Torture: If Charles Graner is in jail...

Albert Mora was featured prominently in a NYT article that discussed torture and what should happen or not happen now with regard to what may or may not have been done by the Bush administration and those attempting to carry out its directives.

The article opened with this:

Alberto Mora says it's "politically unthinkable" to criminally prosecute the top Bush administration officials who sanctioned torture. He also says it's "legally unthinkable" not to hold them accountable.

And then goes onto to somewhat hazily discuss the pro's and con's for each viewpoint. The author does point out that there were a great number of senior officials in the Bush administration and in the military who were not in favor of torture though none of them managed to stop it or convince the advocates within the Bush administration that it was wrong or for that matter, ineffective.

But Andrew Sullivan's one-liner in response sums it up so succinctly and so well.

If Charles Graner is in jail for following orders, why is no one accountable for giving them?

Precisely. Are we a nation of laws or not?