Majority of Americans Want Bush-Era Torture Investigated

Number of the day:

51. The percentage of Americans who favor a government investigation of the use of "harsh interrogation techniques" in a new Gallup poll.

Greg Sargent notes:

What's particularly interesting [about the numbers], though, is that a solid majority of 55% also finds that the use of such techniques was justified, versus only 36% who say it wasn't — and yet a slim majority still favors a probe. That suggests, I think, that voters are capable of wanting a thorough airing of precisely what happened and when, even if they don't necessarily oppose the use of torture.

In other words, these numbers suggest that the electorate doesn't generally think a government probe would necessarily amount to retribution or revenge, as so many pundits keep saying, and merely view it as a necessary accounting of what actually happened. Imagine that!

Another popular talking point is that Obama will alienate himself from the intelligence community somehow if his administration pursues investigations. I think this conclusion is wrong based on the snippet I teased out of former FBI special agent Ali Soufan's op-ed last week: "It's worth noting that when reading between the lines of the newly released memos, it seems clear that it was contractors, not CIA officers, who requested the use of these techniques." I have a strong suspicion that federal agents, who reportedly resented working with lawless military contractors, may not be as opposed to investigations as some evidently assume.