What Would We Do?

TW: Political Daily is another new entrant into the web site field. It is notable being started by refugees from MSM. Regardless, this piece intrigued not so much for its core purpose- to question the need for prosecution of torture facilitators- but for the issue of whether its background premise is valid. The piece assumes a hypothetical right-wing conservative takeover of the White House in 2012 due to a spectacular terrorist attack prior to the election.

What would happen in the event of another serious terrorist attack on the U.S.? Obviously the specific circumstances and timing would be relevant (i.e. a clear intelligence failure etc.). But would the U.S. veer so far right in the event of an attack. This has been my fear since 9/11. We have already veered far right once post 9/11, would it get even worse post a 2nd attack? I fear so.

Folks will trade much liberty for security. In many ways counter-terrorism is like crime prevention. How do you manage the risks without smothering liberties. The right especially that embodied by the Cheney wing of the Republican party is unwilling to bear almost any risk and presumably willing to blame anyone who is willing to bear the risks. The key would not be that 30% of the electorate aligned with Cheney et al. but the other 70%. How would they react?

My hope is they would maturely weigh the costs of going all in towards risk reduction. The loss of lives to spectacular terrorists are horrific. But torture, unilateral war-making, massive defense budgets and general paranoia carry economic and human costs as well. In fact those costs exceed those of any terrorist act to date including 9/11. Would our society weigh these accordingly? I doubt it.

ps Will address the core premise of the article- prosecuting a hypothetical post-terrorism official versus a real torture facilitator on a later post.

From Political Daily:
"The Justice Department announced today that charges could be filed against numerous Obama Administration officials as a result of last year's terror attack in Los Angeles. In announcing the indictments, Attorney General John Cornyn said that top officials showed "gross and purposeful negligence" by releasing perpetrators of the attacks from the Guantanamo Bay prison camp and demanding that interrogation tactics be softened against chief planner Mehmet al-Meshugeneh, who had already revealed that a major attack was being planned against a major U.S. sporting event.

"By purposefully disregarding crucial intelligence, and in releasing known participants in the plot into Saudi custody, numerous government officials took action which made the Staples Center bombing possible," Cornyn said. He went on to note that, "numerous individuals in the Departments of Defense, Justice, and Homeland Security knowingly pursued policies which would endanger the lives of Americans. They placed their political priorities above the safety of the citizens of this country, and thousands of innocent people died as a result. These people must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."

At the White House, Press Secretary Adam Brickley said that President Sarah Palin stands firmly behind the decision. "It's not as if we relish the thought of prosecuting members of the previous administration," Brickley said, "but, at this point, there is a clearly established precedent – set in place by the Obama Administration themselves – which says that government officials must be held accountable if they contributed in any way to major breaches of the law. In this case, the individuals under investigation do appear to have purposefully allowed these terrorists to continue their actions – prioritizing international public opinion over the lives of the American people. So, while this may be a politically charged issue, there is a real need to prosecute."

Ironically, it appears that the highest ranking official who could face prosecution is former Attorney General Eric Holder, who personally dropped the state's case against Mr. al-Meshugeneh after declaring his capture in Afghanistan illegal. Al-Meshugeneh later admitted that, at the time of his release, he had already told the government of his role in planning the attack which killed almost 10,000 people, including the entire Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks basketball squads. Holder was also the primary force in prosecuting Bush Administration officials who issued legal opinions supporting waterboarding and other harsh interrogation tactics. As such, it appears that he actually set the precedent under which he may now be prosecuted himself.

Public opinion polls show 62 percent of Americans support prosecution of at least some Obama Administration officials."
http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/04/23/president-palins-quandary-to-prosecute-or-not/