Amnesty blog ad on torture

Amnesty International recently has paid to post blog ads targeting conservative readers on the issue of torture. (To see the ad, click here.) The ad is bringing comments both from the right, and from the left.

This is a debate the country needs to have. I would respect the president's position a lot more if he made an argument that we needed torture and here are the conditions and the limits. But instead he's trying to derail any discussion by denying that torture is ongoing at the same time our policies fall short of international standards on torture. For example, he accepts the McCain amendment prohibiting torture, but then issues a presidential agreement stating that it doesn't apply to his presidential powers as commander-in-chief in time of war. How can we have a discussion on the subject when he prevents it at every turn?

There may be good arguments for torture. I haven't been convinced by the likes of Charles Krauthammer yet, but at least they are making coherent arguments for it. So, to quote the president, "bring it on."