“Looking forward and not back” essentially amounts to leaving the torture issue in a state of limbo. If the investigation takes place and the gruesome details are made public, the American people will demand we make sure this never happens again.

 

As it stands now, the debate has only served to confuse and spin the public into uncertainty. That is what the proponents to torture want. Not being exposed to the truth about how brutal torture is has allowed people to consider accepting it. If we don’t investigate and prosecute, by 2012 the republicans will make re-instating what they deceptively call “enhanced interrogation techniques” a part of their national security platform. If there were another terrorist attack we could end up being a torture state with public approval. The only thing to assure this doesn’t happen is a complete investigation with details made public. The alternative is that we can look forward to US torture down the road.