They Just Wrote It... They Didn't Do It... So They're OK.

The Abu Ghraib prison scandal has brought up many controversial issues for our country lately: what is torture? do we need it? does it work? should we go public about it? Who is responsible? This last question, of responsibility and blame, is one that I am curious about. I watched a video on youtube which talks about the lawyers who wrote the memos authorizing the torture that occurred. There is a debate over these lawyers' role. Some believe that those who wrote these memos should be prosecuted where others don't feel they should be held accountable. These lawyers authorized memos that gave "legal cover" for torture techniques such as slamming heads against walls and water boarding. In my opinion, Hell yeah they should be held accountable for this! So what they didn't carry out the actual process of torturing these individuals --guilty or not -- they were fully aware of what they were authorizing. I think of this like a hitman. You hire a hitman, they off someone for you, but since you didnt commit the actual crime--just funded and organized it-- are you not to blame? Since you did not actually execute an act of violence upon another body are you not responsible? I don't believe that. There are different forms of power relationships acting on the body that exist in this example. There's the relationship between the body of the condemned and those who represent the regime/government and carry out the act. Then of course there is the actual political power that goes on between the body of the condemened and the regime/government itself. I believe that the authors of these memos ought to have the finger pointed at them just as much as the military officers who followed them.