I don’t want to wade into the argument about prosecuting those involved in waterboarding. Like everyone, I have my own views but, oddly for me at least, it’s not something that I feel compelled to nor comfortable with writing about. 

I’ve read others writings on the subject and usually they serve more to expose their political ideologies than they make cogent arguments for or against some action. In that light I’d like to recommend that you read Tyler Cowen’s adult analysis. Here is his opening paragraph.

At many blogs (Sullivan, Yglesias, DeLong, among others) you will find ongoing arguments for prosecuting the torturers who ran our government for a while.  I am in agreement with the moral stance of these critics but they do not yet grasp the full implications of their position.  I believe that a full investigation would lead the U.S. public to, ultimately, side with torture, side with the torturers, and side against the prosecutors.  That’s why we can’t proceed and Obama probably understands that.  If another attack happened this would be all the more true.

It’s a serious subject and I applaud him for taking a serious approach to it. It’s a very short post, be sure and take a minute to read it.