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When politics trumps integrity
By Jacob Victor
tags: Judge Mukasey

During Michael B. Mukasey's 18 years as a federal judge, his legal decisions were characterized by a nuanced, responsible approach to the law. He was tough on white-collar crime and terrorism, yet still demonstrated empathy for new immigrants and minors. Perhaps Judge Mukasey's strong sense of ethical resolve stems from his Judaism and perhaps not, but either way, many American Jews were proud when he was nominated for the post of United States Attorney General. After the corruption that characterized the reign of Alberto Gonzales, Judge Mukasey seemed like the ideal candidate to restore the reputation of the Justice Department.

Therefore, it was especially disheartening when Judge Mukasey refused to explicitly declare the form of torture known as waterboarding as illegal, after being repeatedly asked to do so during his confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee over the last few weeks.

Waterboarding involves simulating the feeling of drowning by holding a person on an incline, covering his face with a rag, and dousing his head with water. Almost all experts and many politicians at both ends of the political spectrum agree that the practice is a form of torture, which would make it illegal under the U.N. Convention Against Torture, to which the United States is a signatory. Furthermore, the United States has prosecuted for waterboarding in the past. In 1947, a Japanese military officer was sent to jail for 15 years for using the practice on a U.S. civilian.
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Judge Mukasey surely knows these things; he was even willing to describe the practice as "repugnant." Why, then, would a person of his ethical conviction refuse to unequivocally condemn waterboarding and declare it illegal?

The answer is politics. According to some legal experts, if Judge Mukasey had explicitly denounced waterboarding during his confirmation hearings, he would have paved the way for criminal prosecution of U.S. soldiers and intelligence agents, not to mention higher-ups in the Bush administration, who have used or condoned the practice in recent years.

Mukasey seems to have recognized this sticky situation. Sadly, he seems willing to compromise ethical values in order to protect his new political associates.

Judge Mukasey is apparently the latest victim of the malaise currently afflicting American Jewish leadership. While Jewish leaders have often been known for their moral fortitude, many of today's Jewish public figures seem all too willing to compromise their values for the sake of political maneuvering. Jewish moral resolve has been replaced by expediency.

Another recent casualty of this sad state of affairs is Abe Foxman, the director of the Anti-Defamation League, who has long been a tireless opponent of anti-Semitism, racism and other forms of bigotry. Many were shocked when Foxman and the ADL recently opposed congressional legislation condemning the Armenian genocide, out of fear of alienating Turkey, which is one of Israel's most important allies. While Foxman acknowledged that the massacre of as many as 1.5 million Armenians by Turkey between 1915 and 1923 was "tantamount to genocide," he still refused to support the legislation. Turkey's relationship with Israel is indeed valuable, but on the subject of genocide there should be no room for equivocation, particularly from an organization claiming to represent Jewish values.

All this is not to say that American Jewish public figures should embrace blind idealism irrespective of the political consequences. On the contrary, responsible political leadership requires carefully considered compromise. But when political expediency trumps fundamental moral principles, or turns on its head undisputed historical events, the integrity of Jewish moral leadership begins to erode. The American Jewish community has long been known - with exceptions, of course - for producing leaders who could be counted on to defend their moral convictions to the very end. Leaders like Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis, who paved the way for labor reform in America, and Rabbi Abraham J. Heschel, who devoted himself to the civil rights movement, understood that the preservation of moral principles was an essential component of the struggle for justice and equality.

Michael Mukasey and Abe Foxman are both good people; their records attest to that. But if they and other American Jewish public figures do not re-embrace a commitment to maintaining moral integrity, even at the expense of obtaining short-term political advantages, they risk undermining everything that Jewish leaders have long stood for.

