Put the following people in order, from least to most harmful to our country:

[Bicoastal]

1. Those who decided our country would torture.

2. Those who didn't make the decision, but signed off on it.

3. Those who actually committed the act as part of their military duties.

4. Those who, while not actually in a position of power, use the media to deny that the act IS torture.

5. Those who, while not actually in a position of power, use the media to claim that torture is justified in certain circumstances.

[XemaSab]

1. Impossible task

Torturing 1 person is horrible, but convincing 100 million people that torture isn't so bad? Also horrible.

[Bicoastal]

2. Impossible though it may be, these are the sorts of things...

...that President Obama and AG Holder have to think about.

[brazos121200]

3. In order of least harmful to most harmful; 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

Those in high positions of power who made the initial decision to torture should be brought to trial and made to answer for their decision. If they are not prosecuted, it will leave a very dangerous message for the next right wing neocon government (if there is one).

[Hutzpa]

5. You're are contradicting yourself

take a look at your oder of prefrence and your comment, unless this is a joke to you
then you may ignore my comment.

[brazos121200]

14. As the original post states I am answering in order of LEAST

harmful to MOST harmful, the most harmful being those who decided our country would torture. Why is that contradictory?

[Hutzpa]

4. Ok just for fun, here goes....

1. Those who decided our country would torture.

2. Those who didn't make the decision, but signed off on it.

4. Those who, while not actually in a position of power, use the media to deny that the act IS torture.

5. Those who, while not actually in a position of power, use the media to claim that torture is justified in certain circumstances.

3. Those who actually committed the act as part of their military duties.


My 2 cents....

[Bicoastal]

9. For the record, my ranking is the same as yours EXCEPT...

...I would reverse 5 and 4.

The people who deny that we torture are merely ignorant; the people who say "OK, we torture! So what?" are the real monsters.

[Hutzpa]

10. Yup!

thanks for pointing that out, it should have been 5 before 4, because 5 were aware torture was
being carried out and still went on bragging about it in the media.

[jobycom]

6. 1,5,4,2 and only partially 3.

Those in the military under orders to carry out some tasks they were told were legal were in an unwinnable position. Those who went beyond orders or who carried out the most egregious of orders--such as torturing to death, mutilation, rape, etc--can't use "following orders" as an excuse, but those following more routine orders, such as waterboarding, starvation, sleep deprivation, etc, wouldn't be high priorities for me. They were Breaker Morant'ed, and their prosecution would mostly be to take the blame off those who gave the orders.

I'm most sickened by those who gave the orders, then those who sold the orders to the public, then the public who is being convinced that torture isn't so bad if you label it something else. I have much more sympathy for those in uniform trying to stay alive and make sense of conflicting orders on the ground. That does not include those who exceeded orders or who carried out orders beyond the normal. I just hate to see those on the ground do the time for those who gave the orders.

[Hutzpa]

12. Excellent

this is my rational as well....uniform and CIA had no choice but to carry out
their superior order, if they disobey they where confronted with court marshall.

Those who devise the policy and pushing the military and security service to carry out this
crime should be punished.

[Sebastian Doyle]

7. They all suck

Degrees of suckiness is beside the point.

[ElboRuum]

8. As requested...

...in the reverse order that you gave them.

5. The Dubious Rationalizer
4. The Lying Mouthpiece
3. The Henchman
2. The Co-conspirator
1. The Mastermind

The reason for this ordering? Because any position in the list is effectively rendered moot without the presence of those who are more harm.

Without the idea, its ratification, its implementation, and the denial of criminality, the one who rationalizes it has nothing to rationalize.

Without the idea, its ratification, and its implemenation, the denier has nothing to deny and the rationalizer has nothing to rationalize.

Without the idea and its ratification, the implementor has nothing to implement, the denier has nothing to deny, and the rationalizer has nothing to rationalize.

Without the idea, the ratifiers have nothing to ratify, the implementor has nothing to implement, the denier has nothing to deny, and the rationalizer has nothing to rationalize.

[Bicoastal]

11. You call them henchmen...

...but few of us can put ourselves in their position. If they don't follow orders at Gitmo, they're ultimately court marshaled--which essentially means that their career and reputation is ruined for the rest of their lives. I've never been a position where I had to choose between ruining my own life and ruining someone else's--hopefully I never will be.

They're the only people on the list who really don't have much of a choice--I mean there IS a choice, but it's a hard one. It's very easy to call them henchman from the comfort of your own chair, but they're over in Cuba, bearing witness to scenarios we can't even begin to imagine. I actually think they're the least culpable on the list.

[ElboRuum]

16. Well, I WAS being a bit hyperbolic.

Implying that those in the Bush administration are "masterminds" was a bit of a stretch too, wouldn't you say?

You may have a point, but I don't see how a person who simply mouths the words is in any way more harmful than the ones who commit the acts. Those words would mean nothing without people willing to put action to them. Ultimately, you have to accept the fact that what we do is in fact our own responsibility, and frought with moral gravity.

[SKKY]

13. 4, 5, 1, 2, 3

4 Because the media influences more people that the decision makers do, and they endeavor to deceive. Sad, but true.
5 Only less evil than 4 because they at least admit that it is in fact torture.
1 I don't know what they were looking at that forced them to make the decision.
2 They could have stopped it, but didn't.
3 I strongly believe that, while they did it, they only did it as part of their "duty".

[leftofthedial]

15. 3, 5, 4, 2, 1

least to most harmful