Americans DO Care About Torture! Overwhelmingly!

A talking point of those who…for whatever unimaginable reasons…oppose torture investigations has just been blown to bits.

Please adjust YOUR talking points accordingly. The American People DO care that they have unwittingly been made into a nation that tortures. And they are calling for an accounting.

WASHINGTON – Even as Americans struggle with two wars and an economy in tatters, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds majorities in favor of investigating some of the thorniest unfinished business from the Bush administration: Whether its tactics in the “war on terror” broke the law.



Close to two-thirds of those surveyed said there should be investigations into allegations that the Bush team used torture to interrogate terrorism suspects and its program of wiretapping U.S. citizens without getting warrants. Almost four in 10 favor criminal investigations and about a quarter want investigations without criminal charges. One-third said they want nothing to be done.

TWO THIRDS

Those here who follow polls know that on any sensitive issue…as torture and the implications for the fallout surely are…a two thirds majority is HUGE.

The fact that the vast majority of Americans support investigations into torture, investigations that can only lead to prosecutions just from what we already know, leaves only two questions. How? And why not?

The ‘how’ comes down to some form of Truth Commission or a Special prosecutor or other effort from the DOJ. Personally I support a truth commission to address  the big (incredibly big) picture of Busco crimes. (A partial list) from Hatch Act violations to lying us into Iraq….and a Special prosecutor to zero in on torture specifically.

The why not is easy. The people implicated in torture are the most powerful people in the country. THEY will fight (as they already undoubtedly are) hard to block or subvert investigations. Add to that the understandable but incredibly destructive urge to “move forward” and there are many, many obstacles to fulfilling the Will of The People in torture investigations. We will still need to fight hard to get the process started, and to prevent it from being subverted once it does.

But the big news here is that the American People overwhelmingly want investigations. Powerful Democrats in Congress want investigations. All that is lacking is the political will. It is OUR job to transmit that political will from the People to the peoples representatives in congress and the DOJ.

If you haven’t yet signed the Citizens Petition: Special Prosecutor for Bush War Crimes…

………You no longer have apathy as an excuse!