Jacob Victor is a third-year student at Harvard College. He is the managing editor of New Society: The Harvard College Middle East Journal, and a member of the editorial board of the Harvard Crimson.
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  1.   As we all know, irrational love makes blind...... 10:17  |  Swiss (Dino) 09/11/07
  2.   #1 Swiss (Dino) 10:42  |  Daybreak 09/11/07
  3.   Foxman needs to.... 10:43  |  Theodor 09/11/07
  4.   Jewish Morality? 10:56  |  Natallie Durson 09/11/07
  5.   this writing is self advertising 11:09  |  harzion 09/11/07
  6.   EXACTLY! Jews Are Now PERMANENTLY Linked To This. 11:10  |  Proud Pal Defender 09/11/07
  7.   swiss dino i thought your contribution 11:11  |  amnon reshef 09/11/07
  8.   Light unto the nations 11:11  |  Joseph 09/11/07
  9.   Student radicalism and the Jewish problem 11:18  |  Binyamin 09/11/07
  10.   # 2 Daybreak "Darkness before dawn...???" 11:18  |  Swiss (Dino) 09/11/07
  11.   # 7 amnon reshef 11:34  |  Swiss (Dino) 09/11/07
  12.   #6proud to be wrong diane is not jewish 11:43  |  victor hardman 09/11/07
  13.   Jews In Politics/Similar, With Others, ARE RUINING THIS COUNTRY! 11:53  |  Proud Pal Defender 09/11/07
  14.   `this country`?? Natalie === 12:06  |  Israeli 09/11/07
  15.   #6 Proud Pal Defender 12:14  |  Daybreak 09/11/07
  16.   #13 Proud Pal Defender 12:23  |  Daybreak 09/11/07
  17.   Arabs in politics are RUINING this country 12:31  |  Melissa 09/11/07
  18.   #15 Daybreak--Dianne Feinstein IS Jewish!!!! READ The Enclosed. 12:35  |  Proud Pal Defender 09/11/07
  19.   CORRECTION: Jews In Politics, Etc. 12:46  |  Proud Pal Defender 09/11/07
  20.   #18 Proud Pal Defender 12:49  |  Daybreak 09/11/07
  21.   #17 Melissa--I`m Neither Arab Nor Muslim. I`m A CHRISTIAN! 13:18  |  Proud Pal Defender 09/11/07
  22.   Pal Defender 13:42  |  Lynn 09/11/07
  23.   Waterboarding is the New Abortion Issue 13:45  |  Jane 09/11/07
  24.   ADL is right for not supporting the Armenian claims 14:06  |  solaris 09/11/07
  25.   # 1 Swiss 14:07  |  Lynn 09/11/07
  26.   Christian PPD 14:12  |  Melissa 09/11/07
  27.   What is this fool babbling about? 14:22  |  Mark Lincoln 09/11/07
  28.   Forgot the most glaring example 14:24  |  Michael N 09/11/07
  29.   Jewish Torturer 14:33  |  chelemer 09/11/07
  30.   You cannot lump all Jews in the same mold. 14:44  |  The Equalizer 09/11/07
  31.   Jews + Torture 15:00  |  POP 09/11/07
  32.   a useful mixed up idiot is a defamer not a defender 15:01  |  victor hardman 09/11/07
  33.   #4 Natallie Dursons Logic: Heizbollah killed less then 50 Israeli 15:11  |  Max Zinger,P.Chimist 09/11/07
  34.   Durson - Please provide the pictures 15:22  |  natan 09/11/07
  35.   SO CALLED "TORTURE" TO SAVE INNOCENT LIVES IS NOT IMMORAL, ONLY P 15:32  |  VOICE)))))))) 09/11/07
  36.   Actual, not "simulated", drowning 15:57  |  TimothyL 09/11/07
  37.   Daybreak, It`s time to 16:13  |  Wiktor 09/11/07
  38.   To: Eilat Binyamin 16:28  |  Wiktor 09/11/07
  39.   # 25 Lynn "Moral principles and irrational conduct" 16:29  |  Swiss (Dino) 09/11/07
  40.   #12 Say Paul Harris/Victor 16:38  |  ballistic 09/11/07
  41.   Feed islamic terrorists cake 17:06  |  rich 09/11/07
  42.   Armenian Genocide 17:19  |  Haig 09/11/07
  43.   Stop Preaching 17:25  |  Garry 09/11/07
  44.   #16 MELISSA AMEN LADY YOU SAID A MOUTHFUL! 17:27  |  Petra 09/11/07
  45.   #22 Lynn, BINGO LADY! 17:33  |  Petra 09/11/07
  46.   Dear Mr. Victor 17:43  |  MIKE 09/11/07
  47.   to #4 18:01  |  Jake 09/11/07
  48.   #4 - Durson 18:43  |  Steve 09/11/07
  49.   Cowardice and Self-Interest are the Real Problems 18:52  |  Tod Zuckerman 09/11/07
  50.   To # 6 Proud Pal Defender re Feinstein 19:23  |  David 09/11/07
  51.   Again: AIPAC`s Nefarious Influence 19:30  |  viewerfromafar 09/11/07
  52.   "23 Jane in Calm beach 19:33  |  Labhras 09/11/07
  53.   # 39 Swiss and civil wars 19:37  |  Lynn 09/11/07
  54.   "23 Jane in Calm beach 19:40  |  Labhras 09/11/07
  55.   # 24 solaris 19:41  |  Lynn 09/11/07
  56.   #22 Lynn to Pal defender 19:46  |  Labhras 09/11/07
  57.   23 Jane of Palm Beach - John McCain is Hardly a Leftist 19:46  |  Mark of Lewiston 09/11/07
  58.   #40 ballistic shows her true colors again 19:46  |  Bob 09/11/07
  59.   # 41 rich 19:54  |  Labhras 09/11/07
  60.   Jews are linked to torture,unfortunately 20:00  |  zeje 09/11/07
  61.   Jews abandon their morals for the sake of their desires 20:07  |  David 09/11/07
  62.   #35 Voice of Satan 20:12  |  American 09/11/07
  63.   #48 viewfromafar 20:20  |  Daybreak 09/11/07
  64.   # 4 Fatmah, who are you trying to fool.... 20:31  |  Misha 09/11/07
  65.   More important things than Armenian genocide 20:39  |  Zeje 09/11/07
  66.   I see no problem with Mukasey 20:45  |  Tosefta 09/11/07
  67.   Torture and genocide denial 20:54  |  Zeje 09/11/07
  68.   # 40 Makaka, many people in the good USA are Jewish, and thanks 20:58  |  Misha 09/11/07
  69.   # 56 Nop, it is just a vicious Mekaka`s scream... 21:00  |  Misha 09/11/07
  70.   # 51 Lynn, YES, we did....... 21:10  |  Swiss (Dino) 09/11/07
  71.   Yes Labhras, You Do Get It 21:17  |  Jane 09/11/07
  72.   Mark of Lewiston-Khalid Sheik Mohammed Sang Like a Bird 21:22  |  Jane 09/11/07
  73.   the corrupt catholic irish prime minister charles haughey 21:24  |  papal bull 09/11/07
  74.   No Waterboarding in Muslims Countries 21:24  |  Ben- Africa 09/11/07
  75.   ballistic as an african black 21:31  |  wassupgirl 09/11/07
  76.   wishful thoughts re: mrs(?) durson`s rants 21:32  |  yossef 09/11/07
  77.   Diane Feinstein is Jewish 21:53  |  Ethel 09/11/07
  78.   Natallie 22:00  |  James 09/11/07
  79.   What integrity? 22:01  |  igco 09/11/07
  80.   Steve re Durson 22:06  |  James 09/11/07