The change in the Administration's policy on "torture" looks to be an attempt to appease the President's left-wing base. It also looks like a shameless attempt to distract the pundits from the policy failure that is the Health Care Reform debate. Like all policy changes, this one will have unintended consequences.
I expect that the CIA will now look with disdain on any "terrorist" who is captured on the battlefield. I expect that anybody captured in Afghanistan might present a personal liability to the soldier doing the capturing. As such, the outcome of these encounters might bode very ill for the intelligence gathering efforts going forward, as well as for the health of any potential information sources.
Why?
Because if the choice is between a live source of information (which carries with it a very real possibility of prosecution if he claims abuse), and a dead enemy combatant, the dead combatant option wins every time.
Think about that one...
Newbius
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2 comments:
Good point... and a LOT less costs! Burial vs. years in prison eating specially prepared food, etc...
My guess is that unless the person is an identified High Value person it will turn out that he died fighting rather than be captured. Or so the AAR will read.
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