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Thursday, December 4, 2008 12:00 AM

Why do Feinstein and Wyden sound much different on the torture issue now?

The two Senators spent the year emphatically insisting that the CIA's interrogators comply with the Army Field Manual. With Democrats in control, they're not so emphatic any longer

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  • Thursday, December 4, 2008 11:41 AM

    Nope

    What you're advocating is a complete violation of Western justice since the Nuremberg trials. People who believed what you believe were tried and convicted as war criminals. You can dress it up all you want, but anyone who advocates that the law explicitly legalize torture -- as you do -- is advocating about the most morally repugnant act one can think of.

    Histrionics. I am not advocating for torture; I am saying that there can be emergency situations where it may be necessary. The Nazis were tried as war criminal because they tried to exterminate the Jews, not for their interrogation techniques. Once again I'll ask for that elusive practical answer: Would you have permitted the torture of one person if it would have prevented the Holocaust?

    You wish to remain in the realm of pure and perfect theory. Sorry, but that's not the real world. If you address some concrete scenarios the failure of your reasoning will be plain.

    You're confused about how the criminal law works.

    I am confused about many things, but how the criminal law works isn't one of them.

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