Torture is about law and morality, not politics

Many Republicans and Democrats insist that any investigation or prosecution of the Bush administration for its torture policy would be counter-productive.

They overlook two basic realities.

First, America is a nation of laws. If government officials violated the law, the question isn’t one of politics but of justice and order. The Bush Administration readily sent rank-and-file soldiers to prison for breaking the law by committing torture at Abu Ghraib. Why should higher ranking officials be treated differently?

Second, for many Americans torture is a moral issue every bit as palpable as abortion. To suggest that we should just “move on” ignores the deep sense among many Americans (more than half, according to one recent poll) that we can’t simply sweep this under the rug. When a society commits an atrocity as horrible as torture, surely silence is the worst possible remedy.

War and democracy are both messy things. There will always be a desire to look the other way, to avoid painful realities. But eight years of that sort of denial have been disastrous.

We see now just how disastrous.

President Barack Obama should send a very clear message:

The handling of this matter should be decided independently by the Attorney General of the United States and by the investigative committees of Congress.

That process should proceed without any input or influence from the White House.