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Thursday, January 8, 2009 12:00 AM

America then and now

It's now commonplace for our political and media elites to explicitly renounce the principles of justice which the U.S. long led the world in advocating.
Glenn Greenwald

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  • Thursday, January 8, 2009 08:28 AM

    In making these excuses,

    there also seems to be a tacit assumption that violations have indeed occurred. The whole point of the international law and Nuremberg principles quoted is that there is no excuse. Ever.

    And of course, that is what drives the need to prevent investigation and prosecution.

    mutex: Very good point. If they wish to use the "there have been no attacks" argument to defend the practices, then they lose the "you are taking away our valuable tools" arguments against disclosure of torture and illegal surveillance.

    —Jim White Read Jim White's other letters

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