Today at TNR, New York Congressman Jerrold Nadler responds to Jeffrey's Rosen's "Truth or Dare," in which Rosen accuses Obama of "trying to split the difference on torture." While Nadler agrees with most of Rosen's conclusions, he argues that the reasons for and against prosecution are "irrelevant," and instead, we need to find out what happened:
What this situation demands at this time is not yet prosecution but investigation. And anticipating a difficult case for the prosecution is no reason to forego an investigation. On the contrary, the facts that are already public are more than enough to justify--in fact, to require--a full-fledged investigation of the truth. The law mandates that where torture has been committed under American jurisdiction (which we now know, with certainty, has been the case), a criminal investigation and, where warranted, prosecution must be initiated. The investigation must be independent so that it is entirely removed from politics and freed from actual or perceived conflicts of interest that are inherent in the Justice Department's investigating itself. That is why the law demands the appointment of a special counsel in such a case.
Be sure to check out the whole thing here.