In a speech at CIA headquarters Obama effectively embraced the defense of befehl ist befehl (“an order is an order”) with regard to the shameful and excessive torture performed by the CIA against al Queda suspects. In so doing, he eviscerated one of the most important of the Nuremburg principles. Obama assured the CIA that employees would not be prosecuted for carrying out orders by superiors. This was later affirmed by Holder’s Justice Department, which decided that employees carrying out torture were protected because they followed orders.

Even the Senate report continues that policy in not demanding the prosecution of officials who carried out this torture program and then lied to the public and Congress. Previously, the Justice Department even refused to prosecute CIA officials who admitted to destroying tapes of torture to avoid their use against them in any criminal prosecution. (part of an article commenting on the CIA report, written by Jonathan Turley).

That’s it! We have a President who is a constitutional lawyer and is regarded as a thoughtful person. Yet he and his government are underwriting the well-known Nazi get-out clause: “I was only obeying orders”. Tens of thousands of SS and Nazi Party torturers, murderers and thugs got away with it using that mantra and went unapologetically to Argentina (some to the US).

It appears that most of the useful information from Al Queda suspects was obtained by normal interrogation, and that the public has been subject to lies by CIA operatives. By not charging the torturers under established international law, the US itself becomes lawless and hypocritical and cannot, with a straight face, ever again criticize others for human rights violations. Are you fearful of assasination, Mr. President, or did you leave your ethics at the entrance to the White House? You were not elected for this.