The Unofficial Story of the al-Qaeda 14

Until now, the issue of what our interrogators did to the al-Qaeda operatives in their custody was as remote as the secret prisons in which they have been kept: a list of techniques with odd names like "water boarding" to match up with grainy head shots above long Arabic names. But we learned from President Bush last week that the CIA's 14 high-value detainees have been moved to a U.S. base, the Cuban outpost of Guantánamo Bay. And because they will face some kind of trial, the issue of torture moves closer to our political shore. When you look at their faces and learn more about them--which you will in the coming months--it will be for you to decide how you really feel about their treatment. Was it justified? Is it ever? Do you care? There will be official proceedings of some kind, and you might even hear their voices and be able to imagine how, in custody, they screamed in pain, whimpered or choked. But then think of 9/11, of the awful carnage and a nation's broken heart, and as you slide down the slippery slope, their screams may start to sound like justice.

In democracies, we work hard to push the idea of justice--that roiling, unwieldy principle--through the architecture of courtrooms, where it can be shaped by rules of discovery, hearsay, visible accusers and cross-examination that have been built, through trials and lots of errors, over centuries. The adversarial process in the U.S. and other Western countries tends to be messy and unpredictable, combative and often emotional, which is why it is so effective at producing judgments that last. Let it all out--hold back nothing!--so there are no "what ifs" on judgment day. You had your day in court; now accept the verdict and relegate revenge to fantasies.