Michael Chertoff, the former Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, spoke to the Los Angeles Times about threats to U.S. security. The interview appeared in yesterday's LA Times.
Here's Chertoff's response to a question about recent changes to U.S. torture and detention policies and procedures.
Some critics, including former Vice President Dick Cheney, say such moves make America less safe. Where do you stand?
What we owe the people who are at the point of the spear is certainty. Right after 9/11 . . . there was a lot of criticism about prior timidity in being too lawyered up and too cautious about killing [Osama] bin Laden. . . . Now, I think you'd be fair to say as an agent: I should be as nonaggressive as possible. . . . Unfortunately that's the message coming out. . . . People will take the most risk-averse option. And of course the country won't be safe.
And if you think the country should tolerate that, that's a fair argument. But you've got to be clear about it and . . . if it turns out that something happens as a result and Americans get killed, then you have to take responsibility.
The interview is available at www.latimes.com. Chertoff is the author of Homeland Security: Assessing the First Five Years.
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