Jack Goldsmith resigned from his post at Justice because he tried, albeit in a very limited way, to halt some of the worst human rights excesses of the Bush administration. But his call in today’s Post to limit investigations is dead wrong — and self-serving. We can let the perpetrators of the horrific abuses of the US over the past eight years set the pace of accountability. The new administration must not only push existing inquiries, but implement new and more far-reaching ones.
Here’s Goldsmith’s money-shot:
- Yet another round of investigations during the Obama administration, even by a bipartisan commission, would exacerbate this problem. It would also bring little benefit. The people in government who made mistakes or who acted in ways that seemed reasonable at the time but now seem inappropriate have been held publicly accountable by severe criticism, suffering enormous reputational and, in some instances, financial losses. Little will be achieved by further retribution. The best way for the Obama administration to establish a record of what happened under President Bush without further debilitating our national security system is simply to let the many current investigations run their course.
All over the world, the example is clear. When the perpetrators run the inquiries, justice is not served. Only when the next leaders — in a careful, judicious, but firm way — open the door on the past is there a chance for justice.