David S. Broder - Stop Scapegoating

A recent David S. Broder column in The Washington Post, Stop Scapegoating: Why Obama Should Stick to His Guns on Torture Prosecutions, has it that those who (like this blogger) want a 9/11-type commission to investigate the "enhanced interrogation" techniques used during the Bush administration to extract intelligence from terrorist prisoners are misguided.

Mr. Broder thinks President Obama should "trust his instincts and stick to his guns" about not sanctioning a truth commission and not allowing CIA operatives to be prosecuted. To Mr. Broder, a truth commission or special prosecutor would amount to little more than a "retroactive search for scapegoats."

Yes, this blogger admits, some people would treat the search for truth and justice as an opportunity to poke their political or ideological opponents in the eye. The accusations and recriminations might well come thick and furious, and the process could conceivably get so out of hand that President Obama could, for the duration, kiss his forward-looking agenda goodbye.

But, two things: One, the fact that some people have a strong thirst for political vengeance is no reason not to adjudicate the torture controversy. Two, sometimes settling the sins of the past has to precede engineering the blessings of the future.

If a thirst for vengeance by the concerned parties were allowed to determine whether adjudication ought to take place, there would never be a trial for murder or rape. According to Mr. Broder's logic, the sheer fact of all of that emotional contention between the prosecution's side and the defense would swamp the justice which unbiased adjudication is meant to mete out. Yet we all agree that the processes of justice and adjudication must go on, despite the rampant contention and angry seeking of revenge.

Also, one of the mottoes of this blog is the Rudyard Kipling quote, "Nothing is ever settled until it is settled right." President Obama's preference to turn the page hastily on past instances of torture at the hands of U.S. officials does not set the matter right, because it does not settle the matter at all.