The Debate over Official Cruelty Is Far from Over

There have been lots of recent developments on torture and interrogation. In addition to the Senate confirming Judge Michael Mukasey last night as Attorney General in one of the narrowest margins in recent history, the Pentagon barred a Marine Corps lawyer from testifying before Congress about how the government’s use of abusive interrogation techniques had scuttled his case against an alleged terrorist. Meanwhile, other experts who testified yesterday left no doubt that waterboarding is a form of torture. In fact, there’s nothing “simulated” about the drowning experience of those subjected to it.

Clearly, the confirmation of Judge Mukasey as Attorney General is not the last word in the debate over torture and official cruelty.