This letter is associated with the following article:
Letters
Monday, January 12, 2009 12:00 AM

Obama v. the National Intelligence Estimate on Iran

Last year, the NIE famously concluded with "high confidence" that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003. Why did Obama say yesterday that Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons?

Read other letters about this article

  • Monday, January 12, 2009 07:43 AM

    Jestaplero

    I wasn't saying that Obama intended to extend the rationale to future cases. I was asking you: what possible grounds is there for confining the rationale to past cases? If we decide now that it's worth it to use torture-obtained evidence to convict accused terrorists, what rationale is there for reaching a different conclusion in the future when the circumstances are identical?

    Did you read the 1935 case, where the Supreme Court overturned murder convictions of African-American defendants because the confessions were obtained through beatings? Was justice served in that case? Is justice served whenever defendants are acquitted because of constitutional violations by the Government that taint the evidence? I think the answer is clearly "yes" and I don't change my views based on the defendant in question. These principles apply to all crimes, including (one might say "especially") the worst ones.

Most Active Letters Threads

740

The commendably missing element from Obama's speech

There was no pretense that human rights is our goal, or the likely outcome, in escalating the war
437

Do Obama officials know what his Afghanistan plan is?

What explains the completely contradictory statements from key aides on a central plank of the war strategy?
408

America's regression

It's almost impossible to find a nation with as many torture advocates as the U.S. has.
332

Palin: Birthers have "fair question" about Obama

Of Obama birth, the ex-governor says, "the public is still, rightfully, making it an issue" (Updated)
211

The poster boy for progressive self-delusion

Read Hayden's 2008 Obama endorsement to remember the way the left sold our centrist president to itself

View all »

Letters Help

Currently in Salon