On Torturing Americans

Harpers Magazine has published an illuminating note about how authorization for torture by this administration began with a decision to use every possible means to extract information from an American citizen. Here's a quote:

In other words, torture didn't start in Gitmo or among some grunts in the field and then spread. In fact perhaps the very first victim was a young American citizen, and the decision was reached right at the pinnacle of power and then hammered down on people out in the field who reacted with disbelief upon hearing the instructions given.