clifford May: President, Foundation for the Defense of Democracies
Links:
- New York Times article on past use of torture
- New York Times op-ed article on effectiveness of torture
- Senate Armed Services Committee report on treatment of detainees in US custody
- Zelikow on the torture memos
- Mayer on the Levin report
- Greenwald on the media, torture debate
- May's (National Review) article on torture and war
Reporter's Notebook
ANC Retains Power in South Africa ()
Despite reports that South African blacks and whites are disenchanted with their government, turnout for yesterday’s election was massive. Two other parties challenged the African National Congress of Nelson Mandella. The Democratic Alliance (DA) appeals to white liberals and the Congress of the People (COPE) is composed of former ANC members. Not all the votes have been counted, but it’s a resounding victory for the ruling party. Does that mean more of the same? Scott Baldauf is in Johannesburg for the Christian Science Monitor.
Guests:
- Scott Baldauf: Africa Bureau Chief, Christian Science Monitor
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