You might not want to jump up and down on Obama about this...it would be missing the bigger picture and it would not be considering what happens next.

What happens next?

What's the bigger picture?

The bigger picture is, #1-Stopping the practice of torture.

#2 - Closing and ending programs of extraordinary rendition and secret prisons.

#3 - Ending the policy of indefinite detention and holding people without charges or trials

#4 - Closing Gitmo

#5 - Releasing, this last week, the now instantly infamous "Torture Memos of the Bush Administration."

Many people have noticed and appreciated these swift actions by the new President. They have also noticed that the promise to not prosecute w...

You might not want to jump up and down on Obama about this...it would be missing the bigger picture and it would not be considering what happens next.

What happens next?

What's the bigger picture?

The bigger picture is, #1-Stopping the practice of torture.

#2 - Closing and ending programs of extraordinary rendition and secret prisons.

#3 - Ending the policy of indefinite detention and holding people without charges or trials

#4 - Closing Gitmo

#5 - Releasing, this last week, the now instantly infamous "Torture Memos of the Bush Administration."

Many people have noticed and appreciated these swift actions by the new President. They have also noticed that the promise to not prosecute was only for the lowest rung of the ladder, the CIA agents and (gasp) 'private contractors,' who given the dirty work to do (and only for those who did so within the infamous 'Torture Memo,' guidelines.

This very clearly does not offer immunity to anyone (a 'promise' can change) and it very clearly does not offer immunity for the higher-ups who designed and authorized these policies, i.e. Dick Cheney...probably George Bush, Justice Dept. lawyers, i.e. the leaders who made this happen.

Personally I want to see the leaders who authorized these actions held accountable. That is more important than making scapegoats of the jailers and torture folks, which is so easy to do (they have less power to protect themselves).

I know we've been fed the idea that saying "I was only following orders," is no excuse, from the precedents of the Nuremberg trials which was certainly a justified 'witch hunt,' but a 'witch hunt,' all the same. Is someone really a war criminal just because they were assigned the job of being a guard at a prison camp?

Of course the USA was all very self-righteous about this then and now but the worm has turned. Nuremberg precedent would mean every single soldier who worked at the prison camp of Guantanamo Bay is a war criminal.

Get the leaders. Not the foot soldiers

While I certainly agree that the big shots are of greater culpability, I don't think it should be a choice between them or the lower ranks. Nor do I believe that we have any basis for prosecuting guards who had no part in torture. But how these issues are decided will shape the future of the military.

If soldiers can be ordered to commit illegal acts, and not be held to account for them, we are creating an army of animals without conscience. For a soldier to resist such an order requires a) that soldiers know they are always personally accountable for their own conduct, and b) that they know that those who make such orders, no matter what their rank, will also be held accountable.

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While I certainly agree that the big shots are of greater culpability, I don't think it should be a choice between them or the lower ranks. Nor do I believe that we have any basis for prosecuting guards who had no part in torture. But how these issues are decided will shape the future of the military.

If soldiers can be ordered to commit illegal acts, and not be held to account for them, we are creating an army of animals without conscience. For a soldier to resist such an order requires a) that soldiers know they are always personally accountable for their own conduct, and b) that they know that those who make such orders, no matter what their rank, will also be held accountable.

It has to be wrong from top to bottom, and as long as any part of that chain can expect impunity, those individuals are robbed of a defense for refusing to obey illegal orders. Insisting that no one is above the law is the only way to deter all parties from illegal conduct.

Good points above and the reason for going after those who were "only following orders." - We might possibly agree on the need to cut off the head of the snake. Do it now. Do it first.

Thousand follow orders. For example:

We now have mainstream acceptance of documentation that says U.S. Americans were guilty of torture; in some cases the same exact techniques of torture (waterboarding) for which the U.S. military convicted and executed some Japanese soldiers in WWII.

We not have mainstream (on CNN) documentation of USA death squads (2 weeks ago, see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGnFyrnqSXM ).

I hope USA folks would also thus not be surprised to know that we have spies in foreign cou...

Good points above and the reason for going after those who were "only following orders." - We might possibly agree on the need to cut off the head of the snake. Do it now. Do it first.

Thousand follow orders. For example:

We now have mainstream acceptance of documentation that says U.S. Americans were guilty of torture; in some cases the same exact techniques of torture (waterboarding) for which the U.S. military convicted and executed some Japanese soldiers in WWII.

We not have mainstream (on CNN) documentation of USA death squads (2 weeks ago, see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGnFyrnqSXM ).

I hope USA folks would also thus not be surprised to know that we have spies in foreign countries and we have spies that spy on our own citizens, without even the rubber-stamp fast-track approval of the FISA courts and in violation of the Constitution (4th Amendment). The most recent cases reported three days ago, Wednesday, in the NYT, and this included an attempt to wiretap a Congressman.

Previous cases have documented NSA spying on nuns, Quakers, PETA, Earth First, and lots of anti-war groups. - see: http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Risen_NSA_tried_for_warrantless_wiretap_0417.html )

So we torture, we assassinate, we spy on others and ourselves...and we overthrow governments, sponsor military coups, put up big bucks to buy elections (here and in foreign countries), install and support dictators (like the Shah of Iran, President of Egypt, Saudi Kings, lots more in Central and South America), use foreign mercenaries, our own mercenaries and sometimes U.S. troops directly in covert actions to stir up war (like in Vietnam, Iran, the Americas), pay the salaries of fascist armies in other nations, have our own army of primate mercenaries larger than the number of troops in Iraq (!)... are the Biggest Seller of Weapons in the World (sold Saddam his anthrax), sell Israel planes, cluster bombs, tanks, etc. (and give money to Israel so they can buy these weapons from us).