Kaus and Wright On Torture

Mickey comes out for torturing terror suspects, as part of a third category of detainees who are neither civil not military. He uses the hoary notion that if you concede the ticking time-bomb exception, everything is on the table, including torture in non-ticking-bomb scenarios. Why am I not surprised? Bob worries that establishing a new international norm that allows torture will help North Korea and Iran. You think? America's endorsement of torture under Bush has been the biggest set-back for global human rights in my lifetime.

But what I do not understand is how this debate can happen at all. The law is clear; and the Geneva Conventions are clear; and the U.N. treaty on torture is clear. These abstract debates are not available to us until we repeal such laws and renege on such treaties. If the GOP wants to propose this, fine. But the current debate is surreal. Mickey, by the way, still believes that the worst that happened at Abu Ghraib was leashes and panties on the head. This means he has the same grasp of the basic facts as Rush Limbaugh. The only possible reason for not knowing the truth, at this point, is a desire not to know.