Misconceptions About the Interrogation Memos

Wall Steet Journal.com ^ | APRIL 26, 2009 | LLIAM M. MCSWAIN

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WALL STREET JOURNAL * OPINION * APRIL 26, 2009, 10:35 P.M. ET

Misconceptions About the Interrogation Memos

Their goal was to allow the CIA and military to stay within the parameters of a murky area of the law.

By WILLIAM M. MCSWAIN

President Barack Obama has reinvigorated the critics of George W. Bush's antiterror policies by opening the door to prosecuting or sanctioning those who crafted interrogation policy in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. These critics -- including the president -- are laboring under numerous misconceptions. Many of them have no experience with or understanding of military or CIA interrogation, the purpose of which is to gain actionable intelligence to safeguard our country. The recently released memos by lawyers in the Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel were written to assist interrogators in that critical mission. The memos cannot be fairly evaluated without that mission in mind.......

Mr. McSwain, a former scout/sniper platoon commander in the Marines and assistant U.S. attorney, was executive editor of the 2005 Review of Department of Defense Detention Operations and Detainee Interrogation Techniques (The Church Report). He is an attorney in private practice in Philadelphia.

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New definition of a liberal: one who would trade a 1,000 Americans’ lives to spare a terrorist a waterboarding.