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Jonathan Hafetz of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law argues that Mukasey's confirmation marks a low point in America's policy on torture:
Torture is only one of many abuses of the post-September 11 era. The creation of lawless enclaves like Guantánamo, extraordinary rendition, and the warrantless surveillance of American citizens have also expanded executive power at the expense of constitutional liberties.But the prohibition against torture has an absolute quality that stands apart, transforming the battle over Mukasey’s nomination into something much greater than a fight about a single interrogation technique. Torture has tremendous symbolic importance. It forces a country to look into its soul and ask whether there are any norms it will not transgress in the name of security. If a county will commit torture, nothing is sacred. That the United States would confirm an attorney general who refuses to say unequivocally that waterboarding is illegal suggests there are no limits to the exercise of executive power. For this reason, Mukasey’s confirmation marks a profound crisis of faith.Read the rest (and comment) here.--The Editors
