I agree that a huge risk of our national debate over these pictures is that we will self-flagellate and encourage the Radical Islamic terrorists bent on our destruction. And I also agree that we face enemies from the inside just as we face enemies from the outside in this broader war with Radical Islam.
But the fact remains that what happened is appalling and must be dealt with appropriately. While it is, in terms of the potential effects of this particular debate, unfortunate that the only way for the United States adequately and morally to address the issue of the torture pictures is with a public debate, that's just the way it is. We live in a very open society in which information is incredibly easy to obtain, disseminate, and discuss. This is how ALL our debates about ALL important national issues take place, and we have to recognize and also accept the negative as well as the positive results of that uniquely American method of national debate. As you all know, I often bemoan this feature of our public life, but it is what it is. The moment the pictures were taken, it was just a matter of time before they were splashed over the nation's newspapers and airwaves.
Now we need to punish the individuals responsible, investigate whether there was culpability higher in the chain of command, and then punish those responsible, if they exist, at the higher levels. I will hold off on determining whether I think this is the last straw that counsels a Rumsfeld resignation. My instinct is to say he must stay on simply not to send the wrong signal, but that he should be replaced in the second Bush administration by McCain. This would be a positive development for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that McCain would no longer get a vote in the Senate.