SI
SI
discoversearch

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor.  We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community.  If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.
Politics : View from the Center and Left
 Public ReplyPrvt ReplyMark as Last ReadFilePrevious 10Next 10PreviousNext  
To: Mary Cluney who wrote (5249)11/13/2005 11:30:07 AM
From: Lane3  Read Replies (1) of 543128
 
Or, was it anything like who authorized illegal torture methods or leaking of classified information to further political agenda that caused unnecessary death and destruction?

Why does it matter? Human nature is human nature. Participants can be persuaded to collaborate for the greater good if handled constructively. Or they can be pushed into defensive mode. There's always a choice between fixing a systemic problem and pinning a particular incident on someone.

Bear in mind that not only the guilty go into defensive mode if there's a witch hunt going on. Everyone does, so you don't get the necessary information to identify the guilty. Much of the time, the best you can do is nominate a promising scapegoat. If you're going for accountability as the primary objective, you have no assurance of hanging the right party. Better hanging no one than the feelgood hanging of the wrong party. Besides, responsibility is usually diffuse with lots of parties contributing, a series of failures that come together like a perfect storm.

Sometimes, however, you need to provide incentives for flipping those lower in the food chain of those accountable to flush out the die hard foreign ideologues. By foreign, I mean those that espouse ideas (like torture) that is alien to our value system.

You're looking to a criminal justice model. I'm looking to a collaborative model. There's a lot of injustice in the criminal justice model. And nothing in a criminal investigation keeps the next criminal from doing the same thing. I wouldn't apply the criminal justice model except in the investigation of a primary crime. System problems are different.
Report TOU ViolationShare This Post
 Public ReplyPrvt ReplyMark as Last ReadFilePrevious 10Next 10PreviousNext  

HomeMailHotSubjectMarksPeopleMarksKeepersSettings
Terms Of UseContact UsCopyright/IP PolicyPrivacy PolicyAbout UsFAQAdvertise on SI
© 2026 Knight Sac Media.  Data provided by Twelve Data, Alpha Vantage, and CityFALCON News