Op-ed by Retired Marines Generals Charles C. Krulak and Joseph P. Hoar
Two years ago, a team of Navy Seals raided a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, and killed Osama bin Laden. It was an important national victory for the United States. Unfortunately, it was also the beginning of a new chapter in the debate about the efficacy of torture.
News of bin Laden’s death had just broken when torture proponents began to claim that — as Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., put it — “the road to bin Laden began with waterboarding.” Undeterred by the glaring absence of evidence, they’ve made this claim repeatedly over the last two years and asserted that the movie “Zero Dark Thirty” supported their position, as if a Hollywood movie were the official record.
