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British writer and international lawyer Philippe Sands is the author of The Torture Team , in stores May 5, which chronicles the role lawyers played in the introduction of the Bush administration's program of coercive interrogation techniques. Here, Scott Horton talks to Sands about his findings.

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ORIGINAL: SugarMyChurro

As has been repeated again and again...

This administration is comprised of war criminals. Either now or later they must be brought to justice and tried (fairly, unlike the way they treated others) and convicted (the most likely conclusion to my mind). There should be no escape from seeing these people before a war crimes tribunal of some kind. Anything less will mean the U.S. doesn't take care of its own problems - something the international community despises about us.

Lesser offenders should get wrist-slapped. This may seem like a contradiction because many people will assume it's possible for people downstream the chain of command to disobey unlawful orders - that they are in fact constitutionally and oath bound to disobey such orders. Well, that is easier said than done and my heart goes out to soldiers, agents, etc that are bound up in the hierarchy of having to do as they are told. The people following orders may not be innocent, but they are not the most culpable either. The persons giving the orders are to blame. I see people following orders as another kind of victim, as people in a submissive posture in relation to those that dominate them by superior rank.

Anything less than that and you will have the problem described by Politesub53 - you will have people of lesser rank being scapegoated for the crimes of their superiors.

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ORIGINAL: LadyEllen

It was interesting to hear Scalia say that torture is not forbidden by the US Constitution.

Whilst the Constitution forbids cruel and unusual punishments, Scalia maintained that torture was not a punishment and therefore must be OK for the US to carry out.

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ORIGINAL: LadyEllen

It was interesting to hear Scalia say that torture is not forbidden by the US Constitution.

Whilst the Constitution forbids cruel and unusual punishments, Scalia maintained that torture was not a punishment and therefore must be OK for the US to carry out.

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ORIGINAL: Politesub53




How can someone so stupid hold the office he does.

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ORIGINAL: LadyEllen

It was interesting to hear Scalia say that torture is not forbidden by the US Constitution.

Whilst the Constitution forbids cruel and unusual punishments, Scalia maintained that torture was not a punishment and therefore must be OK for the US to carry out.

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