I wish the Washington Post had given more prominence to this A7 story of the efforts of career Justice Department officials to speak up against the torture of Guantanamo detainees. Among them:
Bruce C. Swartz, a criminal division deputy in charge of international issues, repeatedly questioned the effectiveness of harsh interrogation tactics at White House meetings of a special group formed to decide detainee matters, with representatives present from the Pentagon, the State Department and the CIA.
Swartz warned that the abuse of Guantanamo inmates would do “grave damage” to the country’s reputation and to its law enforcement record, according to an investigative audit released earlier this week by the Justice Department’s inspector general. Swartz was joined by a handful of other top Justice and FBI officials who said the abuse would almost certainly taint any legal proceedings against the detainees.
Swartz and his colleagues, of course, turned out to be right. People will certainly argue whether they could or should have done more. But what the story highlights is how the Administration once again ignored advice from its own career professionals–a continuing narrative, and not just on this subject–that what it was doing was not only immoral but ineffective. It’s worth a read.
