On the United States' failure to "do the right thing" regarding its commission and coverup of officially sanctioned acts of torture . . .

So the country of Jefferson and Franklin, of Washington and Lincoln, of Franklin Roosevelt and others now finds itself orchestrating and defending the coverup of what can only be described as crimes against humanity. Two successive administrations have essentially rationalized these crimes on the grounds that a U.S. President said that they were legal. By defending and covering up these clearly criminal and immoral acts, the U.S. has conceded the moral high ground on any number of issues for years and years to come.

The only good news is that both the infliction of torture and the coverup of torture are defined by international treaty to be crimes of universal jurisdiction. While the vast majority of the hundreds if not thousands of Americans involved in the infliction of torture or the coverup of torture may choose to avoid foreign travel for the rest of their lives, eventually someone will make a mistake and be arrested and put on trial by a country somewhere in the world which has the moral fortitude to call a spade a spade.

The sooner that day comes, the better . . .

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/12/opinion/after-report-on-cia-torture-no-more-disclosure.html