Marcy Wheeler reminds us that the people who allegedly went beyond the OLC "legalized torture" guidelines are doing pretty well professionally:
But I wonder whether the government is also, finally, going to charge the people who staged a mock execution using a power drill against al-Nashiri–basically doing the one thing even John Yoo said would be illegal? Last we heard, after all, Albert, who staged the mock execution, was training CIA officers. And Albert’s supervisor, Ron, now heads CIA’s European Division. And while the US told Spain back in March that they were still investigating, the 8 year statute of limitations on torture that occurred before January 28, 2003 would have already expired.
The Obama administration's timidity has created a serious issue of moral hazard. No torture victim has been able to acquire restitution from the courts, no one involved in the implementation of the program has faced any legal, let alone professional, consequences, so the only thing preventing the next administration from implementing torture as policy is a single executive order that will likely be rescinded as soon as the next Republican enters the White House. While the administration has rhetorically condemned torture, the absence of consequences for anyone involved in the program has turned the issue into a mere policy disagreement rather than a matter of the rule of law.
What that means is that there's little reason to believe torture won't return, because when it comes to national security, it's a practically a crime in name only.
